50!

You crazy lady!! Anything over 35 and you should be wearing leather. It does feel great though--if
you have the nerve and there are no driveways on the road.

Have fun!!!

"Claire Petersky" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

For the first time on the commute into work this morning -- I had a personal best of the top speed
of 50+ mph coming down Kamber Road.

What made the difference:

Husband spurred me to crank it much more at the top quarter of the hill, where it is relatively
flat, so by the time I got to the steep part, I was already in the tuck;

Warmer weather meant that I wasn't wearing a coat;

Pigtails meant my hair was more aerodynamic (ok, maybe that doesn't make a difference...);

Fully-inflated tires and that performance tune-up I got last week meant the bike was in top
condition;

and

No frickin' motor vehicle traffic in my way! How dare they want to go the posted speed limit of 35
mph down that lovely hill?

I did the happy dance on the bike all the way sailing up to the light. Us middle aged ladies have
to get our thrills however we can.

Warm Regards,

Claire Petersky ([email hidden])

Home of the meditative cyclist: home.earthlink.netWelcome.htmOpen ↗

Singing with you at: tiferet.nettiferet.netOpen ↗

Books just wanna be FREE! See what I mean at: bookcrossing.comCpeterskyOpen ↗

Claire Petersky said:

Pigtails meant my hair was more aerodynamic (ok, maybe that doesn't make a difference...);

THAT'S what I've been leaving out!

Thanks, Claire!

Quoted message said:

[email hidden] (Claire Petersky)

wrote in part:

Quoted message said:

For the first time on the commute into work this morning -- I had a personal best of the top speed
of 50+ mph coming down Kamber Road.

It's great, isn't it? :-) The incredible rush of wind tearing at you.... The feeling that you are
earthbound only by the two tiny contact patches of your tires.... Is there anything better than pure
speed? Congratulations from a fellow adrenaline junkie.

Regards, Bob Hunt

Claire Petersky said:

For the first time on the commute into work this morning -- I had a personal best of the top speed
of 50+ mph coming down Kamber Road.

What made the difference:

Husband spurred me to crank it much more at the top quarter of the hill, where it is relatively
flat, so by the time I got to the steep part, I was already in the tuck;

Warmer weather meant that I wasn't wearing a coat;

Pigtails meant my hair was more aerodynamic (ok, maybe that doesn't make a difference...);

Fully-inflated tires and that performance tune-up I got last week meant the bike was in top
condition;

and

No frickin' motor vehicle traffic in my way! How dare they want to go the posted speed limit of 35
mph down that lovely hill?

I did the happy dance on the bike all the way sailing up to the light. Us middle aged ladies have
to get our thrills however we can.

Warm Regards,

Claire Petersky ([email hidden])

Home of the meditative cyclist: home.earthlink.netWelcome.htmOpen ↗

Singing with you at: tiferet.nettiferet.netOpen ↗

Books just wanna be FREE! See what I mean at: bookcrossing.comCpeterskyOpen ↗

Yeeeeeeooooooowwww!!! Keep your eyes open Claire! Bernie

[email hidden] (Claire Petersky) wrote in message
news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

For the first time on the commute into work this morning -- I had a personal best of the top speed
of 50+ mph coming down Kamber Road.

Talk about misleading subjects. MY first thought was "she doesn't LOOK 50." I want my money back.

Quoted message said:

What made the difference:

For me, the difference is being Canadian. "50?" C'est rien (shrug).

And you thought there was some OTHER benefit to the metric system?

Quoted message said:

Pigtails meant my hair was more aerodynamic (ok, maybe that doesn't make a difference...);

Probably should ask this in r.b.t., but how do I braid 1/2" long hair into pigtails? Do I need to
grow it out? Would 3/4" do?

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

No frickin' motor vehicle traffic in my way!

How dare they want to go the posted speed limit of 35 mph down that lovely hill?

My experence is that cars will still pass me if I'm doing 60 kph in a 50 kph zone. It's the
distortion in the time-space continuum generated when a bicycle (any bicycle) brushes past the
molecules in the air.

