50!

Mike Latondresse said:

Bernie <[email hidden]> wrote in :"]news:[email hidden]:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Tom Cypress has a road that skiers use to get up there. We road up to the first lookout today
(time problem) and did 74kph down and this is a slower section. Hey try it.

Tell me about your wheels and tires?

Bike is a Litespeed Classic with Chorus so the hubs are standard 9s Chorus 32 spoke with Moscova
rims and Specialized Turbo Armadillo (sp?)700x25s. I got the Specialized tires cus last summer I
did a trip up the island to Port Hardy, cross to Bella Coola and from there to Williams lake over
500+k of dirt roads and they still haven't work out.

Impressive. I coasted down Cypress about 15 years ago on a touring bike. Probably 27 x 11/4 or 11/8
tires. Was not comfortable with the brakes, and there was sand in the curves. I definitely did not
get the ride I'd dreamed about! Do you feel stable downhilling *fast* on those fairly skinny 700c
tires? Bernie

Zoot Katz said:

Wed, 30 Apr 2003 17:46:17 GMT, <[email hidden]>, Mike Latondresse

Quoted message said:

Bernie <[email hidden]> wrote in :"]news:[email hidden]:

Quoted message said:

> Tom Cypress has a road that skiers use to get up there. We road up to the first lookout today
> (time problem) and did 74kph down and this is a slower section. Hey try it.

Tell me about your wheels and tires?

Bike is a Litespeed Classic with Chorus so the hubs are standard 9s Chorus 32 spoke with Moscova
rims and Specialized Turbo Armadillo (sp?)700x25s. I got the Specialized tires cus last summer I
did a trip up the island to Port Hardy, cross to Bella Coola and from there to Williams lake over
500+k of dirt roads and they still haven't work out.

I feel their kevlar belt adds to one's confidence level at speed.
--
zk

Nothing adds to ones' confidence level like forgetting you are not a kid! It's madness, but life is
strange... Bernie

Bernie <[email hidden]> wrote in :"]news:[email hidden]:

Quoted message said:

Do you feel stable downhilling *fast* on those fairly skinny 700c tires? Bernie

I don't think stability has anything to do with tires in a normal range of sizes as I am sure all of
them are fine. This only issue I have experienced is shimmy because I am skinny and start to shiver
soon as starting downhill, but getting off the saddle stops that instantly. The section above the
lookout is steeper by the way and you can get into the 80s (kph)

Mike Latondresse said:

I don't think stability has anything to do with tires in a normal range of sizes as I am sure all
of them are fine. This only issue I have experienced is shimmy because I am skinny and start to
shiver soon as starting downhill, but getting off the saddle stops that instantly. The section
above the lookout is steeper by the way and you can get into the 80s (kph)

Getting out of the saddle would increase your aerodynamic drag and thus introduce an aerobraking
effect, slowing you down....I've noticed the difference in speed while descending from when I'd
ridden on the hoods to riding on the drops and it's considerable. The noise and buffetting is much
greater on the hoods or tops as well.

I can only think that standing would be even less aerodynamic and actively act to cancel out any
gains from the hill and actively slow you down.

Nearing the bottom of longish downhills with traffic controls at the bottom--there are some of those
back home, none in my patch of London presently--I usually get on the hoods or tops to slow down
without using the brakes--the amount I slow down of course varies with the speed I am travelling at
the time. (and, considering that resistance is the square of frontal area times velocity--and being
a fat [censored], I have HUGE frontal area--can be quite a lot, indeed)

-Luigi I am my own drag 'chute, as well as my own grav. assist.

Luigi de Guzman said:

speed I am travelling at the time. (and, considering that resistance is the square of frontal area
times velocity--and being a fat [censored], I have HUGE frontal area--can be quite a lot, indeed)

The area isn't squared.
--
Ron Hardin [email hidden]

On the internet, nobody knows you're a jerk.

Ron Hardin said:

Quoted message said:

speed I am travelling at the time. (and, considering that resistance is the square of frontal
area times velocity--and being a fat [censored], I have HUGE frontal area--can be quite a lot,
indeed)

The area isn't squared.

In fact the applied force goes as the 3/2 power of the frontal area, and the resistance goes only as
the first power, so the bigger you are, the faster you go.
--
Ron Hardin [email hidden]

On the internet, nobody knows you're a jerk.

[email hidden] (Luigi de Guzman) wrote in :"]news:[email hidden]:

Quoted message said:

Getting out of the saddle would increase your aerodynamic drag and thus introduce an aerobraking
effect, slowing you down....I've noticed the difference in speed while descending from when I'd
ridden on the hoods to riding on the drops and it's considerable. The noise and buffetting is much
greater on the hoods or tops as well.

I don't mean standing, just lifting your butt off the saddle and clamping the top tube between your
knees is enough to do it. I usually have my hands and my chin close to the stem as I can pedals
level and elbows in close to my body. In that position you can feel yourself accelerate up to your
max quite quickly although it is hard to hold for the approx. 7 minutes or so it takes to get down.

