Max speed, contrived or otherwise!

Entertaining as the prevarications of Andre Jute were -- I gotta admit
the cat and mouse game of alleged facts gave me a few chuckles -- I was
left wondering what the max speed fellow rbt'ers have attained on their
two wheelers. Let's stick to only those velocities verified by
instrument.

I'll start off. My personal best, as related by a Filzer computer, is a
modest 78 KM/H. This was in the summer of '04 while touring the
Adirondacks. No towlines, slipstreams nor tailwinds, just a beautiful
morning, lovely mountains, and my 700c tourer with panniers packed
ferrying me, with an imbecilic grin and chin grazing the stem, down a
hell of a hill. I suspect that if I hadn't jettisoned the mouldy
kolbassa from my pack prior to setting off that fateful morning I
could've broken the 79 KM/H barrier.

Now I *know* I've exceeded that record during another tour (sans
speedometer) in the Rockies where I practically became supersonic,
rocketing downhill "at well over 100Km/h". As soon as I concoct the
details I'll be sure to post.

Luke wrote:
> Entertaining as the prevarications of Andre Jute were -- I gotta admit
> the cat and mouse game of alleged facts gave me a few chuckles -- I was
> left wondering what the max speed fellow rbt'ers have attained on their
> two wheelers. Let's stick to only those velocities verified by
> instrument.
>
> I'll start off. My personal best, as related by a Filzer computer, is a
> modest 78 KM/H. This was in the summer of '04 while touring the
> Adirondacks. No towlines, slipstreams nor tailwinds, just a beautiful
> morning, lovely mountains, and my 700c tourer with panniers packed
> ferrying me, with an imbecilic grin and chin grazing the stem, down a
> hell of a hill. I suspect that if I hadn't jettisoned the mouldy
> kolbassa from my pack prior to setting off that fateful morning I
> could've broken the 79 KM/H barrier.
>
> Now I *know* I've exceeded that record during another tour (sans
> speedometer) in the Rockies where I practically became supersonic,
> rocketing downhill "at well over 100Km/h". As soon as I concoct the
> details I'll be sure to post.

You're a liar, Luke. That wasn't a kolbassa you threw out, it was a
well-chewed naan bread, worth at least 2kph.

(Alleged signature) Carl Fogel

LOL -- AJ

On Fri, 25 Jan 2008 19:47:50 -0500, Luke <lucasiragusa@rogers.com>
wrote:

>
>Entertaining as the prevarications of Andre Jute were -- I gotta admit
>the cat and mouse game of alleged facts gave me a few chuckles -- I was
>left wondering what the max speed fellow rbt'ers have attained on their
>two wheelers. Let's stick to only those velocities verified by
>instrument.
>
>I'll start off. My personal best, as related by a Filzer computer, is a
>modest 78 KM/H. This was in the summer of '04 while touring the
>Adirondacks. No towlines, slipstreams nor tailwinds, just a beautiful
>morning, lovely mountains, and my 700c tourer with panniers packed
>ferrying me, with an imbecilic grin and chin grazing the stem, down a
>hell of a hill. I suspect that if I hadn't jettisoned the mouldy
>kolbassa from my pack prior to setting off that fateful morning I
>could've broken the 79 KM/H barrier.
>
>Now I *know* I've exceeded that record during another tour (sans
>speedometer) in the Rockies where I practically became supersonic,
>rocketing downhill "at well over 100Km/h". As soon as I concoct the
>details I'll be sure to post.

Dear Luke,

So far this year, my average top speed down the curve to the Arkansas
in a 65 mph zone on the hiighway into town from Wetmore is only 39.8
mph / 64kmh.

Today, it was 45.2 mph / 73 kmh with a decent chinook blowing.

My highest speed ever down that hill was 54 mph / 87 kmh when a big
chinook blew from just the right direction.

It's only about a hundred yards or so, the top of the red highway
curve here:

http://terraserver-usa.com/image.asp...13&Y=10586&W=3

Since it's a highway, the only real excitement is peering at the
speedometer while staying tucked in feet on the cranks and seeing how
far I roll out on the flat before it's time to start pedaling again.

