On Mon, 04 Apr 2005 07:06:34 -0500, Neil Cherry wrote:

On Mon, 4 Apr 2005 08:48:21 +0000 (UTC), Chicago Paddling-Fishing wrote:
jj wrote:
: On Sun, 3 Apr 2005 10:56:56 +0000 (UTC), Chicago Paddling-Fishing
: wrote:

:jj wrote:
:: Yesterday was a pretty good day as I hit 30mph on the flats for the first
:: time. Granted I could only hold it for 10-15 seconds when the road started
:: up hill, but uh, yay, me.

: Downhill, yes it feels much faster (to me). The highest speed I've let
: myself go downhill is 35-36, being a newbie clydesdale rider. (In my
: University days at a skinny 155 I never worried about speed, but ya know
: the bigger you are... ;-) )

Yea... I had gotten to the point where I could no longer pedal fast enough
to engage the sprocket.. someplace over 36mph as I stopped looking at the
bike computer after a while concentrating on what I hoped was debris free
roadway (I guess so I'd know before I went thwack onthe street)...

I've got an 11x21 and I'm good to about 48 mph. I can handle high RPM
(to about 183 before I start bouncing out of the seat, of course no
power at 183 rpm). The fastest I've coasted has been to 50 mph down
one hill here in the flat lands. I thought better of doing that as I
noticed the cars blowing though a stop sign ahead (I had the right of
way on the through street).

Not to worry, the penalties for mowing down a cyclist or two are fairly
minor I'm told. ;-p

I don't have a problem with handling speed
it's more a concern of the rest of the traffic doing stupid
things. Like passing in S turns while the speed limit is 25 and I'm
doing 40 mph. That happens too often on my commute on Holland Rd in
Monmouth County in NJ. I take the lane and they pass on the wrong side
of a double line. I guess I was holding them up. :-/

It's amazing how that happens. I ride a route that has a 25mph zone going
past kids playing at the end of a Trailer park, lots of children chasing
balls into the street and I'll occasionally have cars pass me zooming up to
40-45 when I'm doing the speed limit on the road going up to that section.
(By the time I get there I'm slowed to about 15 going up a hill.)

The -need- to "pass the biker" is so strong that they're willing to risk
not only breaking the speed limit, but also running over children to do it.

jj