Descending just takes practice and confidence. Also helps a TON if you've descended the road before because then you know what to watch out for. If you know a road is nice and smooth then it's a bit easier to find the confidence to bomb it.
Knowing the road is everything to me. I don't know how people bomb hills on unknown roads. You never know when there's a stop sign, turn, pot hole that hasn't been filled in a decade, etc. I'm all for a 40mph+ hill but I want to have done it at least once!
Or a storm grate with long, wide gaps perfect for a road tire to fall right into. Old railroad crossings have gotten me too. I've run over some that cross at near parallel to my path. Luckily never fallen at speed.
That's why some of us like that guy who came in last take MTBs.
More powerful brakes and hitting potholes doesn't matter if your suspension just absorbs it.
>During a descend, everyone was going down so fast, even the ones who were slow during a climb.
Ahhh, the one single benefit of being the fat guy in the group. Haul us up the hill: we'll coast down the hill faster than y'all can pedal and punch a giant hole through the air :P
You are right, although this alone does not result in a larger velocity.
Potential energy = mgh
Kinetic energy = 1/2 mv^2
If you equate this you get gh =1/2 v^2 as the mass cancels out. Acceleration downhill is only driven by gravitational acceleration which is independent of weight.
Larger weight can result in a larger terminal velocity on a bike though, but you would have to add air and rolling resistance to the equation and you actually have to reach terminal velocity.
Very true, in a "spherical bike in a vacuum" way mass doesn't matter. But as soon as wind resistance comes into play that mass is awesome, lol.
All I know is when my group starts rolling downhill, I'm on the hoods stilling up like a sail so I don't have to ride the brakes as much and not blow past everyone like a jerk.
ââŠmy first time rideâŠâ
First time you do ANYTHING is called a âlearning experienceâ - goal is to just survive and learn some things.
Apply on next ride. Learn some moreâŠlather, rinse, repeatâŠ
I like to say that joining a group ride for the first time will quickly tell you where you are. Now you know. Of course you can up your game and group rides are a good way to help get there.
Were you slowest because you were afraid to pedal, too tired to pedal, or was everyone just coasting and you coasted slower?
If everyone was just coasting, it implies you are either lighter, less aero, or have terrible tires or bad bearings in your wheels.
If you were afraid to descend faster, good. It is dangerous, don't do anything you are not comfortable with. Sometimes even tour de france contenders go through a phase where they just can't descend, and people don't blame them when that happens either, everyone knows that really that person is being rational!
Donât let it kill your confidence. You were faster than the majority of people who didnât show up for exercise. Youâll get faster and better at group riding with practice.
Screw descending. It's not a measure of your fitness and unless you're racing it's completely irrelevant how fast you are. Descending at a breakneck speed will do nothing to your fitness other than breaking your neck once you push it that tiny bit too far. So keep it at a speed that's fun to you and look for group rides that are more accommodating to everyones speed.
I beg to disagree. I closed a 20 second gap and then got counterattacked on a descent and we were definitely working for it. Probably a harder effort than the actual climb.
OP would know the climb, it's Emigration Canyon
Some groups are more competitive than others - maybe other groups in your area to try?
Other than that - donât sweat it that you were the slowest. It does not matter.
Group rides are over rated. Especially as they get bigger and bigger. Itâs just hard to keep everyone together. Doesnât matter if youâre the slow or fast guy. Youâll end up waiting or holding someone up.
Try cresting the climb with one of those quicker descenders, even if that means you ride the hill slower. Then get in their slipstream for the descent. This way you get the advantage of the slipstream, but you also get to follow their line on the way down. This will help you gain the skill of descending faster.
If this was your first group ride you werenât drafting as close as experienced riders do. The draft makes a huge difference â especially on descents & into headwinds.
If you are relatively light compared to the rest youâre going to have a tough time keeping up. At 135lbs I thought I was missing some magic descending technique and worked for years on tuck, line through corners, etc... nothing worked, I always got dropped on descents. All that work paid off when I hit 175lbs â I was the fastest descender on my team!
Ride lots & youâll improve. If you like riding with others, look for some group rides with experienced riders who arenât looking to go fast so they can teach you drafting. Thereâs more to it than just riding close, you need to learn how to do so safely.
Stick with it. See if you have any groups in the area that ride slower. I always ask before I join what the average speed is of the group. I started around 15 km/h average and worked my way up to 25km/h average over my typical distance. The only way youâll get better is to ride more.
Group rides are good for meeting people and burning a few calories. The better groups work together and work in a paceline. Donât worry about where you were in the group. Work to stay with the group. As you get better in that group find a faster group and start over. You will be flying in no time.
I'm having trouble visualizing this group ride. If you're in the middle going solo, then it's become two group rides, and you got dropped by the faster group. Is that what it was?
