Categories: Defining MomentsLa Vie VelominatusLook ProNostalgiaThe Rides

Speed

Pierre-Roger Latour goes more faster at the 2013 Giro d’Emilia. Photo: Pedale.Forchetta

I wasn’t anywhere near old enough to hold a driver’s license but my dad had already bought me a motorcycle. It was a late seventies BMW R100 RS, dark blue. I loved that bike; I polished it fortnightly even though it never left the garage. I spent hours sitting on it, twisting the throttle and squeezing the clutch, diving in and out of turns on a twisty road somewhere in my imagination. My dad sold the bike not long after I got serious about Cycling, making the shrewd observation that if I was able to land myself in the emergency room as often as I did under my own power, then from a Darwinian standpoint my chances of survival would be dramatically decreased by the introduction of a 1000cc engine.

To this day, I love speed. I feel it in that layer between skin and muscle that science will tell you doesn’t exist but that anyone who has ever taken a risk will tell you does. On a bicycle, it doesn’t even have to be high speed; descending, cruising along a valley road, or climbing – any speed that comes as a result of that familiar pressure in my legs and lungs is a thrill.

Cornering at speed will amplify the feeling of speed as your muscles press against the change in tangental velocity. But even the slower speeds of climbing can produce the exciting effects of speed; diving into a tight switchback on a fast climb can provide the distinctive exhilaration that comes with needing to brake and lean while climbing. There is no sensation in Cycling that will make one feel more Pro than needing to control your speed while going uphill.

Cobblestones and gravel also provide their unique doorway into the feeling of speed. The bouncing of the machine under you as you push a big gear along the road will amplify the sensation of going fast with the transitions from tarmac to rough roads and back again playing their own part to demonstrate speed through the power of contrast.

Riding along a road that has a lot of shrubbery or tall grass that hugs the roadside, my peripheral vision will quietly inform me that the blurred motion at my side is the direct result of my own burning engine and the effort I’m putting into the pedals. To experience under our own strength that which others require a motor to accomplish is what makes us stand apart. We are active participants in speed. We are Cyclists.

frank

The founder of Velominati and curator of The Rules, Frank was born in the Dutch colonies of Minnesota. His boundless physical talents are carefully canceled out by his equally boundless enthusiasm for drinking. Coffee, beer, wine, if it’s in a container, he will enjoy it, a lot of it. He currently lives in Seattle. He loves riding in the rain and scheduling visits with the Man with the Hammer just to be reminded of the privilege it is to feel completely depleted. He holds down a technology job the description of which no-one really understands and his interests outside of Cycling and drinking are Cycling and drinking. As devoted aesthete, the only thing more important to him than riding a bike well is looking good doing it. Frank is co-author along with the other Keepers of the Cog of the popular book, The Rules, The Way of the Cycling Disciple and also writes a monthly column for the magazine, Cyclist. He is also currently working on the first follow-up to The Rules, tentatively entitled The Hardmen. Email him directly at rouleur@velominati.com.

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ChrisO says:

Mar 14 2014 at 7:36 am

@unversio we have lovely trucks here. Big water tankers that do about 50 or 60 km/h , maybe up to 70 when they are up to speed. Catch one coming out of a roundabout and you can go for miles.

I have a bit of a reputation for doing it - like a rat up a drainpipe as someone once said to me.

but then we have near perfect roads with multiple lanes and I'm usually doing it on roads I kW with no interruptions like lights or intersections. And 10,000 gallons of water ain't stopping any faster than me.
Jamie says:

Mar 14 2014 at 8:24 am

@DerHoggz

@Jamie

What do you Autocross?

1979 Porsche 911SC coupe.
ChrissyOne says:

Mar 14 2014 at 8:33 am

@Velodeluded

I'll take 70kmph on a bike over 200 in a car any day of the week.

True. But 300kmph on a motorcycle is pretty good too. =)
frank says:

Mar 14 2014 at 8:51 am

@DerHoggz

@Mikael Liddy

@DerHoggz

On the other hand I got hit going straight through a green light, so even with all the right precautions you're pretty much fucked.

yup, had a very close call with a dumptruck full of moron this morning when climbing around a blind bend. Genius decided to crawl around me (wouldn't have been going more than 5km/h faster than me) straddling the double solid lines (no passing). When the traffic came he naturally pulled to the left, luckily for your truly the hillside wasn't flush against the road so with an impromptu cross session disaster was avoided. See below:

Red = Truck

Blue = Where Mikael escaped to

I had this thought on a bridge the other day that all it takes is one car swerving to avoid another to throw me off into the abyss.

That is why you take the lane under those circumstances. Of the two of you, you are likely the only one who realizes you don't want them passing.
Ccos says:

Mar 14 2014 at 10:52 am

@ChrisO

@unversio we have lovely trucks here. Big water tankers that do about 50 or 60 km/h , maybe up to 70 when they are up to speed. Catch one coming out of a roundabout and you can go for miles.

I have a bit of a reputation for doing it - like a rat up a drainpipe as someone once said to me.

but then we have near perfect roads with multiple lanes and I'm usually doing it on roads I kW with no interruptions like lights or intersections. And 10,000 gallons of water ain't stopping any faster than me.

Used to do this in college. They (truck drivers) did not like it one bit. At least, that's what we would gather from the hand gestures once we broke off.
unversio says:

Mar 14 2014 at 11:38 am

@ChrisO

@unversio we have lovely trucks here. Big water tankers that do about 50 or 60 km/h , maybe up to 70 when they are up to speed. Catch one coming out of a roundabout and you can go for miles.

I have a bit of a reputation for doing it - like a rat up a drainpipe as someone once said to me.

but then we have near perfect roads with multiple lanes and I'm usually doing it on roads I kW with no interruptions like lights or intersections. And 10,000 gallons of water ain't stopping any faster than me.

Thanx for clarifying the drafting episode(s). Perfect example!
antihero says:

Mar 14 2014 at 7:29 pm

@unversio

@antihero

For some reason I can't quite explain, I get my jollies from playing in traffic at speed.

My commute home has a lovely set of hairpin turns that terminate in a long straight runout of perhaps a mile. It's two lanes per side with heavy car traffic in this spot. The turns are tight enough that I can beat the cars out of the corners every time, and then it's a flat-out sprint to the bottom of the hill. Drivers won't usually play along, but every now and again some kid will pull alongside and redline his engine. Makes my day.

There's another lovely dead-flat run of about 1.5 miles by the river where the winds are almost always at your back and the speed limit 2omph (which of course means they go 30/35.) There is no excuse for failing to stay on a car's wheel for the entirety of this run. Bliss.

You'll eventually take some sort of badge for this matey.

It's Commuter Grand Prix, I know. Sad but true.
davidbeers says:

Jul 6 2014 at 12:13 pm

....and I thought I had a nice Dad! When I myself was on the verge of driving lessons my Dad bought HIMSELF a 1964 Jaquar 4.2 sedan with burled dashboard and burled stick-shift, leather seats. Wicked fast- A sports car in old man's clothing! It had a pushbutton start, and I practiced moving it up and down the driveway for a few months. Tough break: just before my 16th birthday the car developed brake problems for which parts had to be ordered from England, and while waiting out the winter the engine seized and the car never returned. Had to satiate my need for speed on my Raleigh Supercourse- until I bought myself a Yamaha 650 (a Triumph copycat).