Single bikes are scary!

[Tim Woodall]

On Mon, 26 Jun 2006 16:55:44 +0100,
elyob <[email protected]> wrote:
>
><[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
>>
>> Clive George wrote:
>>>
>>> Still, got to 55 on the way down the nice straight hill into Cowside,
>>> which
>>> is a new record for me on my own
>>>
>> I'm always impressed by the people who can break 50mph. Do you just
>> coast or are you pedalling like mad?
>>
>
> 53.3 mph on my mountain bike, hacking down the Brighton side of Ditchling
> Beacon. Had gone well past the gearing of my bike, but had tucked in behind
> two racers who gave me a big tow. They were very surprised to see me still
> with them at the bottom!
>
55.3[1] on my Brompton in Central London heading East from Angel along
City Road. (I have also managed the climb up to this point without my
speed going below 30[1] but since they've been doing the roadworks along
there, whatever they've resurfaced the trenches with might be smooth[2]
but certainly is hard work to cycle on)


Tim.

[1] kph ;-)

[2] Mathematician's smooth. I suspect the problem is that it's not flat
and probably has a surface oscillation similar to the Brompton wheel
size.

--
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and there was light.

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[dkahn400]

Clive George wrote:

> Still not convinced. I did just try it again
>
> I wonder if it would help if I mentioned that the hills I'm doing this on
> aren't that big - eg the one today is only 50m drop in about 800m. (steepest
> at the top). This means you don't actually get time to coast up to speed in
> a tuck - you need to put in the extra by pedalling. And this is pedalling
> quite hard - definitely not at a sustainable pace.

Well, there you are. But even over a short distance you should find
that a good tuck will outperform a pedalling effort at serious speeds.
Where exactly the crossover point is will obviously depend on factors
such as your maximum power and the efficiency of your position.

Tuning the tuck does require a lengthy drag though. Even at quite high
speeds you will find that seemingly small adjustments will show
significant changes on the speedo.

I'm still impressed by your 55mph BTW.

--
Dave...

 

[Clive George]

"dkahn400" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...

> I'm still impressed by your 55mph BTW.

And I definitely wasn't pedalling for that - so I'm not always 'pedal and
you will go faster'

cheers,
clive

 

[Simon Brooke]

in message <[email protected]>, soup
('[email protected]') wrote:

> Clive George wrote:
>> Still, got to 55 on the way down the nice straight hill into Cowside,
>> which is a new record for me on my own
>
> 55 is mega, once got 37 mph down a hill and I was scared ****less.

I once got 46mph down a hill and crashed.

Not recommended.

--
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For office use only. Please do not write or type below this line.

 

[Gavin]

> 55 is mega, once got 37 mph down a hill and I was scared ****less.

Long long time ago, i overtook a learner driver going downhil, no idea
what speed i was doing. I think it was probably their first lesson,
they didnt look very happy about it, maybe i shouldnt have waved
afterwards

 

[Simon Brooke]

in message <[email protected]>, Gavin
('[email protected]') wrote:

>> 55 is mega, once got 37 mph down a hill and I was scared ****less.
>
> Long long time ago, i overtook a learner driver going downhil, no idea
> what speed i was doing. I think it was probably their first lesson,
> they didnt look very happy about it, maybe i shouldnt have waved
> afterwards

Long long time ago, dropping down from the Kirkstone Pass to Ambleside, I
overtook an E-Type Jaguar whose driver definitely didn't want to be
overtaken. But it was a narrow twisty road, and I was seventeen and
immortal at the time. And it's rather a good hill.

--
[email protected] (Simon Brooke) http://www.jasmine.org.uk/~simon/

;; ... exposing the violence incoherent in the system...