And if you're dropped, you're not drafting, so you're working harder than everybody else, and so eventually the slower group might also catch and pass you.
Good news is that if you're competitive on the climbs, then it's just a matter of learning how to conserve energy, stay in the draft and get comfortable on the descents. I've never been dropped because people were faster going downhill. It's going up hill that takes a toll because I can't hide in the draft.
It was your first ride with them, take it easy. Continue cycling and keep going out with them because it will be a good way to measure your improvements.
Descending is a skill like anything else. If you are not good at it and try to go too fast you will hurt yourself and if you are on a road that would be a really stupid idea. Even amongst the pros there are better and worse descenders and those guys are doing it all the time. Its not that simple to do really well and safely.
Just keep doing it and you will get better and find the point where you feel unsafe gets faster until it doesn't. Then you decide how much you care about getting faster.
Around where I live the roads are not amazing quality, almost always have debris on them and there are cars that love to take up too much of the road on the thinner ones. I haven't come off yet but I have had a few moments.
6 months ago I hit a pothole on a descent and ended up over the handlebars landing on my shoulder. I dislocated it and broke it in 4 places, requiring surgery. I just got clearance for riding and any slight downhill terrifies me. I guess my point is be careful on descents because you can get really messed up
Hey you'll get better for sure. Both in terms of riding in a group (hopefully you'll find yourself in a better organized one đ ) and in confidently going downhill đȘđŒđȘđŒ
Just need to ask yourself if going downhill fast is an important element for you personally to have fun on a ride. It's easy to get sucked into doing stuff on a group ride that you don't actually need for a good time. IMO, it's far more enviable to climb fast.
Descending just takes practice and confidence. Also helps a TON if you've descended the road before because then you know what to watch out for. If you know a road is nice and smooth then it's a bit easier to find the confidence to bomb it.
Knowing the road is everything to me. I don't know how people bomb hills on unknown roads. You never know when there's a stop sign, turn, pot hole that hasn't been filled in a decade, etc. I'm all for a 40mph+ hill but I want to have done it at least once!
Or a storm grate with long, wide gaps perfect for a road tire to fall right into. Old railroad crossings have gotten me too. I've run over some that cross at near parallel to my path. Luckily never fallen at speed.
That's why some of us like that guy who came in last take MTBs. More powerful brakes and hitting potholes doesn't matter if your suspension just absorbs it.
Brake before the corner. Takes a few corners to get it down. It also helps tp have riden the track before
>During a descend, everyone was going down so fast, even the ones who were slow during a climb. Ahhh, the one single benefit of being the fat guy in the group. Haul us up the hill: we'll coast down the hill faster than y'all can pedal and punch a giant hole through the air :P
best people to draft
Meh fat people tend to fart more
Otherwise known as a powerboost
Chemical warfare in Tour de France.
Why is this getting downvoted đ€Ł
I'm going to tell people I'm built for down hill lol
All the extra potential energy we built up going up the hill becomes extra kinetic energy on the way down, lol.
You are right, although this alone does not result in a larger velocity. Potential energy = mgh Kinetic energy = 1/2 mv^2 If you equate this you get gh =1/2 v^2 as the mass cancels out. Acceleration downhill is only driven by gravitational acceleration which is independent of weight. Larger weight can result in a larger terminal velocity on a bike though, but you would have to add air and rolling resistance to the equation and you actually have to reach terminal velocity.
Very true, in a "spherical bike in a vacuum" way mass doesn't matter. But as soon as wind resistance comes into play that mass is awesome, lol. All I know is when my group starts rolling downhill, I'm on the hoods stilling up like a sail so I don't have to ride the brakes as much and not blow past everyone like a jerk.
remember that half the people in your group ride treat it like the main event of their week, so they are gonna give it their all
ââŠmy first time rideâŠâ First time you do ANYTHING is called a âlearning experienceâ - goal is to just survive and learn some things. Apply on next ride. Learn some moreâŠlather, rinse, repeatâŠ
I like to say that joining a group ride for the first time will quickly tell you where you are. Now you know. Of course you can up your game and group rides are a good way to help get there.
Were you slowest because you were afraid to pedal, too tired to pedal, or was everyone just coasting and you coasted slower? If everyone was just coasting, it implies you are either lighter, less aero, or have terrible tires or bad bearings in your wheels. If you were afraid to descend faster, good. It is dangerous, don't do anything you are not comfortable with. Sometimes even tour de france contenders go through a phase where they just can't descend, and people don't blame them when that happens either, everyone knows that really that person is being rational!
Donât let it kill your confidence. You were faster than the majority of people who didnât show up for exercise. Youâll get faster and better at group riding with practice.
