Intuition is a good thing. Listen to it. On Friday, July 13, 2012 9:53:40 AM UTC-5, Michael Hechmer wrote: > > I'm not a particularly anxious person, although I do get anxious when > someone compliments my courage! I regularly downhill at 40+ mph and have > hit 50 on good pavement and reasonably straight mountain descents without > too much anxiety, but one hill this year has me spooked. > > One of my favorite routes is a 23 mile ride with 1400 feet of climbing > that is equally divided among lightly traveled & good dirt roads, mostly > descent chip & seal town roads, and a third of moderately traveled state > roads. It provides beautiful pastoral scenery, a good view of the whole of > the Mt. Mansfield ridge line, and a stretch along the Lamoille River, > including the impressive Fairfax Falls. In the past I have always ridden it > counter clockwise, which includes a beast of a 3K climb, including a K of > 20%+ grade right in the middle. This year I reversed direction and have > been riding it clockwise on my Rambouillet, with a very nice set of Grand > Bois Cerf tires. The first time down it I discovered the pavement on the > steepest section was not in good condition, no pot holes or heaves, just > lots of broken chip and seal. The bumping was quite dramatic and I felt > like one good hole could toss me over the handle bars. Garmin was showing > 47.5 when I lightly squeezed the rear brake. Fortunately the Paul's Racers > have excellent modulation and I safely slowed enough to feel OK. > > But when I got to the bottom I asked myself why I chickened out, since I > was just fine, and thought that the next time I would lay off the brakes. > But this hasn't happened. Instead each time I have gone down it, I have > gone slower and slower. Today I took out my Trek, which has 32 mm TServes > to see if I would feel more comfortable at higher speeds with the softer > tire. But when I got to the top of the hill I realized I had no real taste > for the experiment. I went down at 25, until I could see the good pavement > at the bottom and then I let it roll out to 39. > > So I ask myself, is this wisdom, or just yielding to irrational anxiety. > > Michael > Westford, VT >
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