More speed...

As I had mentioned in a previous post, I've taken to making top speed runs down Tohickon Hill road, a local road which is ideally suited for the task. It has a couple of S turns at the top, but then straightens out and holds a steady 8% grade. Last time I tried, I spun up to 150rpm, and hit about 52mph. Since then, I've replaced my top two cogs, a 12 and 13, with an 11 and 12 taken from a mountain bike cassette. That raises my top gear from 116" to 126" (gear inches; the virtual diameter of a wheel that turns once for every pedal revolution) which means I go 33" farther with each turn of the cranks.

Having been off the bike for about two weeks, my Saturday and Sunday morning rides were not great, but on Sunday morning, I did take a run down Tohickon. Coming through the S turns, on the second to last corner, I saw a big dump truck coming up the hill, rounding the last corner. Since the truck was big, his tire was over the centerline, so I had to get on the brakes pretty hard and move to the right. This obviously lost me a bunch of speed, but I hadn't planned on making a full top speed run anyway.

I came out of the last corner going maybe 30mph, brought the speed up, got a good spin, but nothing crazy... saw about 47 or 48mph when I glanced down, figured that was good enough, and backed off.

However... when I got home, I was downloading the ride from the GPS, and noticed that it marked my top speed as 51.8mph -- the same reading the GPS had given for my last top speed run! So, without even trying, I've managed to tie my previous best mark.

Man, I can't wait to try that hill again while I'm fresh. 55mph? 56? more? We'll just have to see. I also noticed that since I wasn't pedalling as fast, the bike was far more stable, so I should be able to go far faster and still feel safe.

I wonder if I'll be able to beat 60mph at some point...