I'm with you 100%. 15 years ago, I descended like a maniac. A hundred stitches and four different e-room visits later (not all from descending), I don't do it anymore. Three kids, a wife, a cat and two fish depend on me making it home every night.

That said, I let the bike run on safe descents, like the Keene downhill at Lake Placid. I can't get enough of that kind of speed. I just take the corners nice and safe these days.

Brake early while still going straight, and take the corners with no brakes at a nice easy speed.

No stitches (knock on wood!) but several scary near-accidents including one over-cooked right-hand bend where I locked up the rear wheel and slid it across the double yellow into oncoming traffic. How I managed to recover that one without laying the bike down or getting run over I'll never know- thank God I wasn't riding tubulars on that day. I can't say that I don't still enjoy a nice fast descent now and again, but i'll save it for those roads that are big sweepers with good pavement (like Hwy 84 out to San Gregorio on the coast for you NorCal folks). The steep gravelly stuff with potholes and hairpins gives me the willies nowadays.

i do for sure!.. 2 buddies and myself do this long 15mile climb it takes just a little over an hour if your really cranking. i can beat them both to the top by 5 minutes or more, then we start the descent and it's all i can do to stay with them. i think the corners make me leary, cause i crashed once in a race on a corner cause it was wet, mojor road rash...i slid for like 20 feet. although at the boulder peak triathlon last year i hit 54mph on a steep descent, it's steep and strait for like 1.5 miles before the first corner. while i was building up speed right around 50-52mph i saw a guy laying on the side of the road (he had just crashed) and was pretty beat up....he had a medic next to him (they hang out on the descent).



luke

I would rather go UP anytime.. The downhill frightens me:) But for me, 27 mph is fast going down the hill... I think I became a good climber because of that.

i don't have a wife and kids and i'm approaching 40 but I descend slowly, don't blame your dependents or whatever you have become older and wiser and are aware of your mortality. Smart!

The only time i will let go is at the Noosa triathlon where there is a downhill section for about 2km that is smooth and straight. I touched about 88km/h there last year. The camera motorbike clocked Craig Walton at 104km\h. But in training it's nice and easy. I am more interested in my speed going up than down. There's no prizes awarded for downhill speed in training but there's painful penalties for errors.

"I am curious if others feel the same way or I'm just a wimp"

Not a wimp at all. You're not 21 and single. You're showing maturity and common sense.

Our group does a regular once a week hill ride. It's my favorite ride and a super work out. There's one hill that we descend that is very steep. Last year we had a group of us close together going down at +75 kph pretending we were the US Postal Tream descending the Alps in the TDF. Craziness. We're mostly all guys with mortgages and other people dependent on our pay checks. It's an adrenaline rush but we should know better.

I find my road bike ascends and descends much better than my tri bike. I feel a lot more confident descending on a road bike with my hands on the drops near the brakes.

last year at IM France I went down at 50mph...
the following weeks were off, of course...got back on the bike in august, very careful for 1 week, then things started going wrong again...I am back to my old habits...speed is good :-) and I am not even good technically downhill...

If you're doing it for fun, and it isn't fun, don't do it! My comfort level's at about 45MPH, then I start to get nervous. I'll sit up a bit, and spread my knees out to catch more air and slow things down.

Let other people go faster, if they want. We'll just pass them again on the next climb!

MrEd13

Triathlete with One Horsepower, one wife, one kid, a dog, and a mortgage

I agree - and not because I'm a natural climber. Hell, if I were any taller I'd be a clyde. I like climbing for the same reason that I like running, and triathlon in general - it's hard.

I like short steep climbs because I can stomp over them better than most of my riding buddies (all light, lean, good power to weight ratio types) - I can leverage the big legs and fast twitch muscle fibres to hammer my way to the top. Suboptimal race strategy, but ya gotta have some fun in training, a least. ;)

I like long climbs because they kick my ass like nobody's business. Long climbs are a suffer fest - especially for a 185lb (winter weight) person with a 30lb softride (train heavy, race slightly less heavy). Long climbs take dicipline and mental toughness - you can't just hammer them and get it over quickly. The pain is a little duller, but spread over a much longer period of time. It's amazing how much ground one can lose in as little as a minute. Or 60. Luckily, my buddies don't mind waiting ;)

I descend faster than most of my buddies (Go Team Gravity!), but I'm a pretty crappy descender technically. That definitely needs work on my part. I do get a kick out of rolling by them while sitting up, while they're fully tucked out. But overall I prefer climbing.

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<If you're gonna be dumb, you gotta be tough>
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nice topic. all of this leads me to wondering how i can better my downhill riding skills. what makes one technically good? any tips or resources for a beginning tri athlete?

btw,

am I the only one who wondered with the way this topic is phrased if this wasn't an other post of Mr Tibbs asking for some sex advice? :-)

Down, Down, Down - I'm 48 yoa. I LOVE going as fast as possible. I used to train on the Blue Ridge Mtns. in Virginia. I was hitting 55 on the tri bike going back down after the 12 mile climb. I was passing cars in the hairpins like they were standing still!!! Nothing like the "need for speed".



BTW - thats one reason I like to bike rather then run and swim. Running and swimming , I go no where real fast!! : )

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Paul

You are from Toronto area, right? Where do you do your weekly hill ride? I have not found any decent hills closer than ~1h drive from the city (either Rattlesnake, or Weston Road...).



Triguy

Not from Toronto at all. In fact I'm a few hours away and only get into the "big smoke" three or four times a year. Going to the bike show there this weekend. Lived there for about four years many years ago when attending college and actually lived there another time for awhile as a kid when my dad was stationed with the military base in Downsview when that area was more or less considered country. I now live in rural eastern Ontario.

>>Down, Down, Down - I'm 48 yoa. I LOVE going as fast as possible.<<

Yea!!! In my world, what has to go up, gets to come down really fast. And TriMike--Didn't they repave the road to the Geysers? The only bummer is the stop sign at the bottom.

clm

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clm
Nashville, TN
https://twitter.com/ironclm | http://ironclm.typepad.com

Hi Cathy

Yes they did repave it but after all the storms and rain several sections have sunk. There are some sections where the payment has literally sunk down a few inches due to movement of the underlying soil. Wouldn't want to hit those too fast. I do feel much better now reading many of these posts about how age brings more wisdom. The fastest I have ever gone was 48MPH at Wildflower. That was plenty fast for me. I remember doing a triple endo on my Schwinn Varsity 10 speed as a kid and spitting out teeth after I woke up. No more of that for me.

As an aside for folks who know the Vineman course, a pretty veteran rider crashed on Chalk Hill this past weekend and died of massive head trauma. Very sad. A simple wheel touch at 30 MPH per the newspaper. Be careful out there.

Mike

Steels Rd is a good bet. Not actually in TO (Miss), but close enough to start & end from the city and still hit it.

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<If you're gonna be dumb, you gotta be tough>
Get Fitter!
Proud member of the Smartasscrew, MONSTER CLUB
Get your FIX today?

Most days I like the way up better.

Hmm...I also like to be on the bottom.

Khai -

Where on Steeles? I've ridden out there a bit - up Heritage road, for example, but it seemed like Steeles was awfully busy, and not too hilly. Heritage Rd/Mississauga Rd were much better, especially up around Belfountain.



Triguy