Ever gone fast on a bike? Maybe 25 mph (40 km/h)? Sure. Most cyclists can hit that for brief periods just by pedaling on flat ground. How about really fast, in the range of 35-40 mph (60 km/h)? That can happen going down steep hills. Have you ever hit those scary fast, if-you-wreck-you're-a-goner speeds, say 50 mph (80 km) or more? What's the top speed you've ever reached on a bike?
Among cyclists, there is a built-in tendency to want to track and compare those top speeds. I know on a recent trip across Missouri, there were a lot of steep hills in the Ozark Mountains and the Mark Twain National Forest that offered tough climbs and then an accompanying rapid decent. Comparing notes at the bottom of each descent, we'd find ourselves routinely hitting 45-mph plus. That's a speed where it's fun for me, but sorta hair-raising too. (Just as a side note, it's fun to document these descents on a helmet camera too.) I'm not sure I've ever gone over 50 mph, but going that fast down a crazy steep hill I don't stare at the speedometer, either.
Question: What's the fastest you've ever gone on a bike? Comment below.
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Comments
56mph on Goldmine Mt. in Pa. I normally go between 45 and 50mph down East Clinton Ave. in NJ, close to the George Washington Bridge.
On a Cannondale tandem with my wife, Highway 1 near Half Moon Bay CA, a steady downhill netted 50mph near bottom. Wife doesn’t have a cycle computer on her bar so couldn’t really panic! Afterwards she wanted to kick me.
53 mph downhill. Will never do it again
53 mph on a road bike. I was once riding down a steep hill in Oregon on a loaded touring bike. I looked down and the computer read 48 mph. I just kept going. What a blast!
58 mph going down Kinsman Notch in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. What fun, like flying on the ground. Trouble is I could not catch my friend.
I was doing 66 MPH down AMI hill before I noticed ow fast I was going and started braking.
54.6 (but I round up to 55mph) down Fry Gap, near Guntersville Alabama.
I hit 52.2 on a long downhill in Lake Tahoe, but feel fine doing 45-50 on E. Clinton which Herb referred to.
Morene
I have hit 60+ two times that I know of: 61 mph while on a tour going down a long downhill on Hwy 1, a guy in a VW that I passed rolled down his window to shout out the 61 mph. The other coming off the pass into Hope Valley on Hwy 88 in the Sierras, looked down and saw 63 mph on the computer and started braking really slowly… There were long straight run outs in both cases to maintain control. Great fun, but kinda crazy too!
Near my last house, there is a very steep winding hill. I regularly went over 40 mph. The fastest that I observed was 44 mph. It was a rush!
I probably did that hill over 100 times until a large dog ran across the road. I had to hit the brakes to avoid hitting a 125 pound dog. I flew through the air, landed on my back and bounced a couple of dozen times. My helmet was split. Fortunately, I did not break anything. I missed two weeks of work and was unable to walk or run for weeks.
I went on that hill years later but always use the brakes to lessen the speed.
45 on the mountain bike, 52 on the road bike, just feel safer on the fat tires surrounded by dirt.
Bought my first bike in 30 years this past April. I’ve gone down a few really big hills just to try it out (I must’ve been nuts). I’m guestimating that I was going 40+ MPh down one of them. I know if I’d wrecked I probably would’ve been killed….but it sure was FUN !!!
The fastest speed I did was 32mph. Feathered the brakes, I never tried exceeding the speed for fear of buying the farm. Ten years ago I had a nasty fall, causing a broken wrist, dislocated right foot. Six months into rehab for that stunt because of my need for speed.
I hit 31mph last month while going downhill, but got me scared. I never been that fast before.
The only hills in South Florida are the public landfills, and we can’t ride in them, nor would I want to. The stench is nauseating.
So, on a flat stretch of the main road that I take from home to work, and with the slight help of the downside of an overpass, I hit 37mph on my Felt F85, with the standard Mavic CXP22 wheels.
I’d like to see how fast I can take it after I upgrade the wheels in January.
I was pacing a semi on I-70 in Co. I spun out the magnet on the wheel but I think around 55 to 60 mph. I think it gets hard to get into the 70, watch the cross winds!!
68 mph, Boulder Canyon CO, October 1988, training for Tour de Guatemala, chinook winds, steel Schwinn Paramount bike, and a death grip on the bars.
42mph, on the flat in Wichita KS (major tailwind).
On a mile plus downhill into the Mississippi Valley near Winona, MN on a Specialized Sequoia Elite road bike I took it up 66. I just wanted to be able to say I technically broke the law speeding on a bicycle on a highway. Two hours later I took a nasty fall taking a shortcut through an alley when the pavement unexpectedly ended in a combination of loose dirt and granite chunks. Thankfully that was only about 10 mph, the abrasions and pulled muscles hurt enough for me during the rest of the ride (last 12 of 84 miles). Don’t even want to think about how much 66 would have hurt.
With the wind at my back, down Archie Yell Blvd in Fayettville Arkansas, close to 45 MPH on a busy street. The name was very appropriate!
According to the Cateye Computer/Speedometer on my bike I reached 55 mph going down Putney Mountain, VT. I was scared silly knowing one wrong move or a patch of gravel and I would be road kill. But it was exhilarating! Made it from the top to the village in less than 10 minutes. Took almost 2 hours to pedal and walk back up! Did it once and never again.
Neat topic!
My max so far is 52 mph on Brinkley Hill, near Tullahoma Tennessee. Its a one and a half lane wide, short and steep (15.1%)hill with a hard right hand turn at the top. Before going down the hill, a person should stop and be really still and quiet, to listen for cars. When clear, if you launch off the top at about 20 mph, navigate the right hander, and hang on, a 50 plus mph ride awaits you. Map including the hill is below. at about mile #15.
http://ridewithgps.com/routes/450060
Steve S.
66mph… coming down Brockway Summit towards Truckee
I hit 52 mph coming down one of the passes in 2007 Death Ride. I have hit 50+ a couple of times on Kanan Road in Agoura HIlls, CA. A little scary above 50, but 40-45 is fine.
73 mph motorpacing on a flat rural highway behind a hatchback with the hatch propped open for maximum draft!
We hit something between 50-55 MPH( This was pre-computer, with a mechanical speeddometer) on a tandem, down a long hill. We had a 56X13 gear but NOT pedalling. Thankful for good cantilever brakes (and additional rear disc brake). Really a rush to watch your front fork vibrate!
24 MPH on flat, short period time and 42 down hill in Albuquerque, NM
42.8 down Red Bank Hill, Westerville, OH
I did 57 on a mountain bike down oakville grade into napa. it was a blast and I was bit more fearless then I am now.
47 mph coming down off Waterrock Knob on the Blue Ridge Parkway on a loaded touring bike. That is as fast as I ever want to go on a bicycle.
I reached 58 mph on my fully loaded touring bicycle decending the east side of hwy 108 in california – a real hair raising decent due to the substandard brakes on the bike !
I was thrilled to see my Garmin Egge 500 had recorded 60.8 mph following a descent on Rist Canyon Road outside Fort Collins, CO last summer.
Having touched the brakes twice on the descent I couldn’t help but wonder what the result would have been had I not…