Mike Latondresse said:

Bernie <[email hidden]> wrote in :"]news:[email hidden]:

Quoted message said:

Do you feel stable downhilling *fast* on those fairly skinny 700c tires? Bernie

I don't think stability has anything to do with tires in a normal range of sizes as I am sure all
of them are fine. This only issue I have experienced is shimmy because I am skinny and start to
shiver soon as starting downhill, but getting off the saddle stops that instantly. The section
above the lookout is steeper by the way and you can get into the 80s (kph)

Well I don't fully agree with you as I have downhilled really fast (sorry, no speedometer) on both
700c x 32 tires and 26 x 1.7 inch tires. I was much more comfortable sweeping thru curves on the 26
inch tires/wheels, even tho the best brakes were on the 700c bike. The smaller wheels, fatter
(treadless) tires just felt safer and more stable. FWIW, I have not had a high speed bicycle crash
since I was about 12 years old. Best regards, Bernie

In article <[email hidden]>,

Quoted message said:

I can only think that standing would be even less aerodynamic and actively act to cancel out any
gains from the hill

Cypress is not a hill. It's a bona fide Mountain -- part of the Western Cordillera, and an huge
outcropping of the North Pacific Bathylith.

Y'don't ride down it; ya fall down it. Okay, you can ride down it. But not full-bore. Okay, you can
ride down it full-bore with the right stuff --- which I don't have.

Lest anyone is concerned, I'm not gonna do it (blast down Cyrpess Bowl Drive) as Mike suggests.
Well, maybe a measured little. I'm game for a little daring-do. But I ain't stoopid (usually).

But it would be fun to go up there ... I (reluctantly) guess. Maybe irritate some Park Royal
customers by showing up in cycling garb, and watch them freak out about how I might possibly have
BO, and drive diamond-purchasing customers away.

Maybe it would be more fun to head up to Horseshoe Bay to check-out the clam chowder there.

The fastest way down is probably ass-over-teakettle. I've already had enough of that in my youth,
hoppin' freights.

But, I'm sure it's possible to stick to a line on that descent. The trick would be, letting go and
doing it AFAP.

If a 'bent rider wants to try it, I might watch.

cheers, Tom

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"Tom Keats" <[email hidden]> wrote in message "]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Y'don't ride down it; ya fall down it. Okay, you can ride down it. But not full-bore. Okay, you
can ride down it full-bore with the right stuff --- which I don't have.

Tom, what are you talking about, Cypress isn't a technical decent by any standards. A guy like me
can almost fall asleep coming down on that mountain.

Ron Hardin <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

Luigi de Guzman said:

speed I am travelling at the time. (and, considering that resistance is the square of frontal
area times velocity--and being a fat [censored], I have HUGE frontal area--can be quite a lot,
indeed)

The area isn't squared.

doh! it's the square of velocity, isn't it? grrrr.

-Luigi

In article <[email hidden]>, "Fabrizio Mazzoleni"

Quoted message said:

Tom, what are you talking about, Cypress isn't a technical decent by any standards. A guy like me
can almost fall asleep coming down on that mountain.

Well, you can fall asleep coming down there if you want.

It's not the technical-ness so much -- it's the limitations of my old bike. Besides, I didn't just
lately install new brake pads just to whittle them down to nubs in one ride.

If ya want, I'll just admit here and now, I'm chickening out of trying to hit 70-80 km/h with the
old Norco Bigfoot. Okay? And I don't feel bad about it. The bike ain't built for comfort /or/ speed
-- it's a Saturday's Child, like me. It works hard for a living. Making it go that fast would be
like forcing an almost-retired cart horse to race with the thoroughbreds.

But it might be worth heading up to Cypress Bowl during the Mars close oppositon. Might be able
to sneak a peek through some amateur astronomer's 'scope. Maybe that's something you could try,
yourself. Ya just might learn something, and find yourself pondering what it would be like to
ride on Mars.

cheers, Tom

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"Tom Keats" <[email hidden]> wrote in message ...

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

But it might be worth heading up to Cypress Bowl during the Mars close oppositon. Might be able to
sneak a peek through some amateur astronomer's 'scope. Maybe that's something you could try,
yourself. Ya just might learn something, and find yourself pondering what it would be like to ride
on Mars.

I'll pass on that offer, thanks.

Sounds like it would be overrun with those egghead types like Jon Isaacs, and I don't get along with
those folks.

Tom Keats said:

In article <[email hidden]>, "Fabrizio Mazzoleni"

Quoted message said:

Tom, what are you talking about, Cypress isn't a technical decent by any standards. A guy like
me can almost fall asleep coming down on that mountain.

Tom - I think he's trying to tell you he has narcolepsy!

Quoted message said:

Well, you can fall asleep coming down there if you want.

It's not the technical-ness so much -- it's the limitations of my old bike. Besides, I didn't just
lately install new brake pads just to whittle them down to nubs in one ride.

If ya want, I'll just admit here and now, I'm chickening out of trying to hit 70-80 km/h with the
old Norco Bigfoot. Okay? And I don't feel bad about it. The bike ain't built for comfort /or/
speed -- it's a Saturday's Child, like me. It works hard for a living. Making it go that fast
would be like forcing an almost-retired cart horse to race with the thoroughbreds.

That's how it is with those old Norco's - including my Bush Pilot - not fast, just reliable and
sturdy. Outstanding quality but so humble they go unnoticed, IMHO.

Quoted message said:

But it might be worth heading up to Cypress Bowl during the Mars close oppositon. Might be able to
sneak a peek through some amateur astronomer's 'scope. Maybe that's something you could try,
yourself. Ya just might learn something, and find yourself pondering what it would be like to ride
on Mars.

cheers, Tom

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[point] bc [point] ca

Hmmm.... Fabrizio on Mars... doesn't sound too far fetched! Bernie