An old photo, looking toward the hill from where throngs of spectators
urge me to greater speeds:
http://i30.tinypic.com/2dhb52w.jpg

Well, okay, from where spectators like this stare at me:
http://i25.tinypic.com/swwcpl.jpg

He's perched in the cottonwood on the right in the earlier picture,
hoping that I'll scare something out of the bushes so he can have
lunch.

The curve down the hill isn't nearly as sharp as the picture makes it
look--that's just the camera's foreshortening effect.

It's hard to pretend that descending that curve is a wild ride when a
motorcyclist may cruise past, one hand on the throttle, the other on
his knee, gawking at the scenery, while his girlfriend leaning against
the backrest is using both hands to re-tie the scarf around her hair.

Anyone who wants higher speeds in Pueblo County can ride about ten
miles out the highway to Beulah and head down the gun-barrel straight
descent into Rock Creek Canyon. That's good for 50 mph into a
headwind:

http://terraserver-usa.com/image.asp...89&Y=10552&W=1

Again, this is another 65 mph zone with a long runout at the bottom.
My hills are emphatically not Jobst's kind of Alpine descent, with
short runs between hairpin turns, hard braking, no shoulder, and the
possibility of traffic.

If someone has parked a car on the shoulder and I have to swerve out,
I become wildly indignant and consider moving to Montana, where things
aren't so crowded. I can't even recall ever having to swerve out to
pass another bicycle down my daily hill.

Cheers,

Carl Fogel

Luke wrote:
> Entertaining as the prevarications of Andre Jute were -- I gotta admit
> the cat and mouse game of alleged facts gave me a few chuckles -- I was
> left wondering what the max speed fellow rbt'ers have attained on their
> two wheelers. Let's stick to only those velocities verified by
> instrument.
>
> I'll start off. My personal best, as related by a Filzer computer, is a
> modest 78 KM/H. This was in the summer of '04 while touring the
> Adirondacks. No towlines, slipstreams nor tailwinds, just a beautiful
> morning, lovely mountains, and my 700c tourer with panniers packed
> ferrying me, with an imbecilic grin and chin grazing the stem, down a
> hell of a hill. I suspect that if I hadn't jettisoned the mouldy
> kolbassa from my pack prior to setting off that fateful morning I
> could've broken the 79 KM/H barrier.
>
> Now I *know* I've exceeded that record during another tour (sans
> speedometer) in the Rockies where I practically became supersonic,
> rocketing downhill "at well over 100Km/h". As soon as I concoct the
> details I'll be sure to post.

You're a prevaricator, Luke. That wasn't a kolbassa you threw out, it
was a well-chewed naan bread, worth at least 2kph.

(Alleged signature) Carl Fogel

LOL -- AJ

On Fri, 25 Jan 2008 18:36:02 -0700, carlfogel@comcast.net wrote:

