I regularly hit 50mph (road bike) on a particular hill near here. It’s a pretty straight, wide and smooth main road. A few mph over 50 is about as fast as I can physically spin with 52/11. Do they fit 53’s for the mountain stages?
I have to say when I top out and stop putting in effort and start thinking about what i’m doing, I look at my skinny little tyres and think ooooooh sh!t. . . .
In the vid clip above the guys are freewheeling at 100km/h and touching each others bums ffs!
I rode down Alpe D’ Huez (before I rode up it) and it was pretty cool. But . . . the corners are sharp, the tarmac is smoooooth and the drop is steep. You can big-ring it out the corners and your at 40mph in seconds – just as the next bend appears.
On a technical descent like todays I would have ridden into that guys carpark, through the wall and off down the mountain . . . . never to be seen again!
EDIT: It must help knowing for sure that nothing is gonna come round a bend towards you too??