Mind you, It is fun to watch the cop at the bottom of the hill pull them over for speeding :-)

tfn

Claire Petersky said:

Pigtails meant my hair was more aerodynamic (ok, maybe that doesn't make a difference...);

Next time have it in a pony tail for an even more aero effect, I think you could squeeze out an
extra mph. I love going fast down hills, being a fatty means I can really fly. However it is a bit
scary when you slow down and ponder about if you came off going full noise.

--
Cheers Damian Harvey

This space reserved for standard disclaimer, witty quote, plug for own business in caps and large,
bad ASCII art.

Claire Petersky said:

For the first time on the commute into work this morning -- I had a personal best of the top speed
of 50+ mph coming down Kamber Road.

You're a better man...uh...person than I. We have some great hills around here, but I chicken out at
about 35 mph.

Austin

In article <[email hidden]>, [email hidden] says...

Quoted message said:

Claire Petersky said:

For the first time on the commute into work this morning -- I had a personal best of the top
speed of 50+ mph coming down Kamber Road.

You're a better man...uh...person than I. We have some great hills around here, but I chicken out
at about 35 mph.

I wish we had some good hills; I have to pedal hard, maxing out my cadence in top gear, to get to 35
before I run out of hill.

--
David Kerber An optimist says "Good morning, Lord." While a pessimist says "Good Lord,
it's morning".

Remove the ns_ from the address before e-mailing.

In article <[email hidden]>,

(Claire Petersky) said:

Pigtails meant my hair was more aerodynamic (ok, maybe that doesn't make a difference...);

So, you went with pigtails, eh? I think that's a good choice. I see lots of women with them, and it
works for them -- more the Active Woman look than the Laura Engels Effect they might initially fear
when deciding to go with pigtails. I imagine pigtails make helmet straps, rain and wind easier to
deal with than poofy hair. Maybe they're another adaptation to the cycling lifestyle that can be
regarded as a badge. A good combination of functionality and appearance.

...

Quoted message said:

and

No frickin' motor vehicle traffic in my way! How dare they want to go the posted speed limit of 35
mph down that lovely hill?

A speeding ticket might make an interesting wall-hanger/ conversation piece :-)

Way to go, Claire. You rock!

cheers, Tom

--
-- Powered by FreeBSD Above address is just a spam midden. I'm really at: tkeats [curlicue] vcn
[point] bc [point] ca

In article said:

I wish we had some good hills; I have to pedal hard, maxing out my cadence in top gear, to get to
35 before I run out of hill.

I *do* have good hills and humps nearby, and I still have to work hard to get up to 30 mph (50
km/h). My riser bar-equipped MTB, with me on it, is just too parachute-like. Sometimes, stiff
headwind gusts have stopped me in my tracks, and then blown me backwards, back up the hill. Okay,
not really. I just felt like telling a tall tale :-)

I get to ride /up/ the hills, anyway. That can be fun, too. Sometimes, not.

cheers, Tom

--
-- Powered by FreeBSD Above address is just a spam midden. I'm really at: tkeats [curlicue] vcn
[point] bc [point] ca

Hunrobe said:

Quoted message said:

[email hidden] (Claire Petersky)

wrote in part:

Quoted message said:

For the first time on the commute into work this morning -- I had a personal best of the top
speed of 50+ mph coming down Kamber Road.

It's great, isn't it? :-) The incredible rush of wind tearing at you.... The feeling that you are
earthbound only by the two tiny contact patches of your tires.... Is there anything better than
pure speed?

Couldn't say myself. Interests me very little.

My personal best is 39 mph on an 80 pound bike coming down an eastern slope of a Montana Rocky
Mountain pass. It could probably have been 60 if I'd let loose.

But quite frankly, after all the miles I've ridden over the years, I still get nervous, even
on roads I know intimately well, at speeds over roughly 30 mph. The bike just doesn't feel
secure enough; what if there's a patch of sand up ahead; a pothole; a dog or deer bolting out
into the road?

