Too slow going down hills

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  • Not really, Norfolk is fairly flat image
  • Lots of really good cycling by the Surrey peeps.

     I still haven't topped 28mphimage.

     I did a lap sesion today, a 5 mile hilly route * 10. It was really good for practising going faster, and lap 7 was over 2 minutes quicker than my first lap. I was completey knackered by the last lap but it was still faster than my first coz I was able to go faster on the downhill bits. So even tho I didn't break my top speed, I spent a lot more time doing 20+mph ............so slowly improving.

  • Well done Purple. 

    Not everyone was good on the Surrey ride.  I did the grand speed of 11mph down Box Hill.  I think that might be a record. image

  • Tommygun2 wrote (see)
    Saffers wrote (see)
    Nice going K9.....managed 40.5mph out on the Surrey Hills today! Scary stuff that speed.image
    well if you will follow a chubby bloke down the hills you are bound to go fastimage 
    You didn't notice that string I attached to the back of you then? image  Oh and you were very kind saying that I was drafting......LOL....I don't think so......I'm sure you have to be a tad closer to benefit from drafting and if I tried that, I would have had you off your bike.imageimage
  • Saffers- I think you were meant to say "but there wasn't a chubby bloke"! image
  • I never like to do as expected!! image TG is not chubby.......cuddly is a word I would use or I could say skinny......TG's a lovely bloke! imageimage  Plus he has a nice ar$e to follow down those hills. image
  • Now thats motivation for speeding up down the hills - ar$e watching!  Love it! image

    Great to see you all yesterday by the way, and thanks for the bubbly Saffers. 

  • I've just had a brill bike session and did 15mph going round a bend! image  It was a coached session and after talking me round the bend (on a cycle track) the next time round he put his hand on my back to keep me going round at the same speed as him.  He's also put my stem up just a bit and its made a big improvement to my control over the bike.  I'm not wobbling so much and feel much more confident.  

    I've just got to practice more now and when I can do the bends at speed he said I'll be good enough to join in the Thursday evening sessions that the club cyclists go to. Friday afternoon is a wonderful ladies learning session and a bargain at £2.  

    I'll be tackling those hills better soon if I keep this up. image

  • Soup - well done ! Sounds like a really good session. Coaching is an excellant idea image
  • Purple...

    I know you're relatively local. In my view, it's down to a few things. Road surface, traffic volume and big sweepy or very tight turns on the way down. Something like Bluebell Hill is a definite 40mph+ location, as is Linton Hill. Equally steep hills coming down the Wield on either side eg Loddington Lane, Church Hill, Wierton hill, etc are far more twisty and b-roady nasty gravel surfaces which I wouldn't dream of doing much more than 20mph down.

    Really it's about confidence and practice and really wanting to go for it as hard as you can. Happy to meet up and lead you down Linton Hill any time....
  • 31mph at Roth could have done faster but having traffic coming the other way at 50mph on a B road makes you thinkg twice or 1000 times about letting the breaks off....
  • bushwacka - I do cycle on mostly country roads and the road surfaces are not good. I would love too a have a crack at Linton Hill. I will  PM you image.

    Did 82 miles today, average pace 13.3 which has gone up from 12.6 so slowly getting there. Had my first experience of really strong wind today, it was so hard. In fact I had all weathers, rain, hail, sun and cold gusty wind.

    Still not managed 30mph !

  • Soup DragonSoup Dragon ✭✭✭

    29mph down one of the Bala hills. image  Where's the list gone?

  • Soupy that's great. Well done! image
  • Soup DragonSoup Dragon ✭✭✭

    The Wheeeeeeeeee Club

    FB 68mph
     

    K9 35mph
    Saffers 34.5mph
    Melds  31mph
    Purpletrilady 28mph
    Soup Dragon 29mph
    PinguPongu 30pmh, I knows cos one of the speeding signs flashed it up!

    PP - you must have gone well over 30mph at Bala.  You shot ahead of me like a bullet. image

  • Managed 48 mph on the long descent on the way out of Bala last week.....

    Your self preservation is possibly sensible Soup ! One of these days I will make a real mess of things !

  • Fantastic going Soupy! image
  • I still think FB's blaggin 68 mph FFS !! The g-force should have blown him off...
  • According to my Garmin I went a little over 38mph on a downhill today.

    WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!