>On Fri, 25 Jan 2008 19:47:50 -0500, Luke <lucasiragusa@rogers.com>
>wrote:
>
>>
>>Entertaining as the prevarications of Andre Jute were -- I gotta admit
>>the cat and mouse game of alleged facts gave me a few chuckles -- I was
>>left wondering what the max speed fellow rbt'ers have attained on their
>>two wheelers. Let's stick to only those velocities verified by
>>instrument.
>>
>>I'll start off. My personal best, as related by a Filzer computer, is a
>>modest 78 KM/H. This was in the summer of '04 while touring the
>>Adirondacks. No towlines, slipstreams nor tailwinds, just a beautiful
>>morning, lovely mountains, and my 700c tourer with panniers packed
>>ferrying me, with an imbecilic grin and chin grazing the stem, down a
>>hell of a hill. I suspect that if I hadn't jettisoned the mouldy
>>kolbassa from my pack prior to setting off that fateful morning I
>>could've broken the 79 KM/H barrier.
>>
>>Now I *know* I've exceeded that record during another tour (sans
>>speedometer) in the Rockies where I practically became supersonic,
>>rocketing downhill "at well over 100Km/h". As soon as I concoct the
>>details I'll be sure to post.
>
>Dear Luke,
>
>So far this year, my average top speed down the curve to the Arkansas
>in a 65 mph zone on the hiighway into town from Wetmore is only 39.8
>mph / 64kmh.
>
>Today, it was 45.2 mph / 73 kmh with a decent chinook blowing.
>
>My highest speed ever down that hill was 54 mph / 87 kmh when a big
>chinook blew from just the right direction.
>
>It's only about a hundred yards or so, the top of the red highway
>curve here:
>
>http://terraserver-usa.com/image.asp...13&Y=10586&W=3
>
>Since it's a highway, the only real excitement is peering at the
>speedometer while staying tucked in feet on the cranks and seeing how
>far I roll out on the flat before it's time to start pedaling again.
>
>An old photo, looking toward the hill from where throngs of spectators
>urge me to greater speeds:
> http://i30.tinypic.com/2dhb52w.jpg
>
>Well, okay, from where spectators like this stare at me:
> http://i25.tinypic.com/swwcpl.jpg
>
>He's perched in the cottonwood on the right in the earlier picture,
>hoping that I'll scare something out of the bushes so he can have
>lunch.
>
>The curve down the hill isn't nearly as sharp as the picture makes it
>look--that's just the camera's foreshortening effect.
>
>It's hard to pretend that descending that curve is a wild ride when a
>motorcyclist may cruise past, one hand on the throttle, the other on
>his knee, gawking at the scenery, while his girlfriend leaning against
>the backrest is using both hands to re-tie the scarf around her hair.
>
>Anyone who wants higher speeds in Pueblo County can ride about ten
>miles out the highway to Beulah and head down the gun-barrel straight
>descent into Rock Creek Canyon. That's good for 50 mph into a
>headwind:
>
>http://terraserver-usa.com/image.asp...89&Y=10552&W=1
>
>Again, this is another 65 mph zone with a long runout at the bottom.
>My hills are emphatically not Jobst's kind of Alpine descent, with
>short runs between hairpin turns, hard braking, no shoulder, and the
>possibility of traffic.
>
>If someone has parked a car on the shoulder and I have to swerve out,
>I become wildly indignant and consider moving to Montana, where things
>aren't so crowded. I can't even recall ever having to swerve out to
>pass another bicycle down my daily hill.
>
>Cheers,
>
>Carl Fogel

An astonishingly quick email asked me what a decent chinook wind is,
versus a big chinook wind.

The weather station about ten miles east was showing "fair and breezy"
today at around 3 p.m. when I went down the hill at just over 45 mph,
with the wind from the west measured at 30 to 44 mph:
http://www.weather.gov/data/obhistory/KPUB.html

That's a decent chinook, particularly when you pedal out into it on
the other side of the river.

It never produces the kind of speed increase that I hope for when I
come back into town because the curve goes down through a gully and is
shielded by a spur of the bluff. If you have a tailwind at the top,
it's a side wind at the bottom and in the lee of the bluff. If you
have a tailwind at the bottom, it's a less than helpful sidewind at
the top.

Around here, a big chinook is over 50 mph. I try to think of how nice
and warm it is instead of how many gears I have to drop when I head
out into it.

Cheers,

Carl Fogel

In article <tp3lp3trgdkco6rrhqh8csv0mive85fb8s@4ax.com>,
<carlfogel@comcast.net> wrote:

> >
> >http://terraserver-usa.com/image.asp...13&Y=10586&W=3
> >
> >Since it's a highway, the only real excitement is peering at the
> >speedometer while staying tucked in feet on the cranks and seeing how
> >far I roll out on the flat before it's time to start pedaling again.

How subjective is the perception of speed, how amenable it is to
adrenalin and external stimuli.

I recall in childhood my CCM [ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CCM_(cycle)
] warping me into a parallel universe when in hindsight it was
puttering along at a lowly 30 KM/H or thereabouts. And riding in the
(Canadian) Rockies, where the expansiveness of the scenery and broad
highways, transformed 70+ KM/H descents into humdrum affairs. Then
there was the time racing another courier, Van Halen cranked to seismic
levels on the mp3 player and heartbeat throbbing in my eardrums, I
could've sworn I hit 60+ KM/H at Bay and Queen [
http://tinyurl.com/2rjxzh ]... but I know better.

Well, bicycles are often the fastest vehicles in downtown "Trana".

