60KM downhill on new road surface (video)

Pa ElGrande · 21-01-2021 7:44pm #1

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ho_lrPU7dPU

This downhill cycle cropped up on my feed. It is from California starting at a scenic point called Gods Seat on the Yerba Buena Road near Los Angeles, California.

He sails close to the edge coming up on 4 mins 40 second in. Best watched full screen if your internet connects allows.

Here is his Strava.

smacl · 21-01-2021 8:18pm

Pa ElGrande wrote: »

He sails close to the edge coming up on 4 mins 40 second in. Best watched full screen if your internet connects allows.

On the wrong side of the road for way too many blind corners for my liking, not something you'd want to make a habit of.

TheBlaaMan · 21-01-2021 8:34pm

He is certainly using all the road, and then some. The corners are mostly fairly open and I'm sure he has wider vision than we can see via the camera lens. That said, with the wind noise at 50kmph likely to drown out the sound of, for example, a moto rider coming in the opposite direction just as ambitiously as he is descending, and he is taking too many risks being on the other lane, imo.

Besides, anyone keen to be publishing this sort of video is either a Darwinism candidate or a show-off, self-publicist in my book, so its a "no" from me....

21-01-2021 8:55pm

Odd sound to his pedalling when he gets out of the saddle around the 17-18 second mark???

2011abc · 21-01-2021 8:55pm

Compelling viewing but the road is the star in my view not the cyclist .How he didnt die at 10min13sec God only knows .And he had a lot more near misses and bad habits .

07Lapierre · 21-01-2021 9:21pm

Great road. I think the chestcam view makes the bends look worse than they actually are. He was lucky to stay upright at one point and videoing yourself flying straight through a stop sign is not that clever!

CramCycle · 21-01-2021 9:32pm

I've watched a few of his videos and I swear the videos over exaggerate the speed compared to the actual speed but they are relaxing. I have went faster on the N11 with ease on a good day and it hasn't looked as fast. Lovely scenery but at those speeds, holding to his side of the road should be easy, it is just lazy dramatisation for the likes on youtube. Do I condone it, no. Is it dangerous, only his road handling, the speed is a non issue. He is always on the right side for cars so I suspect, like people who put their cameras closer to the ground to exaggerate speed, he has it on his chest instead of helmet to exaggerate the speed. I imagine he has far cleaner line of sight than the video implies,

mickdw · 21-01-2021 10:47pm

Crazy stuff.
How many bends did he go into where he was just keeping to his side of the road with no possibility of tightening his line if anything unexpected came at him.
Asking for trouble.
As for when he went up on the road verge, i dont know how he got away with that.

bazermc · 21-01-2021 10:49pm

Mad. He’s even doing it on the wrong side of the road

Wishbone Ash · 21-01-2021 11:26pm

Re the thread title - where are you getting a 60km descent? It's a 13km descent.

magicbastarder · 21-01-2021 11:34pm

i assume it was intended to mean 60km/h.

crosstownk · 22-01-2021 12:46am

I’m sure it was thrilling but it’s irresponsible. Grand if the roads were closed/controlled but too many risks taken.

I doubt he’d last long descending the Embankment in that fashion.

silverharp · 22-01-2021 10:02am

where is the best downhill in Wicklow and secondly Ireland? military road into Rathfarnham is about as spicy as I can cope with and that is still with a liberal sprinkling of breaks

daragh_ · 22-01-2021 10:29am

Do not try this at home kids.

Seth Brundle · 22-01-2021 10:38am

pffft

Descending from the top of Mount Leinster to the gate at the main public road (Mount Leinster Drive). Test run stats: Distance 2.6km; Elevation start 795m; Finish elevation 445m; Drop 350m; Average gradient 13.5%; Maximum gradient 20%; Average speed 70.1km/h; Top speed 92.6km/h.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LJcYWXkt9UE

kingoffifa · 22-01-2021 11:01am

Seth Brundle wrote: »

pffft

he used ti have cable operated disc brakes, and a handmade steel fork to put up with the abuse.
unbelievable pilot.

cable disc brakes. unreal!!

smacl · 22-01-2021 11:07am

silverharp wrote: »

where is the best downhill in Wicklow and secondly Ireland? military road into Rathfarnham is about as spicy as I can cope with and that is still with a liberal sprinkling of breaks

