I am DONE with going fast down hills!

[Stonechat]

Total coward descending
Don't even like 30 mph

 

[TeeQue]

According to the Strava trace from my ride Saturday I managed 43.4mph on my old mountain bike and to be honest that didn't feel at all sketchy which is strange because the front wheel does have a bit of a wobble to it (cones need adjusting I think).

 

[Andrew_Culture]

Is that misnamed on the map?

I had assumed from your post you were talking about broomfield hill, yet this is marked as sawyer's (which doesn't have any pinch points and is a pretty straight and safe descent (unless you are Fabian cancellara).

I'm lucky enough to only live 5 minutes from the park, so do get to use it often (100+laps a year).

The descent of broomfield (when riding ACW) is tricky and I have often seen the aftermath of people over cooking the corner - it's camber is very difficult and will spit you out very easily. The surface is also less than perfect.

Cars do often cross the solid white lines to overtake bikes climbing the hill, and I have seen a number of very close misses over the years.

Glad you survived the prang!

I kinda wish I'd taken a photo of the hill, it had brilliantly clear visibility, dry firm grippy surface and no strong winds. I saw the Merc before I started the descent but it looked so unlikely that he'd pull out that I didn't factor it in.

It is a great park to ride round though.

 

[Andrew_Culture]

None of them, apparently...

I have no idea why my Garmin was so inaccurate yesterday, I was expecting it to be when I was pootlkng around in the city, but not in the park!

 

[Andrew_Culture]

My goodness there were a lot of bling bikes out in Richmond Park, @dktd and I were queering the curve somewhat

 

[HLaB]

Ah, yes. Brings back fond memories of my near-stack coming down a mountain. Nothing to do with cars, though, just me not quite being careful enough! (fast-forward to 4:30)

Even the best lose it that way
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ubyKni_IbFY

 

[Herzog]

Even the best lose it that way
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ubyKni_IbFY

Great save!

 

[Justiffa]

I love going fast downhill, u really can get quite a rush lol BUT and its a big but, the thought of a burst tyre is always there at the back of my mind, and lately its gotten to the point that i've started to lose focus bcos of that fear, and taking the curves a little too hesitantly.

Bcos of my injury, i'm having a lot of time to reflect…and next time when i do ride again, i'm cutting down on my speed.

 

[Sharky]

I must be slow-witted today, because I don't quite get that!

I am 58 and would do 58 mph on a descent, but that is close to my mental limit. I would certainly be reluctant to exceed 70 mph. It would seem odd to pack up cycling at 73 because I was only willing to do, say, 69 mph!

Failure yesterday - did not reach 64mph

 

[Mo1959]

I find the older I've got, the more my imagination runs away with me thinking of all the "what ifs" i.e. what if I have a front tyre blowout, what if there is a flaw in the frame/fork and it decides to give way and I face plant on tarmac. I know the chances are extremely slim but can't help thinking about it. I've had a few scary moments when I have overshot downhill corners and been on the wrong side of the road briefly and it was just luck that there was nothing coming.

 

[Nigel-YZ1]

I clocked 49mph on a 30 year old steel road bike a couple of years ago. Nearly fainted when I saw the GPS readout later.
I'm definitely a "what ifs" type of bloke now, so I'll just ignore GPS readings from now on.

 

[Octet]

I've just taken possession of my new carbon road bike, being my first fully carbon steed I thought I would give it a pace test down one of my favourite roads. The road is very long, normally dead quiet and has a very slight negative gradient.

I unfortunately didn't begin giving it my all till about midway down, and I didn't go aero till probably the final 100m but I managed to hit 36mph comfortably and I think I probably could of just taken it to 50mph if I hammered it, started earlier etc. and worked on my positioning.

 

[Spinney]

When I got my first road bike I got a real kick out of being able to go downhill at 30mph, then it crept up a bit and I could get to 42mph even on Suffolk roads, then I went up North and got nearly to 55mph. It was when I reached nearly 55mph that I realised the cheapo audax frame I ride isn't really cut out for speed. A realisation I soon forgot. Until today.

I was descending a hill in Richmond Park, just about to knock it into my highest gear and go into an aero tuck when an oncoming Merc pulled onto my side of the road to overtake a cyclist. I feathered the brakes, feathered some more and decided to try and squeeze through the gap that would be left between the car and the kerb. Not ideal, there was a fair amount of gravelly debris in that narrow margin. As I tried to relax my grip on the bike and continued to attempt an emergency deceleration the bike started leaping about under me like a bucking bronco. I really had to work hard to keep my calm but I was loosing control fast so had to go where the bike wanted to take me, which was off the road. I managed to stay upright somehow and came to a halt at the end of a deep furrow carved by my wheels in the grass.

That's it. I'm DONE with descending fast, at least until I get a bike fit for purpose

Wrong tactics - should have done a Peter Sagan and bunny hopped over the Merc - a set of tyre tracks on his bonnet and over the roof might teach him to be more careful with his overtakes!

 

[Biscuit]

67kph on this weekends forum ride with @ColinJ. On a steel frame road bike from yesteryear and a single pannier. Did say before I left that I wasn't gonna go silly but, well....I was enjoying the ride tbh. Great fun. For a shandy-drinking-southern-softy-daft-bastard I think I did alright.
Although I do have 105 brakes, set up to within a knats-cock of perfect, and can honestly say it felt pretty solid.

Fit those 105s Andrew. Know you wanna....

 

[fossyant]

Steel frames are notorious for developing a shimmy, it could be triggered by unbalanced wheel rims, once they reach the resonant frequency of the frame the whole thing becomes a monster. The trick is to change the resonant frequency of the frame by clinging onto the top bar or making firm contact with the frame using legs, this might detune the frame enough to kill the wobble.

Not true. Hear many carbon bikes suffering this too. It's down to lots of factors.

My Ribble has done 55 and my Herety 60 mph. Rock solid.