On Jan 25, 10:25 pm, Dan Burkhart <Dan.Burkhart.33r...@no-
mx.forums.cyclingforums.com> wrote:
> Luke Wrote:
> > Then
> > there was the time racing another courier, Van Halen cranked to
> > seismic
> > levels on the mp3 player and heartbeat throbbing in my eardrums, I
> > could've sworn I hit 60+ KM/H at Bay and Queen [
> >http://tinyurl.com/2rjxzh]... but I know better.
>
> Well, bicycles are often the fastest vehicles in downtown "Trana".
>

Yes, but if Luke is still seeing electric buses at Queen and Bay, he's
going reeeeeal slow - they've been gone 20 years or so. Streetcars, of
course, still roam wild.

Q&B is especially nasty southbound, as (a) the right lane disappears
into an underground garage, and (b) there's an S curve at Queen plus a
bike pedestrian island and right turn lane, with massive pedestrian
traffic in all directions. Also, (c) the intersection is filled with
all sorts of slippery steel bits. The 'Buses, Taxis, and Bikes Only'
signs on the right lane are consistantly inored.

And if you can spare a nanosecond to look left, you're going past our
Old City Hall, which has thousands of interesting architectural
details.

On Jan 25, 11:56 pm, Brian Huntley <brian_hunt...@hotmail.com> wrote:
> On Jan 25, 10:25 pm, Dan Burkhart <Dan.Burkhart.33r...@no-
>
> mx.forums.cyclingforums.com> wrote:
> > Luke Wrote:
> > > Then
> > > there was the time racing another courier, Van Halen cranked to
> > > seismic
> > > levels on the mp3 player and heartbeat throbbing in my eardrums, I
> > > could've sworn I hit 60+ KM/H at Bay and Queen [
> > >http://tinyurl.com/2rjxzh]... but I know better.
>
> > Well, bicycles are often the fastest vehicles in downtown "Trana".
>
> Yes, but if Luke is still seeing electric buses at Queen and Bay, he's
> going reeeeeal slow - they've been gone 20 years or so. Streetcars, of
> course, still roam wild.
>
> Q&B is especially nasty southbound, as (a) the right lane disappears
> into an underground garage, and (b) there's an S curve at Queen plus a
> bike pedestrian island and right turn lane, with massive pedestrian
> traffic in all directions. Also, (c) the intersection is filled with
> all sorts of slippery steel bits. The 'Buses, Taxis, and Bikes Only'
> signs on the right lane are consistantly inored.
>
> And if you can spare a nanosecond to look left, you're going past our
> Old City Hall, which has thousands of interesting architectural
> details.

Ah! Just spotted the movie marquee - the photo is likely from 1984
based on "The Bachelor Party" with Tom Hanks.

On Jan 25, 7:47*pm, Luke <lucasirag...@rogers.com> wrote:
> Entertaining as the prevarications of Andre Jute were -- I gotta admit
> the cat and mouse game of alleged facts gave me a few chuckles -- I was
> left wondering what the max speed fellow rbt'ers have attained on their
> two wheelers. Let's stick to only those velocities verified by
> instrument.
>
> I'll start off. My personal best, as related by a Filzer computer, is a
> modest 78 KM/H. This was in the summer of '04 while touring the
> Adirondacks. No towlines, slipstreams nor tailwinds, just a beautiful
> morning, lovely mountains, and my 700c tourer with panniers packed
> ferrying me, with an imbecilic grin and chin grazing the stem, down a
> hell of a hill. I suspect that if I hadn't jettisoned the mouldy
> kolbassa from my pack prior to setting off that fateful morning I
> could've broken the 79 KM/H barrier.
>
> Now I *know* I've exceeded that record during another tour (sans
> speedometer) in the Rockies where I practically became supersonic,
> rocketing downhill "at well over 100Km/h". As soon as I concoct the
> details I'll be sure to post.

I always argued the Tour de France was bull**** when they would show a pair of
riders on a flat breakaway crusing along and show the speedometer on
the motorcycle showing 70kph or so,as if.....I just can't understand
what's the point of lying, when the reality one achieves is far more
difficult than the fantasy that has no more substance than the air
that was used to uttered it ?

