How to descend... FAST

Quoted message said:

Jobst Brandt

I think the motorcyclist he passed just about shat himelf.

Very dumb though...how many times did he cross lanes on blind corners?

"Hank Wirtz" wrote: (clip) Very dumb though...how many times did he cross
lanes on blind corners?
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
He obviously planned everything, including the photography. The video is
completely steady. This how I imagine he did it. Set up a camera on the
front of an ambulance, so he's ready for anything, including the pictures of
his own death.

Lou Holtman writes:

Quoted message said:

Amazing. I climbed these passes (Grimsel, Furka) last summer.
Thanks.

So did I, but I didn't go through the long tunnel on the Grimsel
through which he rolled. The more scenic cobblestone road goes around
that section. See "rec.bicycles.rides".

Jobst Brandt

Quoted message said:

Lou Holtman writes:

Quoted message said:

Amazing. I climbed these passes (Grimsel, Furka) last summer.
Thanks.

So did I, but I didn't go through the long tunnel on the Grimsel
through which he rolled. The more scenic cobblestone road goes around
that section. See "rec.bicycles.rides".

Jobst Brandt

Yes, there was a tunnel earlier in the climb if I recall correctly. With
all that traffic it was scary, so I took the same bypass;

http://home.planet.nl/~holtm072/plaatjes/018_PICT0012.JPG

Cheers,

Lou

Hank Wirtz said:

Quoted message said:

Jobst Brandt

I think the motorcyclist he passed just about shat himelf.

Very dumb though...how many times did he cross lanes on blind corners?

The dumbnesses of his exploits defies trying to prioritize them.

But in his defense, he is obviously quite in tune to his surroundings
(he isn't dead yet), so what may have seemed blind curves to us may
have been something else to him.

This guy has obvioulsy taken things to an extreme, but his mastery
appears as insanity to those of us who do not have his skill. Just as
I would probably consider trying to keep up with even the slowest pros
down an alpine pass on my bike to be suicide, and them mad. Or even
trying to keep up with some of the regulars here!

Joseph

Hank Wirtz said:

Quoted message said:

Jobst Brandt

I think the motorcyclist he passed just about shat himelf.

Very dumb though...

But very cool.

Quoted message said:

how many times did he cross lanes on blind corners?

If a car comes the other way he can just glide underneath it.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Lou Holtman said:

Amazing. I climbed these passes (Grimsel, Furka) last summer.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

So did I, but I didn't go through the long tunnel on the Grimsel
through which he rolled. The more scenic cobblestone road goes around
that section. See "rec.bicycles.rides".

Lou Holtman said:

Yes, there was a tunnel earlier in the climb if I recall correctly. With
all that traffic it was scary, so I took the same bypass;
http://home.planet.nl/~holtm072/plaatjes/018_PICT0012.JPG

Wow. That is one seriously impressive road! Nice photo, too.
--
Andrew Muzi
www.yellowjersey.org
Open every day since 1 April, 1971

Joseph Santaniello said:

Quoted message said:

I think the motorcyclist he passed just about shat himself.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Very dumb though...how many times did he cross lanes on blind
corners?

Quoted message said:

The dumbnesses of his exploits defies trying to prioritize them.

Quoted message said:

But in his defense, he is obviously quite in tune to his
surroundings (he isn't dead yet), so what may have seemed blind
curves to us may have been something else to him.

Quoted message said:

This guy has obviously taken things to an extreme, but his mastery
appears as insanity to those of us who do not have his skill. Just
as I would probably consider trying to keep up with even the slowest
pros down an alpine pass on my bike to be suicide, and them mad. Or
even trying to keep up with some of the regulars here!

This brings to mind the assessment that:

"Everyone who descends mountain roads slower than I is a slug, and
everyone who is faster, is crazy." I've heard it often from
bicyclists over the years, but it rings the same, and that is that the
speaker is the norm.

Jobst Brandt

Andrew Muzi writes:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

> Amazing. I climbed these passes (Grimsel, Furka) last summer.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

So did I, but I didn't go through the long tunnel on the Grimsel
through which he rolled. The more scenic cobblestone road goes around
that section. See "rec.bicycles.rides".

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Yes, there was a tunnel earlier in the climb if I recall correctly. With
all that traffic it was scary, so I took the same bypass;

http://home.planet.nl/~holtm072/plaatjes/018_PICT0012.JPG

Quoted message said:

Wow. That is one seriously impressive road! Nice photo, too.

The Grimsel and Furka passes are typical of the beauty of riding the Alps:

another Grimsel shot:

http://www.paloaltobicycles.com/alps_photos/s90.html

there are more.

Jobst Brandt

j

Quoted message said:

"Everyone who descends mountain roads slower than I is a slug, and
everyone who is faster, is crazy." I've heard it often from
bicyclists over the years, but it rings the same, and that is that the
speaker is the norm.

Jobst Brandt

-----------
There are plenty of busted up and dead
pros to know that anyone can die on a
stupid ass fast descent.

Hank Wirtz said:

Quoted message said:

Jobst Brandt

I think the motorcyclist he passed just about shat himelf.

