What's the fastest you've ever cycled?

ronnie3585

Reading the other thread on cyclists being stopped by the Gardai for speeding it got me thinking as to what is the fastest a person has cycled on public roads.

Me - it was 52mph about seven or eight years ago coming home from school going down the old Bishop O'Donnell road in Galway (before they built a roundabout there, of course!) Was an insane speed to get to considering I was on an old ass piece of crap mtb and had a big schoolbag on my back, more potential energy I guess!

RiddleCon

Did 63 mph as a stoker on a tandem down whinney hill in co. down was desperately pulling the brck but the front guy had disconnected it :eek:

Danbo!

This was done a while back, some shocking answers. but seeing as this forum grows by the day, itd be nice to see some of the new users' answers, (all of the 'i think ill cycle to work instead of driving' people who cycle once and get instantly hooked)

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055109174

blorg

A mere 82 km/h on the hill down from Johnny Foxes' (Glencullen) to Kilternan. The hill has a mild bend at the end. Had wind assistance I imagine. This is a steep descent, have got 75+ with no pedalling. Somewhat reluctant to go all out on it due to that and traffic/driveways so news of any good straight extended 7%+ descents around Dublin would be appreciated.

cunnins4

A modest 45mph coming down howth. Still feels like you're breaking the sound barrier though!

bitemybanger

49MPH on an old Ralligh Max mountain bike going down Strawberry hill from Clonsilla to Lucan. silly thing to do as there were usualy 5-6 of us and if we were to meet a car coming up the hill:eek::eek:

Mint Sauce

a slloooow 69km/h going down lurgybrack hill in letterkenny donegal (an absolute fecker to climb), the road actually has a gravel sandtrap escape lane as you approach the bottom just before the roundabout

:eek:

peterk19

ive done gotten about 80km/h on howth hill loads of times

PeadarofAodh

Wow I feel like my 69Kph just dropped its bar of soap...

Even that scared the crap out of me (Don't have a lot of experience with fast descents), especially when I missed the verge of the road by about half a cm...could've been rolling down the side of the hill attached to my bike!

iregk

did 7kg up a cat one hill a couple of years ago in the alps... pwoar!

oh sorry down hill speeds!!!! well that was 62mph as far as I can remember down the same alps in austria. man those roads are so smooth you just feel like your never going to fall off, over here you have the fear of hitting a pot hole at any given moment.

spoonface

I hit 60mph going down the sally gap. Probably could have kept accelerating but had to brake for the car in front of me. Some buzz.

Caroline_ie

Come on lads, we want numbers on flat and uphill!! Down hill is too easy!!! Be real men!

snack_ie

reached 55kph in a crit on flat course in sprint at end, coming off the back of someone else's wheel. great craic sprinting.

irishmotorist

I'm assuming that wind assisted is ok?

Fastest ever was 64kmh on the slight downhill part heading into Dublin as you come out of Palmerstown onto the 80 zone dual carriageway. The highest gear and my fastest pedaling wouldn't take me any faster

The highest 'pushed' speed was 50kmh along that same stretch but before the downhill - i.e. between palmerstown and the shell station for those who know the area.

Cabaal

45mph on a old mountain bike down a local hill years ago, feels much much faster then being in a car

Not messured my speed in years so I'm sure I've gone faster since

gman2k

Years back I got 45mph on the flat on the Tallaght bypass, ok there was a bit of a tail wind.
Downhill max was 50mph coming down from Slade Valley golf club towards Saggart.
Fastest uphill was in a race, when every mad f**ker was in top giving it hammers, field was blown apart by the top....

Run_to_da_hills

Around 48MPH clocked by a mate in a car behind me in the late 70ies. I was on a Carlton Pro 10 Speed racer, Dur a Ace Group set. 54 front 13 rear. Would never do it again since I got sense and got into motorbikes.

My fastest ever speed on a motorbike was 135MPH on a Honda Fireblade CBR 900RR between Shannon and Ennis a few years ago with the cops after me!! I lost them in Clarecastle .

preilly79

Run_to_da_hills wrote: »

My fastest ever speed on a motorbike was 135MPH on a Honda Fireblade CBR 900RR between Shannon and Ennis a few years ago with the cops after me!! I lost them in Clarecastle .