Depends what you're after. Wicklow gap towards Hollywood is good descent in terms of visibility, wide road, reasonable surface. Glenmacnass to Laragh has got very busy in recent years, so one you need to watch more. I always enjoy this descent on the backroads of the Wicklow gap. Short enough and not overly challenging but great craic IMHO. Favourites in Ireland are Balligisheen and Ballaghbeama towards Glencar direction.

silverharp · 22-01-2021 12:17pm

smacl wrote: »

Depends what you're after. Wicklow gap towards Hollywood is good descent in terms of visibility, wide road, reasonable surface. Glenmacnass to Laragh has got very busy in recent years, so one you need to watch more. I always enjoy this descent on the backroads of the Wicklow gap. Short enough and not overly challenging but great craic IMHO. Favourites in Ireland are Balligisheen and Ballaghbeama towards Glencar direction.

Ive always done laragh and glendahough clockwise back to dublin, must be pleasant downhills, the Glencar one is what the locals call going over the block heading from cahirsiveen to Killarney through the mountains , been car sick many a time as a kid on that one, I was thinking that would be a great cycling route

Wishbone Ash · 22-01-2021 12:56pm

kingoffifa wrote: »

....he used ti have cable operated disc brakes, and a handmade steel fork to put up with the abuse....

His bike has twin forks (i.e. a pair on each side).

kingoffifa · 22-01-2021 1:39pm

Wishbone Ash wrote: »

His bike has twin forks (i.e. a pair on each side).

yea. something like that. i would only be guessing at the specifics.

I just couldn't understand the brakes. I was barely able to stop with avid bb5 brakes at thr time, and here was this pilot doing 100 into a 180deg bend

campag as well I believe, so another hurdle to overcome with lever throw in those days.

he hasn't posted videos in a long time but he still replies to comments the odd time.

I wonder how he would have fared with the more modern disc brakes. sur I guess they would only slow you down more

ChickenBalls · 22-01-2021 4:55pm

From watching that video that camera is very deceiving and he could see ahead before taking the bends on wrong side of the road - granted he did gamble on one or two. max'ing out at 60kph isn't too fast in fairness he slowed on some bends to 40kph - take my similar descent on Hurricane Ridge near Seattle few years back. A 28km descent. Similar to this guys avg descent -5% which is nothing like the wicklow descents of -10/15% - I could go hard all the way down and I'm the biggest chicken S**t out there when it comes to descending and my speed wasn't too far off his.

https://www.strava.com/activities/690304447

CramCycle · 22-01-2021 5:17pm

100%, like I said earlier, I often go faster than that on my commute and that's not a 5% decline for all of it. A decent road bike and awareness and I imagine with a tailwind many here would do the same with ease. Most of my best times on Strava along the N11 are far faster than this guy as I had a tailwind. A regular enough occurrence to catch up with the DBs in the bus lane and have to slow down.
Was it stupid, yes. Is it recommended, no. Was it any cause for concern, not remotely although undoubtedly some anti cyclist crowd will use this to think I condone such behaviour. The only really stupid thing he done at that speed was the cornering. You could easily take those corners on your own side of the road at that speed with that surface. He done it because it looked cooler, nothing else.

fat bloke · 22-01-2021 5:35pm

Lovely today in fairness. Nearly lost it around the 4.48 mark crossing the double yellows!
That my Leinster vid is bananas on that surface and with so many walkers on the road.:rolleyes:

silverharp · 22-01-2021 8:09pm

fat bloke wrote: »

Lovely today in fairness. Nearly lost it around the 4.48 mark crossing the double yellows!
That my Leinster vid is bananas on that surface and with so many walkers on the road.:rolleyes:

with the typical Irish, do you want me to move, I might :pac:

07Lapierre · 22-01-2021 8:25pm

CramCycle wrote: »

100%, like I said earlier, I often go faster than that on my commute and that's not a 5% decline for all of it. A decent road bike and awareness and I imagine with a tailwind many here would do the same with ease. Most of my best times on Strava along the N11 are far faster than this guy as I had a tailwind. A regular enough occurrence to catch up with the DBs in the bus lane and have to slow down.
Was it stupid, yes. Is it recommended, no. Was it any cause for concern, not remotely although undoubtedly some anti cyclist crowd will use this to think I condone such behaviour. The only really stupid thing he done at that speed was the cornering. You could easily take those corners on your own side of the road at that speed with that surface. He done it because it looked cooler, nothing else.

As long as i can see the road ahead, I’ve no issue cutting corners to maintain a straighter line. But I also find that once your aware that you have a GoPro and it’s recording, I suspect most people will “play up” to the camera.