TdF reportage
 

On Jul 13, 8:27*pm, "Mike Jacoubowsky"
wrote:
wrote in message

...





I watched the descent of the Tourmalet, the camera focused on a lead
breakaway rider pedaling hard at a cadence of 60-70rpm, with the
announcer claiming he was traveling at 60-65mph. *[what size sprockets
does that take?] *Having ridden the Galibier where Phil Liggett has in
years past claimed descending speeds of 60mph I am certain that was
bluster, because coasting as fast as possible I and my ride companion
could barely achieve 40mph, the descent not being steep enough to go
any faster. *Even farther down, on the curvy, not steep enough,
Telegraph. *From experience 60mph requires at least a 13% grade as
straight sections of the Fedaia and Rombo passes in Italy have. *In
contrast, most roads that steep are not straight enough for speeds
above 35mph.

Beyond that, the strung out chasing field, all pedaling hard, are
apparently not shown in real time, because they appear to be traveling
over 40mph through curves without leaning into them significantly.

Marketing!

Jobst Brandt

I don't remember which year it was, but I recall watching a descent of the
Aubisque, studying technique and such, and figured they hit a max speed of
about 52mph or so (I think it was in vicinity of the sheds on the Spain side
of the climb). The shot of the motorcycle speedo showed it peaking at
100k/hr, but that was probably as the motorcycle was speeding up between
groups.

As you're aware, but many are not, pedaling at such high speeds is more
likely to slow you down as it removes you from the most-aero-position
possible. People just don't understand this; they think the only thing
preventing them from going faster downhill is a higher gear.

I don't corner at all like I used to; somewhere along the way I lost some
nerve. I find this comes & goes, and who knows, next year I may be the first
one down the hill again. For now, I lose time in corners (especially
left-hand corners for some reason) and get back to the fast guys as soon as
it straightens out.

Phil constantly confuses mph & kph. I don't think he's stretching the truth,
I think he's just amazingly careless about such things. He's fun to listen
to and calls a great horse race, but for accuracy, pay more attention to
Paul.

--Mike Jacoubowsky
Chain Reaction Bicycleswww.ChainReaction.com
Redwood City & Los Altos, CA USA- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

it's clearly bluster and blarney, the terminal velocity of a man
falling out of an airplane is about 130 mph, but decending a 10% grade
a pro cyclist hits half that speed on a twisty windy descent???? and
have you noticed, the speed of the peleton phil has reported has
increased about 10-15kph from over 50kph in 98 to over 65kph ON THE
FLATS ????