Speeding cyclists on LBC now

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Flinders
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Re: Speeding cyclists on LBC now

Post by Flinders »

Postboxer wrote:What speed does a beginner ride at, when they've just learnt to ride i.e. fast enough for balancing to become easier?


One of the problems I had when learning (at the advanced age of 19) was that to be at all stable you have to go at a reasonable speed, which takes courage when you're wobbly.
To be stable at low speeds takes much more skill in balancing, and more strength in the wrists. That makes learning awkward, as you have to get through the low speeds as fast as you can to faster speeds to get your 'sea legs', and have to pass back through the lower speeds on the way down to stop.

More than 30 years of cycling later, I have a speedometer. At 5mph I can just about stay upright on my narrow tyres on a decent surface for a short time. Anyone who thinks that a road bike is stable at that sort of speed needs their head examining, and needs to be made to try it for, say, a couple of miles on a rough, potholed and greasy surface.
I think the 'police' who said 5mph was the limit should be the first candidates. I'd almost pay a train fare to London to watch that.
Oh, and they ought to have to clip in too. :twisted:
kwackers
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Re: Speeding cyclists on LBC now

Post by kwackers »

Flinders wrote:At 5mph I can just about stay upright on my narrow tyres on a decent surface for a short time.

Really? I can balance on mine moderately easily at 2-3 mph (certainly at the sedate walking pace of an 'old dear') with nothing more than a bit of mild wobbling. 5mph is a doddle.

I agree though that it gets easier with speed and noobs definitely need a bit of speed to help them.
snibgo
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Re: Speeding cyclists on LBC now

Post by snibgo »

I have a vague memory that junior school sports days included a "slow bike race". The idea was that we had to cycle forwards without putting a foot on the ground, and the last across the line was the winner.

These days, my minimum speed is 10 kmph (6.25 mph). True, this might be because I have a poor sense of balance (the inner ear balance thingies send false signals to the brain) and most cyclists can probably ride more slowly than me. But a speed limit of 5mph would effectively prohibit me. As well as joggers etc.
SteveHunter
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Re: Speeding cyclists on LBC now

Post by SteveHunter »

I remember them races at the school sports day. It was the one race I had a chance of winning. I think I had my Raleigh Grifter then :)
kwackers
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Re: Speeding cyclists on LBC now

Post by kwackers »

When I took my motorcycle test one of the things was to ride it at the side of the instructor as he slowly walked along. Then you had to do a U turn without putting a foot down.
I seem to think they were both quite hard. I reckon the fat tyres on the motorbike actually made balancing at slow speeds harder due to the rather sedate steering.
Flinders
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Re: Speeding cyclists on LBC now

Post by Flinders »

kwackers wrote:When I took my motorcycle test one of the things was to ride it at the side of the instructor as he slowly walked along. Then you had to do a U turn without putting a foot down.
I seem to think they were both quite hard. I reckon the fat tyres on the motorbike actually made balancing at slow speeds harder due to the rather sedate steering.


Not sure what the optimal tyre width would be. Motorbike tyres are quite curvy in profile, aren't they? To allow for leaning, perhaps? If I'm being daft, sorry, but it's because I'm not a biker, only been on one once (though I enjoyed it). I'd imagine that would make it harder to stay upright than if they had a flat surface in contact with the road like a car does.


(As I learned to ride a bike late in life, I've never had one with wide tyres like a kids' bike, and have only ever had road bikes, & not mountain bikes. Would aylone with experience of narrow and wide bike tyres like to say which is easiest at low speeds?)
Flinders
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Joined: 10 Mar 2009, 6:47pm

Re: Speeding cyclists on LBC now

Post by Flinders »

kwackers wrote:
Flinders wrote:At 5mph I can just about stay upright on my narrow tyres on a decent surface for a short time.

Really? I can balance on mine moderately easily at 2-3 mph (certainly at the sedate walking pace of an 'old dear') with nothing more than a bit of mild wobbling. 5mph is a doddle.

I agree though that it gets easier with speed and noobs definitely need a bit of speed to help them.


I don't practice at low speeds. I only get that slow going up hard hills, and seldom as low as 5mph even then. Honest. :wink:
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Mick F
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Re: Speeding cyclists on LBC now

Post by Mick F »

I climb a local hill at less than 3mph - difficult to be exact - the hill is 25%.
I can't say I'm that stable going that slow, but I am pressing the pedals and cranks hard and my bottom gear is as high as 26.5" so my cadence is about 35rpm.

I reckon I could happily ride at 3mph or less, provided it was flat. I can do a trackstand - just!
Mick F. Cornwall
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ArMoRothair
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Re: Speeding cyclists on LBC now

Post by ArMoRothair »

kwackers wrote:When I took my motorcycle test one of the things was to ride it at the side of the instructor as he slowly walked along. Then you had to do a U turn without putting a foot down.
I seem to think they were both quite hard. I reckon the fat tyres on the motorbike actually made balancing at slow speeds harder due to the rather sedate steering.


When I learnt to ride a motorbike I was quite disappointed in how long it took me. I was already a motorist of ten years' experience and a cyclist for as long as I can remember. I expected to be able to handle a motorbike in minutes but it wasn't the case.

The only part of my week long course where I genuinely shined was in the slow-control module; weaving around cones in a car park. The instructor, seeing I was handy at it, jumped in front of me on his bike to teach me a lesson and we continued to do super slow figure eights around the circuit until one of us put a foot down. Years of doing track stands at London traffic lights came in useful: I won.
drossall
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Re: Speeding cyclists on LBC now

Post by drossall »

snibgo wrote:I have a vague memory that junior school sports days included a "slow bike race". The idea was that we had to cycle forwards without putting a foot on the ground, and the last across the line was the winner.

I read somewhere that the Guiness Book of Records abandoned slow cycling records when a Japanese guy did a track stand for 6 hours.
ferdinand
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Re: Speeding cyclists on LBC now

Post by ferdinand »

Returning to cycling I DID practice this stuff, and I fund I am comfortable-ish at about 3 but any slower is not sustainable for much distance. I wonder if the way to address cycling on pavements is to have a speed limit of perhaps 8mph, which I think is about the same as the max for those buggies, but for enforcement to be more on sensible riding. Blanket bans when it is deserted are as stupid as speed limits to protect the workforce on roadworks at 2am.

I am being more cautious since I took up cleats, however.

I also spent an hour going backwards and forwards through a chicane on my normal short - half hour - circuit, which helped. It's all about leaning over a bit more than feels comfortable, it seems, so that it becomes comfortable.

The remaining challenge is a short flight of 8 shallow steps on a trail. 4 or 5 is fine, but this feels long and I haven't yet defied the lake at the bottom.

I was pottering around Canterbury last w/e and I am sure I saw several 10mph limit signs. It could have been in the central ped area or the Great Stour Cycle Path to Chartham.

If a road bike is not stable at a sensible speed for the pedestrian area in particular conditions, then it should be .... On the road.

Ferdinand
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