grr@alioth.commodore.com (George Robbins) writes:

:In article <37eibr$k0d@bigblue.oit.unc.edu> chhurst@med.unc.edu (Christopher H. Hurst) writes:
:: Several skaters from our local inline club participated in AtoA for the
:: second year and again they returned with horrific tales of a certain hill
:: called "Silver Hill." On this hill skaters have claimed to reach speeds
:: of 50 mph. I heard several stories about skaters passing motor vehicles
:: on this hill as well as many other variations. Will someone please set
:: the record straight and give me a realistic idea as to the speeds obtained
:: on this hill. I would guess that 35 mph would be a closer estimate--but I
:: anxiously await any stories one might have....

:All things are possible, but unless you've either measured and timed skaters
:on the hill, or possess a radar gun or other reliable instrument, take
:subjective claims and "measured on a car speedometer" with a large grain of
:salt - people tend to overestimate when there's a direct sensation of speed
:via the wind or road feel, and the car speedometer "measurements" usally
:combine limited speedometer accuracy and failing to match speeds for long
:enough to really confirm the measurement.

Very good point George. I find that most speed "estimates" seem to be on the high side. On several occasions I 've followed cars on my bike and afterwards the driver has told me how fast they thought I was going. More than once they have said that I was going 55 or so, but my carefully adjusted Avocet said a max of 45 or 46.

But that particular hill is definitely one special piece of road. I have had some personal experiences there and I have heard some stories. Take my speed estimates with a grain of salt, but also remember that this hill is steeper (and more importantly, straighter at the bottom) than most.

When I went down it during A-A 92 (in the rain) the car behind us said we were going 45mph. I think somewhere between 35-45mph would be accurate. It felt like it could certainly have been around 45mph (from both from my biking and skating experiences), but I don't think I've ever gone that that fast in the rain before, so its hard to get a good feel.

I was tucked behind another skater, not wanting to look up because the rain was pelting my eyes, and also very concerned because it felt like my wheels were hydroplaning, and it seemed like any lateral movement would have led to a spill. Those factors made it seem like we were going very fast. Too fast for those conditions.

On dry pavement, I think a brave duo of skilled skaters could get up to 50mph without too much difficulty-- I remember it as being that steep, and on many steep hills 45mph is attainable if you're skilled at going down hills. I've clocked people with my Avocet bike computer which as seems to be accurate at those speeds when carefully adjusted.

I have also heard that in A-A 91, the last time it did not rain during Athens to Atlanta, the Dutch team was clocked going 60mph down that hill. Normally, I would say that reaching 60mph on skates anywhere without a vehicle to draft off of would be almost impossible, but suposedly they were hooked up and pushing off each other. That can make a significant difference in wind resistence. You can probably knock off between 5 to 10 miles per hour due to exageration, but that still leaves them going 50+mph. That seems reasonable to me.

Skaters with bomber descender skills might be able to approach 50mph in the rain, but I think it would be uncommon. 35-45mph in the rain is probably the range that 90% of skaters on racing setups would reach as long is they did not try to slow down. Kimon

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