mikeymo wrote:I don't cycle faster than about 25 mph. Even then only if I know the road, and it is clean and dry, with a good surface, little or no traffic, and few or no junctions.
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There are quite a lot of hills where I live. If I was to keep my speed below 25mph then I'd be on my brakes constantly. That hill, Birk Brow is one of two routes I regularly use to access the North Yorkshire Moors. I agree, junctions are a problem, but I can ride for miles and only see a dozen cars and there are long stretches with no side roads. The roads are up and down constantly and 25mph is passed very quickly.
In fact Birk Brow is on the main road to Whitby. There are a few sections along there where the road is well sighted, the surface is very good and the few turnings are easy to spot. 15 minutes before I had the incident I was doing 35mph in entirely different circumstances.
You can't tell from the picture, but that is down Hill. We all have a different tolerance for risk, but I've never applied a number to speed in that way. Where there are pedestrians and side roads I try to exercise caution, but on the road below 35mph feels entirely safe.