9 Tips for Cycling at the Speed over 100km/h

For common people, it may sound crazy to cycle at a speed over 100km/h, but as for professional cyclists, it is easy to hit over a 100km/h on downhill. However, riding at such a high speed is quite dangerous. Here are some tips for cycling at high speed.



Be Relax

Your bicycle is more than capable of handling the speed; in fact it becomes more stable the faster you go. The best position is probably with hands in the drops ready to touch the brakes if you need to slow down and say for something on the road. Push your butt back in the saddle and use your legs to absorb some of the road shock but still keep some pressure on the saddle to help with control. Keep your arms flexed, again to help absorb road shock.

I have never experienced this but some people have problems with front wheel shimmy. I think the best way to prevent this is to keep plenty of downward pressure on the handlebars. This also helps the front wheels to track smoothly.



Learn How to Brake in the Corner Better

When you come to a switchback you will need to scrub off a lot of speed. Apply the rear brake with a small, nominal force and apply the front progressively. If the rear wheel starts to skid then release the front brake until the wheel catches again and repeat. Of course it depends on how aggressively you want to take the corners.



The Maintenance of Your Bike Is Very Important

In order to ensure your bike is in an excellent state, maintenance must be done to your bike. It does not only give you the best feeling of riding, but also saves your life and ensure your safety. Instead of taking your bike to the professional shops, you can also do it on your own. Wheels should be true, tires in good shape and bearings smooth and well adjusted. The brakes especially should be in good shape and you should always test the brakes before approaching a big descent.


Headset: Make sure those bearings are not set in dirt and grime within the frame which they will wear out far more quickly.

Bottom Bracket: First of all, give it a little pedal backwards to see if it feels kind of rough and nasty; if it is, then your bearings are probably on the way out. Grab the cranks and move them side to side to see if you feel some play in there; if it is, that’s a sign that the bottom bracket needs replacing. It’s worth noting that press fit bottom brackets tend to creak more regularly than a conventional one, so you may have to do this slightly more often to keep it greased nice and clean.

Linkage: Get the bike out stand, just simply lift the seat up, and then wobble the back wheel to see if there is any movement within the bearings. If you do have play in a certain pivot, the bearings or bushing need replacing.

Wheel Bearings: You can put your fingers in the bearings and check them if they are nice and free and there’s no real play in there. When the wheel is in the fork, just wobble it side to side and make sure there’s no free play in there. If there is free play, you need to replace the bearings in the front wheel; if it is running really rough, just give it a spin. Put a little grease on the axle to keep it running nice and smoothly.

Brakes: If you feel your brakes are really solid, the oil inside the brakes does wear out and become dirty. You can get your bike to the local shop and ask for help.

Tires: Check your tires by pressing on them to see if they are under proper pressure. Usually, tires require different pressure in different seasons. In summer, you’d better not to inflate too much in case of blowing out.



Wear A Helmet is Necessary

Firstly, a helmet reduces the peak energy of a sharp impact, which requires a layer of stiff foam to cushion the blow.

Most bicycle helmets use crushable expanded polystyrene (EPS, a soft light plastic material that prevents heat or cold from passing through it, used especially for making containers), the picnic cooler foam. EPS works well, but it can’t recover when being crushed. Expanded polypropylene (EPP, a hard light plastic material) foam does recover, but is less common. Collapsible plastic liner materials recently appeared and offer promise. The spongy foam pads inside a helmet are for comfort and fitness, not for impact protection.

Secondly, the helmet must stay steadily on one’s head. When an accident happens, one might be hit more than once – usually a car first, and then the road, or perhaps trees on the side. So a helmet needs a strong strap and buckle to improve its stability. It should sit level on one’s head and cover as much as possible. If the helmet comes off or slips enough to leave large areas of one’s head unprotected, adjust the straps or try another helmet, because we all know that not everyone’s head shares the same size. Keep the strap comfortably snug when riding. The straps hold your helmet on, not the rear stabilizer.

Besides, other professional cycling clothing is also very important. They not only help to reduce wind resistance, but also protect you.

Buy Insurance for Yourself

You can deny the fact that every sport has its own risk. Riding at such a high speed is quite dangerous. Nobody has ever expected an accident, but it would be better if you get yourself insurance; once the accident happened, you could get compensation and wouldn’t suffer great lose. If your bike is very expensive, you’d better get bicycle insurance as well.



Be Alert

Make sure you are always aware of your surroundings. You should know what is behind you and watch out for what is in front of you. Always be on the lookout for road hazards; sand and gravel, glass, railroad tracks, parked cars, snow and slush can wreak havoc on you and your bike. Sewer grates and cracks in the road can catch your wheel and cause you to be thrown from the bike. Watch for parked cars where people may open doors on the driver side of the vehicle without looking. Always wait until you have ample time to make your move, whether you are changing a lane or turning a corner. Don’t expect to grant the right of way in any instance.



Use Lower Profile Rims

Use lower profile rims when you think you will have a day of high speed descents. There is a tremendous difference between the confidences you feel in your machine when you use the right wheels. Higher profile wheels are efficient up to about 50kph but something must be happening at the higher speeds that make them not only more difficult to control but also slower over the same descents. I liken it to the difference between using the right skis for the conditions. A pair of downhill or GS skis will make it seem effortless to hit 100k on an appropriate slope while your regular all mountain skis will give you the fear of god at those speeds.



Lean Your Bicycle, Not Your Body

At speeds over about 10mph, you stop turning the handlebars to steer and start leaning instead to follow the curves in the road. Stay seated to keep your weight centered over the bicycle and relax.

Remember to look to the inside of the turns and lean your bicycle in the direction the road bends and you'll go right through turns nice and smoothly. There's no need to turn the handlebars or lean your body more than your bicycle.



Keep Your Inside Foot Up

As you lean into corners, the pedal on the inside gets closer to the pavement and it's possible to strike it on the ground in a tight turn. This can surprise you and even cause a crash.

So, always prepare for turns by raising the inside foot to the top of the pedal stroke. This puts your outside foot down and in the perfect position to press down with it and increase your cornering traction for more control.

You can also swing your upper body slightly away from the direction of the corner to ensure that you don't go through a curve too sharply. And, by pushing gently on your inside arm, you can exit a corner more quickly and smoothly.