    I like downhills image

  • I did loads of hills today and much faster than usual....bike compter broke tho so no idea what speed i got to image
  • The Wheeeeeeeeee Club

    FB 68mph
    Rosey 66mph
     

    K9 35mph
    Saffers 34.5mph
    Melds  31mph
    Purpletrilady 28mph
    Soup Dragon 29mph
    PinguPongu 30pmh, I knows cos one of the speeding signs flashed it up!

    What a great thread, personally I am a self confessed downhill nutcase, love speed but have never been any different, the 66 is probably in the same place as FB off HBH in IM CH, to be fair to people who are struggling with speed downhill it's something that is hard to come by if you are nervy on a bike to start with, sort of self preservation thing, better to be alive than hitting a brick wall just after you look down to see 50mph on the speedo.

    Also helps as someone says to have good road surface, know the descent and have a good bike set up with steady hands, keep at it, it will come with practise, and good going to soup on the coaching, sounds like a good club strategy.
  • And if anyone in the NW wants to do some bike handling I am sure we can sort something out.

  • The Wheeeeeeeeee Club

    FB 68mph
    Rosey 66mph
    Barley 58mph 
     

    K9 35mph
    Saffers 34.5mph
    Melds  31mph
    Purpletrilady 28mph
    Soup Dragon 29mph
    PinguPongu 30pmh, I knows cos one of the speeding signs flashed it up!


    Worth mentioning dont sacrifice safety in persuit of downhill speed, by all means go for it on clear roads when you can see where youre going.

    Beware of side winds and potholes, something I wrote on another thread today. 
    Bouncing Barlist wrote (see)
    Oh and I had a bit of a momentary scare on my bike ride today, hit a smallish pothole doing about 40mph down a hill and the tribars nearly bounced out of my hands.  The jolt also nearly knocked my glasses of and the when they relanded on my nose I couldnt see as the perspiration had smudged around the lenses.  Just about managed to steer and get the speed down with reduced vision.
  • GertieGertie ✭✭✭
    Iron Rose wrote (see)
    And if anyone in the NW wants to do some bike handling I am sure we can sort something out.

    Rosie, at the speed you and FB were going down HBH I think it's a lobotomy that people will be needing.

    Just looked at my Garmin for IMCH last year. Top speed on the day was 42mph, but only 28 on HBH.

    edit - which lap did you hit 66?  Did you get faster per lap on HBH?

  • The Wheeeeeeeeee Club

    FB 68mph
    Rosey 66mph
    Barley 58mph 
     

    Trogs 38mph
    K9 35mph
    Saffers 34.5mph
    Melds  31mph
    PinguPongu 30pmh, I knows cos one of the speeding signs flashed it up!
    Purpletrilady 28mph
    Soup Dragon 29mph

    Just adding my new speed record to the list image

  • Soup DragonSoup Dragon ✭✭✭
    Purpletrilady wrote (see)
    I did loads of hills today and much faster than usual....bike compter broke tho so no idea what speed i got to image


    Well done anyway Purple.  I think that credits an honorary 35mph.

    Side winds scared the life out of me this week.  And to be honest I only got 29mph down one hill.  I wimped out of the 10% downhill cos I could hear a lorry coming up behind and then the weather turned bad.  On one hill I went 22mph on the down and then 24mph on the flat straight after.  I felt so much more in control on the flat. 

    Good point about the bike fit though, thanks.  My coaching people think I should have a shorter stem and that's why I'm struggling so I'm going to go back to the shop and see what they say.  I'm also aware that my vision isn't that good, I struggled to see the motorway signs on the way home in the car so a good eye test might help too! image

  • edit - which lap did you hit 66?  Did you get faster per lap on HBH?

    I had 3 goes remember as I did the Olympic Tri, no idea which lap it was as I tend to check afterwards at top speed, have been tempted to check the speedo on the descent a few times and found myself a bit close to the bushes
  • Ooh scary stuff.

    PTL - my bike computer flew off the mount and was lost forever when I bumped over a pothole on a fast downhill section of the White Horse challenge a few weeks ago. I was depressed for about 10 miles after that! (Why does something falling off the bike make one feel so incompetent??) I used to get very depressed on long rides but have found that starting to eat and drink earlier helps to control that. Congratulations again on your 100 miles - a HUGE achievement! image
  • I managed over 50kph on my mountain bike yesterday. For some reason this seemed considerably faster than 46mph on a road bike!
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