DESCENDING

01Surveyor

The Alp D'Huez thread on this board reminded me of the misery of climbing the Alp and the Galibier however it also brought to mind the joy of descending the Lautaret. As a 200+lb behemoth the Alps are not my natural habitat however many years ago I descended the Lautaret into Bourg and hit the 60mph mark a few km before the tunnel at which point a German passed me as if I was on the brakes. Lets hear about great descents for a change instead of allways hearing about the ass wriggling climbing fairies.
Coming down from the Sally Gap is fun too!
Lets hear about resting your navel on the saddle and staying off the brakes.

Borderfox

Best one for me was on the TT circuit on the Isle of Man, one lap time trial of the island and 72mph after spinning out 54x11 on the way down from Kates cottage through Creg na Ba. Roads so smooth and closed!!

ednwireland

Descent off the col de la grand Colombier was pretty good. The Manchester side of home moss. Snake pass.
Closer to whee I live . Hmm anywhere near my house is a 60+kmh descent.
Glengesh is short sweet and you gain speed like rick thrown off

07Lapierre

Sa Colabra in Majorca is my favourite.

GCN have just posted this video:

http://gcn.eu/1UAmwN7

When I did it, we were blocked by a tour bus, but it's a great descent!

Daroxtar

Puerto San Glorio in Cantabria, 25km @5%. Road is smooth as silk. Plenty of hairpins and twists and turns but I did the first 14km averaging 50kmh and well over 70 in places. There's something about a long descent, it's almost like gliding
https://www.strava.com/segments/1762412?filter=overall

cdaly_

82kph on the Thorn coming off Spelga Dam nto Kilkeel in Co. Down last summer. Lovely open lines on the road and the thorn was steady as a rock...

wanderer 22

At 60kg I'm not a natural descender but I thought my attempt on the Old long hill descent(Enniskerry) today was decent...until I saw that my 48.8km/h average puts me 796th on the strava leaderboard :-P Anyway, I still enjoyed it!

fat bloke

Took a sneaky peak at my garmin coming down into Laragh this morning to see 82kph on the clock. But as I've gotten older, more mature, and skinnier (amazingly), I've been more interested in increasing my speed going up the hill rather than down.
But I always have a little marvel and a giggle when I'm coming home down the embankment at 55kph or so and I think of Wiggins maintaining such velocities on the flat. :eek:

Good descents that stick in my mind though? - wicklow gap down either side, long hill is great if you get a free run, conor pass down into Dingle, and the Glandon last year in the direction of Bourg d'Oisans was seemingly interminable and awesome.

Hauki

3 my absolute favorites in no particular order:

Tenerife:
From El Retamar to Los Cristianos through Arona and Vilaflor. -2100m and 38km

Spain:
Sierra Nevada to Granada via A-395. -1900m and 37km

Mallorca:
Sa Calobra. -680m and 9.4km

Hmm, I have a surpisingly Spain-heavy list.

The upper bit of Sierra Nevada descent is simply amazing as the road is really smooth, has loooong sweeping turns and great visibility all around means that you can go insanely fast yet still do it relatively safely.

Hmmzis

col de Peyresourde going West would be my all time favorite descent. Hairpins with proper banking and smooth surface, little to brakes till the bottom. At 82km/h max it's not my fastest ever descent but the most enjoyable for sure.
The fastest descent title for me would have to go local and is the Old Long Hill topping out at 86km/h. Due to the road surface and visibility issues there it's not my favorite descent by a long shot.
However, the worst descent ever title from me would have to go to the West side of Col de Pailheres. Silly steep and impossibly tight hairpins combined with poor visibility makes it the hairiest descent I've ever done.

Idleater

Hmmzis wrote: »

However, the worst descent ever title from me would have to go to the West side of Col de Pailheres. Silly steep and impossibly tight hairpins combined with poor visibility makes it the hairiest descent I've ever done.

It was beautiful weather when I did that and I loved that hill, up and down. The long wide road descending into Prades further on the Raid route was 20 odd km of fun, with room to pass cars and campers. I remember the "use engine braking" warning signs.

Hmmzis

Idleater wrote: »

It was beautiful weather when I did that and I loved that hill, up and down. The long wide road descending into Prades further on the Raid route was 20 odd km of fun, with room to pass cars and campers. I remember the "use engine braking" warning signs.

The descent into Prades is from Col du Jau (last KOM on the Raid) and it's a fantastic one especially the run into Mosset after the initial hairpins are over.
The descent from Col du Garavel is also class. Practically empty roads, we didn't meet a single car there. Visibility was great and we were able to use the whole width of the road. It's an amazing part of the world to be cycling in.

fondriest

The descent of the Col de Sarenne which is the one that was used in between the two climbs of Alp D'huez in the 2013 Tour is absolutely brilliant , I don't even know if I could describe it very well but I know when I got to the bottom I had mixed emotions. I was relieved to have made it in one piece and wanted to go again. So I did .

Mint Sauce

Doing the London to Brighton about 5 years ago. Knew about Ditching Hill before the event, so hill training was a major part of the training. So wearing a Poker Dot Jersey on the day (yes totally not euro I know), I was an immediately marked man, and had a point to prove. Hauled my self and my 14 speed Alu frame over the top, before hitting a dizzy 75kph on the decent, overtook several, but had a few overtake me at agreat rate as well. Wimped out at that point with knees clamped to the top tube trying to prevent a speed wobble. As event is also on open roads, rumours of East Sussex Police and their speed trap was also on my mind.