I wouldn't be admitting that kinda thing publicly!

seamus

About 62km/h coming down the Ballycullen Road one morning. Must have been just a sweet spot or something, as I've not been able to push it past 54km/h since. Twas on a full sus MTB with slicks too, I imagine on a road bike with a huge front ring one could easily hit 80km/h.

bassman22

Don't know the speed but remember the moment. Took a wrong turn a few years ago coming home from glendalough and ended up flying down a hill into kilmacanogue, I just remember trying pedal in my highest gear and it was worse than slip gear cause it had absolutely no effect...

If a car came at the wrong moment there was four of us that would have screwed!!

Danbo!

seamus wrote: »

About 62km/h coming down the Ballycullen Road one morning. Must have been just a sweet spot or something, as I've not been able to push it past 54km/h since. Twas on a full sus MTB with slicks too, I imagine on a road bike with a huge front ring one could easily hit 80km/h.

Was that after the spar? as in between spar and mortons? - if so, thats impressive. i know its down hill but its not exactly steep. Ive hit mid 50s there but not a lot more (on an FCR3)

seamus

Yeah, after you pass the Spar (and go through the roundabout), there's a tiny uphill part, but after that you can hammer it downhill, particularly on a windy day. In a car it seems like a short section, but it's actually way longer, I'd say it's around 500m.

Harpz

I got 62.7km/h on the N11, was looking at the speedo and didnt notice that a truck had shed a bit of its gravel load on the hard shoulder. The sharp gravel punctured my wheel, luckily it was the rear wheel. wouldnt like to think what would have happened if it was the front tyre.

blorg

seamus wrote: »

About 62km/h coming down the Ballycullen Road one morning. Must have been just a sweet spot or something, as I've not been able to push it past 54km/h since. Twas on a full sus MTB with slicks too, I imagine on a road bike with a huge front ring one could easily hit 80km/h.

It's more to do with the aerodynamics than the front ring, I can easily hit 70km/h+ on some descents without pedalling at all. Max so far is 85km/h - obviously descending but also with a tailwind (makes a big difference.)

crashoveroid

Racing i have been in bunch doing 70k an hour on the flat by myself up to about 63k and was doing about 100k coming down the conor pass great decent.

ventoux

HI
Just increased my max by 4km to 86km at the weekend while on the tour of Ireland somewhere near Newry.It was about the only nice bit on the day.

Chips Lovell

Did 82km/h coming down the Kilbride side of the Sally Gap two weeks ago. I'm still a pretty cautious descender, so I'm sure I could push that out a bit more if I tried.

blorg wrote: »

It's more to do with the aerodynamics than the front ring, I can easily hit 70km/h+ on some descents without pedalling at all.

Very good point there. Getting low in the drops makes the biggest difference speed wise.

crashoveroid wrote: »

...and was doing about 100k coming down the conor pass great decent.

I'm in awe. Never doen the Conor Pass, but if its anything like other Irish roads, I'd find it a bit hair raising.

Capt'n Midnight

iregk wrote: »

oh sorry down hill speeds!!!! well that was 62mph as far as I can remember down the same alps in austria. man those roads are so smooth you just feel like your never going to fall off, over here you have the fear of hitting a pot hole at any given moment.

Amen
Yeah fastest would be 80Km in Austria but I had a pannier
I've had similar figures in Wicklow but I reckon a lot of them were the sensor double clocking when you hit a bump just as the magnet moves past.

blorg

Capt'n Midnight wrote: »

Amen
Yeah fastest would be 80Km in Austria but I had a pannier
I've had similar figures in Wicklow but I reckon a lot of them were the sensor double clocking when you hit a bump just as the magnet moves past.

I've managed in the low 70s with panniers (a lovely 7% solid descent for 10 whole km on a quiet, perfectly smooth road in Spain.) But the panniers do make it a bit hairy all the same. I wouldn't doubt the 80km/h in Wicklow, there are several descents where it is easily achievable. Gravity does the job rather than athletic achievement ;-)

run_Forrest_run

I don't have a clocked speed but years ago I had lots of fun tearing down Connor Pass in Kerry, the narrow windy roads along with oncoming traffic meant I had to keep a hand on the brake levers though...obviously I'm a chicken sh*t!

Karma

not sure but the Garda on the Motorbike was doing 35mph according to his speedo, as i passed him, on dame st. did not get much further thou on a single speed Kona NUNU mtb.(44-11ratio)
I had been sitting in the draft of a bus up pearse st.
Had a great chat with with said Garda about war wounds and pedestrians...:)
(his leathers told some stories as did the damage to his fairing)

ride safe.
dotC