In article <250120081947508548%lucasiragusa@rogers.com>,
Luke <lucasiragusa@rogers.com> wrote:

> Entertaining as the prevarications of Andre Jute were -- I gotta admit
> the cat and mouse game of alleged facts gave me a few chuckles -- I was
> left wondering what the max speed fellow rbt'ers have attained on their
> two wheelers. Let's stick to only those velocities verified by
> instrument.
>
> I'll start off. My personal best, as related by a Filzer computer, is a
> modest 78 KM/H. This was in the summer of '04 while touring the
> Adirondacks. No towlines, slipstreams nor tailwinds, just a beautiful
> morning, lovely mountains, and my 700c tourer with panniers packed
> ferrying me, with an imbecilic grin and chin grazing the stem, down a
> hell of a hill. I suspect that if I hadn't jettisoned the mouldy
> kolbassa from my pack prior to setting off that fateful morning I
> could've broken the 79 KM/H barrier.
>
> Now I *know* I've exceeded that record during another tour (sans
> speedometer) in the Rockies where I practically became supersonic,
> rocketing downhill "at well over 100Km/h". As soon as I concoct the
> details I'll be sure to post.

I passed a school bus down a long hill on Hwy 36 in California near
Susanville, if that counts. That was probably at least 50 MPH. It's
scary even if you balance the tires first.

--
I don't read Google's spam. Reply with another service.

In article
<e20836c1-72c3-46c6-b67e-1e9c78c1dcf8@d70g2000hsb.googlegroups.com>,
Brian Huntley <brian_huntley@hotmail.com> wrote:

> On Jan 25, 11:56 pm, Brian Huntley <brian_hunt...@hotmail.com> wrote:
> > On Jan 25, 10:25 pm, Dan Burkhart <Dan.Burkhart.33r...@no-
> >
> > mx.forums.cyclingforums.com> wrote:
> > > Luke Wrote:
> > > > Then
> > > > there was the time racing another courier, Van Halen cranked to
> > > > seismic
> > > > levels on the mp3 player and heartbeat throbbing in my eardrums, I
> > > > could've sworn I hit 60+ KM/H at Bay and Queen [
> > > >http://tinyurl.com/2rjxzh]... but I know better.
> >
> > > Well, bicycles are often the fastest vehicles in downtown "Trana".
> >
> > Yes, but if Luke is still seeing electric buses at Queen and Bay, he's
> > going reeeeeal slow - they've been gone 20 years or so. Streetcars, of
> > course, still roam wild.

That's what googling Queen and Bay gets ya: old TTC file photos. ;-)
Check out the woody wagon in foreground to the electric bus.

> >
> > Q&B is especially nasty southbound, as (a) the right lane disappears
> > into an underground garage, and (b) there's an S curve at Queen plus a
> > bike pedestrian island and right turn lane, with massive pedestrian
> > traffic in all directions. Also, (c) the intersection is filled with
> > all sorts of slippery steel bits. The 'Buses, Taxis, and Bikes Only'
> > signs on the right lane are consistantly inored.

That's the way I was going: south on Bay St. Love that 'S' turn which
takes you to the heart of the concrete canyon.
> >
> > And if you can spare a nanosecond to look left, you're going past our
> > Old City Hall, which has thousands of interesting architectural
> > details.

A lovely landmark. Even in its current guise as purgatory for
prospective criminals it's lost nothing of its majesty. Worth a second
look:

Circa 1900: http://tinyurl.com/3bsspk
And later: http://tinyurl.com/3djdbo
>
> Ah! Just spotted the movie marquee - the photo is likely from 1984
> based on "The Bachelor Party" with Tom Hanks.

Luke wrote:
> Entertaining as the prevarications of Andre Jute were -- I gotta admit
> the cat and mouse game of alleged facts gave me a few chuckles -- I was
> left wondering what the max speed fellow rbt'ers have attained on their
> two wheelers. Let's stick to only those velocities verified by
> instrument.
>
> I'll start off. My personal best, as related by a Filzer computer, is a
> modest 78 KM/H. This was in the summer of '04 while touring the
> Adirondacks. No towlines, slipstreams nor tailwinds, just a beautiful
> morning, lovely mountains, and my 700c tourer with panniers packed
> ferrying me, with an imbecilic grin and chin grazing the stem, down a
> hell of a hill. I suspect that if I hadn't jettisoned the mouldy
> kolbassa from my pack prior to setting off that fateful morning I
> could've broken the 79 KM/H barrier.
>
> Now I *know* I've exceeded that record during another tour (sans
> speedometer) in the Rockies where I practically became supersonic,
> rocketing downhill "at well over 100Km/h". As soon as I concoct the
> details I'll be sure to post.