Very dumb though...how many times did he cross lanes on blind corners?

I only watched it once and before I saw your question, but it looked to me
like he only crossed the center line when he had a decent view the on-coming
traffic. He did pass one or more on-coming vehicles in corners while
staying in his lane. I thought he was in good control all the way.

Quoted message said:

Jobst Brandt

Sick. Awesome. I think a Eurostyle road surface would be a requirement
for that. One American pothole would put an ugly end to that new years
party.

Robert

Robert 15757? writes:

Quoted message said:

Sick. Awesome. I think a Eurostyle road surface would be a
requirement for that. One American pothole would put an ugly end to
that new years party.

Hey! Are you a terrorist or anarchist, by calling attention to our
republican roads, ones that are not supported by tax cuts? Just
remember when you go bicycling that you are riding on republican roads.

Jobst Brandt

"Andrew Lee" <whatsupandrewathotmaildotcom> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Hank Wirtz said:

Quoted message said:

Jobst Brandt

I think the motorcyclist he passed just about shat himelf.

Very dumb though...how many times did he cross lanes on blind
corners?

I only watched it once and before I saw your question, but it looked
to me like he only crossed the center line when he had a decent view
the on-coming traffic. He did pass one or more on-coming vehicles in
corners while staying in his lane. I thought he was in good control
all the way.

Good control!! Even at 50 mph I can stop within 100 yds or so. His
stopping distance is .................wait a minute, his method of
stopping is .................and he didn't have the road closed. This
doesn't sound like control to me. Vehicle(s) or whatever blocking the
road and then what?

Phil H

Phil Holman said:

Good control!! Even at 50 mph I can stop within 100 yds or
so. His stopping distance is .................wait a minute,
his method of stopping is .................and he didn't have
the road closed. This doesn't sound like control to me.
Vehicle(s) or whatever blocking the road and then what?

If he needs to stop, then he'll simply break 🙂

John

Quoted message said:

Lou Holtman writes:

Quoted message said:

Amazing. I climbed these passes (Grimsel, Furka) last summer.
Thanks.

So did I, but I didn't go through the long tunnel on the Grimsel
through which he rolled.  The more scenic cobblestone road goes around
that section.  See "rec.bicycles.rides".

How long are the descents, and what are the grades? -- Jay Beattie.

Quoted message said:

Jobst Brandt

Jobst

Were you one of the cyclists with the dropped jaws about 2:35 into the
video?

Mike

Quoted message said:

"Everyone who descends mountain roads slower than I is a slug, and
everyone who is faster, is crazy." I've heard it often from
bicyclists over the years, but it rings the same, and that is that the
speaker is the norm.

Not sure if George Carlin heard that and adapted it, or the other way
around - "Anyone driving faster than me is an idiot; anyone driving
slower is a moron".

On Tue, 1 Jan 2008 20:15:29 -0800, "Phil Holman"

piholmanc@yourservice said:

"Andrew Lee" <whatsupandrewathotmaildotcom> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Hank Wirtz said:

[email hidden] wrote:
>

>
> Jobst Brandt

I think the motorcyclist he passed just about shat himelf.

Very dumb though...how many times did he cross lanes on blind
corners?

I only watched it once and before I saw your question, but it looked
to me like he only crossed the center line when he had a decent view
the on-coming traffic. He did pass one or more on-coming vehicles in
corners while staying in his lane. I thought he was in good control
all the way.

Good control!! Even at 50 mph I can stop within 100 yds or so. His
stopping distance is .................wait a minute, his method of
stopping is .................and he didn't have the road closed. This
doesn't sound like control to me. Vehicle(s) or whatever blocking the
road and then what?

Phil H

Dear Phil,

It doesn't sound like control to me, either, just dumb luck that no
one was coming the wrong way at the wrong time--the kind of behavior
that we all scream about when drivers indulge in it and nearly kill
us.

I'm curious about realistic bicycle stopping distances. Your 100 yard
figure for 50 mph sounded high to me, but . . .

Whether reaction time is included affects things, and downhill on a
curve at 50 mph on a bicycle is different than straight line on the
flat in a truck at 60 mph.

Stopping distances in feet on dry and wet pavement for seven pickup
trucks tested in September's Consumer Reports, which was the handiest
issue:

dry/wet

153/178
153/185
171/204
153/190
159/181
153/192
176/205

avg ft avg yards
160/191 53/64

Cars do better. A glance at a few recent issues shows that the
Mazdaspeed3 (I didn't believe the name at first) stopped in 123/135
feet, or 41/45 yards, dry/wet.

I suspect that bicyclists actually brake to a stop rather poorly, no
matter how riders boast about their braking skills on RBT. It's hard
to believe that posters get much real practice doing panic stops at 50
mph (or at 25 mph).

The theoretical minimum stopping distance is probably significantly
shorter than what people achieve in real life emergencies when the
brakes are grabbed for dear life in a split second.

It will be interesting to see if anyone has actual test data (as
opposed to anecdotes or theory) about bicycle braking from over 40
mph.

Tests on downhills would be even more interesting.

Cheers,

Carl Fogel