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.
Nice going K9.....managed 40.5mph out on the Surrey Hills today! Scary stuff that speed.
well if you will follow a chubby bloke down the hills you are bound to go fast
You didn't notice that string I attached to the back of you then? 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.
I never like to do as expected!! TG is not chubby.......cuddly is a word I would use or I could say skinny......TG's a lovely bloke! Plus he has a nice ar$e to follow down those hills.
I've just had a brill bike session and did 15mph going round a bend! 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.
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 .
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.
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.
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.
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
I did loads of hills today and much faster than usual....bike compter broke tho so no idea what speed i got to
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!
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
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!
Comments
Lots of really good cycling by the Surrey peeps.
I still haven't topped 28mph.
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.
Now thats motivation for speeding up down the hills - ar$e watching! Love it!
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! 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.
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....
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 .
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 !
29mph down one of the Bala hills. Where's the list gone?
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.
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 !
According to my Garmin I went a little over 38mph on a downhill today.
WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!
I like downhills
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.
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.
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
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!
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
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!