Obviously, I'm not NASCAR material, and TdF runs in the Alpes are out for me, and even when not
touring, I still tend to regard a steep downhill run as a "waste", much prefering a gradual decline
for as many miles as possible.

On tour of course, through hilly/mountainous terrain, a sudden steep downhill means you're quickly
losing all that altitude gain you've been working at all day, and now, closer to the pass, you'll
have to make it all up and more, to get through the pass.

The psychology of downhills!

SMH

Its a hoot isn't it? I set my record too at 50+ going down Carson Pass in Calif. Could have gone
faster but a darned Porsche was in my way.. ...and I spooked out. The tandem on our ride that day
exceeded 60 down the pass. I've heard that the tandem racers in Death Valley exceed 70 AT NIGHT
descending into Panamint valley.

Once was enough...not going to press my luck.

"Claire Petersky" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

For the first time on the commute into work this morning -- I had a personal best of the top speed
of 50+ mph coming down Kamber Road.

What made the difference:

Husband spurred me to crank it much more at the top quarter of the hill, where it is relatively
flat, so by the time I got to the steep part, I was already in the tuck;

Warmer weather meant that I wasn't wearing a coat;

Pigtails meant my hair was more aerodynamic (ok, maybe that doesn't make a difference...);

Fully-inflated tires and that performance tune-up I got last week meant the bike was in top
condition;

and

No frickin' motor vehicle traffic in my way! How dare they want to go the posted speed limit of 35
mph down that lovely hill?

I did the happy dance on the bike all the way sailing up to the light. Us middle aged ladies have
to get our thrills however we can.

Warm Regards,

Claire Petersky ([email hidden])

Home of the meditative cyclist: home.earthlink.netWelcome.htmOpen ↗

Singing with you at: tiferet.nettiferet.netOpen ↗

Books just wanna be FREE! See what I mean at: bookcrossing.comCpeterskyOpen ↗

Quoted message said:

Damian Harvey [email hidden]

wrote in part:

Quoted message said:

However it is a bit scary when you slow down and ponder about if you came off going full noise.

That weak feeling in your knees after a really *fast* descent is just the end of the adrenaline
rush. Disregard it. If you mean you get a nasty mental image of the result of a crash at speed,
that's even easier to deal with. Just don't think about it. You're immortal anyway so it won't
happen to you, right? :-)

Regards, Bob Hunt

Tom Keats said:

(Claire Petersky) said:

No frickin' motor vehicle traffic in my way! How dare they want to go the posted speed limit of
35 mph down that lovely hill?

A speeding ticket might make an interesting wall-hanger/ conversation piece :-)

If I got a speeding ticket on my bike, I'd appeal it just so that I could go to court and plead
guilty of speeding on my bicycle and have a bunch of people hear just how fast I was going.

Then I'd have to work in to the next 20 or so conversations about how I was found guilty of speeding
on my bicycle.

Probably would be a waste of effort, because most would not be cyclists and therefore not
appreaciate the accomplishment!

I doubt my wife would let me hang the ticket up next to the family portrait.

Austin

I'm a chicken and don't really attempt any speed records, although here in San Diego we have lots of
hill east of town where speeds like that can be achieved. On my weekend training rides there a a
couple hills where I regularly hit speeds in the 40s.

Then I come home and watch TV commercials about thrill rides at Magic Mountain and other such
places. I think to myself "these people pay for what I go through several times a week".

Sort of puts our lives as cyclists into perspective.

Tom

[email hidden] (Claire Petersky) wrote in message
news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

For the first time on the commute into work this morning -- I had a personal best of the top speed
of 50+ mph coming down Kamber Road.

What made the difference:

Husband spurred me to crank it much more at the top quarter of the hill, where it is relatively
flat, so by the time I got to the steep part, I was already in the tuck;

Warmer weather meant that I wasn't wearing a coat;

Pigtails meant my hair was more aerodynamic (ok, maybe that doesn't make a difference...);

Fully-inflated tires and that performance tune-up I got last week meant the bike was in top
condition;

and

No frickin' motor vehicle traffic in my way! How dare they want to go the posted speed limit of 35
mph down that lovely hill?