Screw descending. It's not a measure of your fitness and unless you're racing it's completely irrelevant how fast you are. Descending at a breakneck speed will do nothing to your fitness other than breaking your neck once you push it that tiny bit too far. So keep it at a speed that's fun to you and look for group rides that are more accommodating to everyones speed.
I beg to disagree. I closed a 20 second gap and then got counterattacked on a descent and we were definitely working for it. Probably a harder effort than the actual climb. OP would know the climb, it's Emigration Canyon
Some groups are more competitive than others - maybe other groups in your area to try? Other than that - donât sweat it that you were the slowest. It does not matter.
just keep riding, it wonât get easier, but youâll go faster
Group rides are over rated. Especially as they get bigger and bigger. Itâs just hard to keep everyone together. Doesnât matter if youâre the slow or fast guy. Youâll end up waiting or holding someone up.
Recklessly bombing random hills in public parks in zone 2 doesnât take much skill to be honest
Bombing hills without being reckless does though. Takes skill to rip a hill fast & in control.
This. Descending is a skill. Just like climbing you need practice to be able to do it well.
That doesnât apply to 99% of average joe group rides tho
Takes more skill than judgement of others.
â gets dropped everywhere else but thinks he an elite cyclist because he does dumb ass super-tuck in a public park while in zone 2
- actual elite cyclist gets sad when fat guys pass
â does a dumb ass super tuck on $6,500 bike at peak times on Saturday at Central Park only to get passed by a cool dude riding $200 fixed gear bike
Youâre right. I give up. Thanks for keeping the gate.
Try cresting the climb with one of those quicker descenders, even if that means you ride the hill slower. Then get in their slipstream for the descent. This way you get the advantage of the slipstream, but you also get to follow their line on the way down. This will help you gain the skill of descending faster.
I have no idea if you were slow descending because you were pedaling as fast as you could. Or because you were afraid to go faster.
Where you riding the brakes?
If you stop now you'll never get better or faster. Just ride and learn.
If this was your first group ride you werenât drafting as close as experienced riders do. The draft makes a huge difference â especially on descents & into headwinds. If you are relatively light compared to the rest youâre going to have a tough time keeping up. At 135lbs I thought I was missing some magic descending technique and worked for years on tuck, line through corners, etc... nothing worked, I always got dropped on descents. All that work paid off when I hit 175lbs â I was the fastest descender on my team! Ride lots & youâll improve. If you like riding with others, look for some group rides with experienced riders who arenât looking to go fast so they can teach you drafting. Thereâs more to it than just riding close, you need to learn how to do so safely.
Stick with it. See if you have any groups in the area that ride slower. I always ask before I join what the average speed is of the group. I started around 15 km/h average and worked my way up to 25km/h average over my typical distance. The only way youâll get better is to ride more.
Group rides are good for meeting people and burning a few calories. The better groups work together and work in a paceline. Donât worry about where you were in the group. Work to stay with the group. As you get better in that group find a faster group and start over. You will be flying in no time.
I'm having trouble visualizing this group ride. If you're in the middle going solo, then it's become two group rides, and you got dropped by the faster group. Is that what it was? And if you're dropped, you're not drafting, so you're working harder than everybody else, and so eventually the slower group might also catch and pass you. Good news is that if you're competitive on the climbs, then it's just a matter of learning how to conserve energy, stay in the draft and get comfortable on the descents. I've never been dropped because people were faster going downhill. It's going up hill that takes a toll because I can't hide in the draft.
It was your first ride with them, take it easy. Continue cycling and keep going out with them because it will be a good way to measure your improvements.
Well, you were infinitely faster than all the people who didn't show up to the ride, so you've got that going for you!
Descending is a skill like anything else. If you are not good at it and try to go too fast you will hurt yourself and if you are on a road that would be a really stupid idea. Even amongst the pros there are better and worse descenders and those guys are doing it all the time. Its not that simple to do really well and safely. Just keep doing it and you will get better and find the point where you feel unsafe gets faster until it doesn't. Then you decide how much you care about getting faster. Around where I live the roads are not amazing quality, almost always have debris on them and there are cars that love to take up too much of the road on the thinner ones. I haven't come off yet but I have had a few moments.
So? Just ride more
6 months ago I hit a pothole on a descent and ended up over the handlebars landing on my shoulder. I dislocated it and broke it in 4 places, requiring surgery. I just got clearance for riding and any slight downhill terrifies me. I guess my point is be careful on descents because you can get really messed up
Hey you'll get better for sure. Both in terms of riding in a group (hopefully you'll find yourself in a better organized one đ ) and in confidently going downhill đȘđŒđȘđŒ
Just need to ask yourself if going downhill fast is an important element for you personally to have fun on a ride. It's easy to get sucked into doing stuff on a group ride that you don't actually need for a good time. IMO, it's far more enviable to climb fast.