Max speed (GPS or cyclist verified), and max speed stories

Oy you guys were flying! It'd be cool to get some maps or data going. If anyone wants to do something with gpsvisualizer.com, cool. Otherwise if you want to send me a .tcx or .gpx or some other data, maybe I can make a speed topo map. No worries if you'd rather not publish the stuff, as I'm sure there's plenty I shouldacouldawoulda elsewise. Sounds like a really fun day, and what else could it possibly be about than fun, if you want it to last? Awesome stuff.

52 or 53 mph was definitely the highlight. SkateyMark was leading, Dave in 2nd, and me in 3rd. And Mark is right, we could have pulled another 4mph out of it but grabbed some wind to 'safen' things up a smidge. This downhill was at about mile 32 so fatigue was a factor. There was a rest stop 1 mile later and a few cyclist pulled up wondering about our speed. They were clocking 44 - 45 and we screamed passed them. There was quite a buzz at the rest stop as other cyclists overheard the speed. It was pretty cool. I'm ready though. Let's get 55+ or break 60! At 53mph after 32 miles I just had a very minor wobble in the left skate. We finished strong though, my data showed a 13.4mph average,,,,so for me personally, that was my best skating day ever --- longest distance at 48.50, respectable avg speed and 52/53 top speed. Cup N Cone 2010....I'm ready!

When we were flying down the hill, I had no idea how fast we were going... It *felt* fast, but I would have figured somewhere around 45 mph. If only because I think my previous fastest recorded speed was around 45 mph... About halfway down the hill, my right skate started to wobble. By 3/4 of the way it was really bad. It's been a long time since I've experienced anything like it. I attributed it to lack of time on my skates this year, and tired legs. I had no choice but to stand up and catch some air and stop the acceleration. If not for the wobbles, I think we could have easily gotten another 4-5 mph out of the hill! I think it would be interesting to drive out to the hill (so the legs are fresh) and wear full crash gear, to see just how fast the hill really is... Dave checked his GPS (after we slowed down of course) and it said 51.2 mph! I still haven't figured out all the bells & whistles on my Polar RS800, so I wasn't able to pull up the maximum speed that I recorded. Later at home, I uploaded the data to the computer and the speed was even higher than what Dave recorded -- 53.1 mph! The HRM was set to sample every 5 seconds, so it has reasonably good precision. Maybe next time I'll change it to 2 second resolution... (I think the RS800 might even have 1-second resolution as an option.) I don't think we would have had the guts to take that downhill the way we did if we hadn't climbed that same hill on the first half of the skride. So we knew the road was straight, had a good rollout at the bottom, and had no cross streets. We pushed moderately hard at the top of the hill, maybe had 16-18 mph going before we went into a tuck. Then we just bombed straight down the hill. As Eebee mentioned, once you're above 30 mph, you're pretty much committed. It's not possible to apply the brake at crazy speeds, or try any other braking maneuver (t-stop, etc). You just have to ride it out. The only thing you can do (which is what I had to do) is stand up to increase your wind resistance, which will slow you down. Of course, standing up may make you less stable, as your center of gravity moves higher off the ground. So it's pretty dicey for the 10 seconds or so that it takes to slow down to a more stable speed. Anyway, we lived through it, and it was quite a rush. 50+ mph, free ice cream at the rest stop and again at the finish... What more could you want? - SM -