I did the happy dance on the bike all the way sailing up to the light. Us middle aged ladies have
to get our thrills however we can.

Warm Regards,

Claire Petersky ([email hidden])

Home of the meditative cyclist: home.earthlink.netWelcome.htmOpen ↗

Singing with you at: tiferet.nettiferet.netOpen ↗

Books just wanna be FREE! See what I mean at: bookcrossing.comCpeterskyOpen ↗

In article <[email hidden]>, [email hidden] says...

Quoted message said:

In article said:

I wish we had some good hills; I have to pedal hard, maxing out my cadence in top gear, to get
to 35 before I run out of hill.

I *do* have good hills and humps nearby, and I still have to work hard to get up to 30 mph (50
km/h). My riser bar-equipped MTB, with me on it, is just too parachute-like. Sometimes, stiff
headwind gusts have stopped me in my tracks, and then blown me backwards, back up the hill. Okay,
not really. I just felt like telling a tall tale :-)

My old Schwinn LeTank isn't the fastest thing around, but it does ok for as weak a motor motor as it
has <GGG>. It's certainly more aero than a MTB, and I always keep the tires pumped up to their 80
psi max. I just wish I had a gear taller than 100". I'm looking around to see what I can get to
retrofit to it, but my budget's pretty limited.

--
Dave Kerber Fight spam: remove the ns_ from the return address before replying!

REAL programmers write self-modifying code.

Thomas Reynolds said:

I'm a chicken and don't really attempt any speed records, although here in San Diego we have lots
of hill east of town where speeds like that can be achieved. On my weekend training rides there a a
couple hills where I regularly hit speeds in the 40s.

Then I come home and watch TV commercials about thrill rides at Magic Mountain and other such
places. I think to myself "these people pay for what I go through several times a week".

Sort of puts our lives as cyclists into perspective.

Tom

Every single day on my mornig commute I break 60 kph. Not an especially large hill, I''m just fat. I
passed a roadie there yesterday morning, after he passed me up the road further, he muttered an
obviously impressed "[censored]". My best was coming down from Eagle on the Hill (Adelaide cyclists
will know it) at 83kph. Try doing that on a toy shop bike and you might get yourself killed. Of
course going up that hill brings me back to about 10kph.

--
Cheers Damian Harvey

This space reserved for standard disclaimer, witty quote, plug for own business in caps and large,
bad ASCII art.

David Storm said:

Its a hoot isn't it? I set my record too at 50+ going down Carson Pass in Calif. Could have gone
faster but a darned Porsche was in my way.. ...and I spooked out. The tandem on our ride that day
exceeded 60 down the pass. I've heard that the tandem racers in Death Valley exceed 70 AT NIGHT
descending into Panamint valley.

Once was enough...not going to press my luck.

The first time I hit 50 was down a windy little country road falling down a mountain in Vermont. I
decided to set a new land speed record (after struggling up the mother in a 42-23) and hunkered down
on my old Cannondale (this was a LONG time ago), grasping the top tube with my knees and with my
hands right next to the stem for that "ultimate tuck position".

Thing is, I got to about 46mph (still accelerating nicely) when the front end started to shake. This
coincided well with me catching the jeep going down the hill ahead of me. Oops. I gingerly slid my
hands outward toward the brake hoods and made a quick grab for 'em (and luckily didn't miss - they
were a little blurry).

50.5mph has never felt THAT fast again!

Mark Hickey Habanero Cycles habcycles.comhabcycles.comOpen ↗ Home of the $695 ti frame

Stephen Harding said:

On tour of course, through hilly/mountainous terrain, a sudden steep downhill means you're quickly
losing all that altitude gain you've been working at all day, and now, closer to the pass, you'll
have to make it all up and more, to get through the pass.

That's why you use the old truck driver's trick. Go down the hill as fast as you possibly can, to
get momentum to carry you up the next one!