57.1 mph, or 91.9 km/h if you must use those horrid metric thingies.

Here:

http://tinyurl.com/yp3qbh

It's quite hard to find hills in the UK, or anywhere in Europe, that are
steep but also wide, well-surfaced and straight enough to achieve more
than 60 mph. Pork Hill near Tavistock (Devon) is reputed to be good for
over 70 mph, but when I rode it I caught up with motor traffic and had
to brake, only managing 56.6 mph.

http://tinyurl.com/25l4d6

It certainly has potential, with a good surface and wide sweeping bends.

The North Pennines have some monster hills with straight roads, but they
tend to be unfenced, so sheep are a problem, along with cattle grids and
very rough frost-resistant asphalt. The E -> W descent from Killhope
Cross is supposed to be a record-breaker if it's recently been
resurfaced, but it's pretty bad at the moment:

http://tinyurl.com/yquh8y

Luke wrote:
> Entertaining as the prevarications of Andre Jute were -- I gotta admit
> the cat and mouse game of alleged facts gave me a few chuckles -- I was
> left wondering what the max speed fellow rbt'ers have attained on their
> two wheelers. Let's stick to only those velocities verified by
> instrument.
>
> I'll start off. My personal best, as related by a Filzer computer, is a
> modest 78 KM/H. This was in the summer of '04 while touring the
> Adirondacks. No towlines, slipstreams nor tailwinds, just a beautiful
> morning, lovely mountains, and my 700c tourer with panniers packed
> ferrying me, with an imbecilic grin and chin grazing the stem, down a
> hell of a hill. I suspect that if I hadn't jettisoned the mouldy
> kolbassa from my pack prior to setting off that fateful morning I
> could've broken the 79 KM/H barrier.
>
> Now I *know* I've exceeded that record during another tour (sans
> speedometer) in the Rockies where I practically became supersonic,
> rocketing downhill "at well over 100Km/h". As soon as I concoct the
> details I'll be sure to post.

I managed over 60mph once in Colorado someplace in 1987. I don't
recall where. I have since gone metric and computer-less so I don't
know what recent high speeds have been, but they are nowhere near as
fast. My high speed riding since then has been confined to the
mountains of Switerland, Italy, and Norway. None of which offer the
types of long gradual descents that can been done without using
brakes.

Joseph

On Jan 25, 7:47*pm, Luke <lucasirag...@rogers.com> wrote:
> Entertaining as the prevarications of Andre Jute were -- I gotta admit
> the cat and mouse game of alleged facts gave me a few chuckles -- I was
> left wondering what the max speed fellow rbt'ers have attained on their
> two wheelers. Let's stick to only those velocities verified by
> instrument.
>
> I'll start off. My personal best, as related by a Filzer computer, is a
> modest 78 KM/H. This was in the summer of '04 while touring the
> Adirondacks. No towlines, slipstreams nor tailwinds, just a beautiful
> morning, lovely mountains, and my 700c tourer with panniers packed
> ferrying me, with an imbecilic grin and chin grazing the stem, down a
> hell of a hill. I suspect that if I hadn't jettisoned the mouldy
> kolbassa from my pack prior to setting off that fateful morning I
> could've broken the 79 KM/H barrier.
>
> Now I *know* I've exceeded that record during another tour (sans
> speedometer) in the Rockies where I practically became supersonic,
> rocketing downhill "at well over 100Km/h". As soon as I concoct the
> details I'll be sure to post.

1. For an ECCC race last season, I think we boys were hitting 50 mph
down some of the Poughkeepsie hills. Pretty super, especially with the
gorgeous backdrop of landscape.

2. At another occassion, my HRM messed up with speedometer figures and
for a brief second, I paused to grin at total flahute-ness.


Ron
http://cozybeehive.blogspot.com