Only time I came close since, was on the Horse Shoe road up to Truskmore in Sligo, also the spot for my hill training. Hidden entrances, and pot holed littered track, had me knees clamped and feathering the brakes at 60 odd long before the speed wobbles.

Leroy42

It might not be the fastest but its a local one.

Cruagh Road, the S's coming down from the bridge (turn off to J Foxes) towards the bridge.

Very short I'll admit, but there is a series of 5 of 6 sweeping bends which if you get right can be a lot of fun.

Thud

Luggala, Cunard (when moss free)and Kilgarron descents are all good for hitting 80kmh+

Trojan

On descents I freewheel past people who are pedaling. There's a nice descent locally, the back of Buckagh coming from Keenagh into Letterkeen, that I get around 75kmh without pushing it. I'd love to try for more but there's loose gravel on the surface and sheep usually by the roadside so not worth it.

It's just after this:

route66

colm18 wrote: »

At 60kg I'm not a natural descender but I thought my attempt on the Old long hill descent(Enniskerry) today was decent...until I saw that my 48.8km/h average puts me 796th on the strava leaderboard :-P Anyway, I still enjoyed it!

The problem with this descent is that there are some car parks at the end of the initial steep part and I guess people exiting may not be expecting somebody on a bike to wizz by at 79 kmp/h.

Which is what I recorded once ...

Afterwards, I called myself to one side, had a chat with myself and now concentrate on speeds going uphill - not very fast

Same would apply to Kilmashogue lane - far too many openings on to the road to allow for a fast & safe descent.

Wicklow Gap into Laragh, 81.5kph one fine day. My buddy with me got 81.9kph.

Crocked

Thud wrote: »

Luggala, Cunard (when moss free)and Kilgarron descents are all good for hitting 80kmh+

Cunard is a good one, if it weren't for the sheep it'd be even better. Where's the Kilgarron one?

2 Wheels Good

Coolieragh hill near Glengarriff is probably the best surfaced/safest descent I've seen down the south, a quick 500m burst and you're hitting 80+kph

irishrover99

Dónal wrote: »

Wicklow Gap into Laragh, 81.5kph one fine day. My buddy with me got 81.9kph.

Probably my favourite too. I think it is also the safest descent we have around Dublin/Wicklow area

seamus

Leroy42 wrote: »

It might not be the fastest but its a local one.

Cruagh Road, the S's coming down from the bridge (turn off to J Foxes) towards the bridge.

Very short I'll admit, but there is a series of 5 of 6 sweeping bends which if you get right can be a lot of fun.

Like the majority of descents in Wicklow, they can be a wonderful experience in the right conditions, and new pants time in the wrong conditions.

When you've found yourself on the road at 10am some dry, windless, Wednesday morning, every descent is a dream, you can push them really hard.

When it's windy, a lot of descents become fun with short periods of sheer terror when a side gust hits you. In the rain, you just can't trust the corners to hold you. When it's a weekend afternoon, there's just too much traffic.

Did Sally Gap to Tallaght on the way back this weekend and the descent past the lake was absolutely zero fun whatsoever in wind and rain.

irishrover99 wrote: »

Probably my favourite too. I think it is also the safest descent we have around Dublin/Wicklow area

Which is a little depressing considering how many times a boy racer or motorcyclist has overtaken me at 65km/h+ on that descent.

We have basically no good descents with wide, well paved roads and a steep gradient. The embankment road is about the best all-rounder, you can hit it hard in any conditions, but it's difficult to push past 60km/h without a big effort.

Thud

Crocked wrote: »

Cunard is a good one, if it weren't for the sheep it'd be even better. Where's the Kilgarron one?

https://www.strava.com/segments/4250056?filter=overall

the steepest bit has a good surface but you've got to get the brakes on quick when you get to the village

connie_c

For sheer speed the road down to Old Leighlin in Carlow is very fast. https://www.strava.com/segments/7494329. Its the fastest I've ever gone anyway. 86.6 kmph top speed.

07Lapierre

connie_c wrote: »

For sheer speed the road down to Old Leighlin in Carlow is very fast. https://www.strava.com/segments/7494329. Its the fastest I've ever gone anyway. 86.6 kmph top speed.

+1 86.4kph for me..scary!

2 Wheels Good

How the pros do it!! On his way to victory in the Tour de Suisse time trial Jon Izaguirre hit 110km/h on a descent

Weepsie

Thud wrote: »

https://www.strava.com/segments/4250056?filter=overall

the steepest bit has a good surface but you've got to get the brakes on quick when you get to the village

I've only ventured to Wicklow twice on the bike and this was my first taste of a descent all the way from Featherbeds (i think) and Glencree to here. Great craic hitting 75 kmph+ without trying, though I try to avoid any such speeds.

mp31

01Surveyor wrote: »

... the misery of climbing ... and the joy of descending...

Does the former not increase the latter?

padyjoe

connie_c wrote: »

For sheer speed the road down to Old Leighlin in Carlow is very fast. https://www.strava.com/segments/7494329. Its the fastest I've ever gone anyway. 86.6 kmph top speed.

It's a nice reward after climbing it. I find it a bit bumpy though.

CramCycle

84kmph+ coming down a descesnt in wales, i remember looking down at the speedo and thinking, if I come off, thats that (and then trying to spin a bit faster).