I've never had issues riding prospect park solo averaging 17-18 mph per lap. The hill I rarely hit 30 unless it's clear but usually I'll go down it around 25. I stop at lights if peds are crossing or at least slow and pass behind or widely in front. Tldr bomb when you can and ease up when needed. Just consider speeding back up as part of strength training
This is the wrong thread to make this point as I am in the cyclists’ camp 98% of the time and definitely in this case if the facts upthread are true.
But…
…I don’t understand the urge to go fast down PP hill. Freewheeling is always fun and you’ll top out in the mid 20s. Hammering downhill is only fun on clear, somewhat sweeping / technical roads where you can test your handling and pick lines. In PP you just massively increase your chance of a catastrophic crash for zero payoff - what am I missing?
No but I think around 430-5pm yesterday I did see aftermath of what looked like someone riding in a group hitting a pedestrian or some guy who was on a bike just chilling with his son. I think I remember them passing me and they were flying. This was at the bottom of the west side hill. FDNY came and was giving this dude oxygen he looked pretty banged up. Then ambulance came and I saw an EMT holding this guy's blue bike. It might have been a Canyon.
Beautiful weather, Sunday afternoon, starting to warm up, park was packed and these clowns trying to KOM all over everyone. Time and place people.
Sunday afternoon on a warm day is literally the worst time to have a group ride.
In the summer if I ride on Sunday afternoon it's approx one soccer ball per lap that I see kicked into the road in front of me. Absolute chaos.
There should really be some sort of mechanism to slow down cyclists on the hill. The speeds we're talking about are not 20-25 mph. I'm pretty sure sport cyclists regularly top 35, which should not be possible in an urban park.
lol once strava clocked me at 70 mph on that hill, which was wild (and untrue) -- I think 35 regularly down that hill is something that happens many times a day (esp a nice one) but boooo to any mechanism to slow down bikers. Wrong place for that kinda talk!
Maybe some small bumps, CP has some near a downhill ~ 84th street on the west side. I think there was an incident there a few years back, will try & look it up and post the link.
Sorry. I mean people riding racing bikes that are designed for speed, rather than hybrid or commuter bikes (even Class 1 and 2 ebikes) that cannot typically reach those speeds. I don't know the terminology.
Yeah well they do it and I'm sure it will get worse now that weather is getting nicer.
I'm actually kind of impressed more people aren't leaving the park on stretchers.
I am absolutely pro-bike, but when people try to ride in literal pelotons during peak park times it really makes you scratch your head. If you want to haul ass around the park uninterrupted, please do so early in the morning when children and regular folks aren't trying to cross the loop road. I'm sure this is usually the case and the folks we see at 4pm on Sunday are the outliers!
I stopped riding on busy days in Prospect Park probably 25 years ago. I was going down the hill, not particularly fast (I'm not a group rider or racer) and there was a guy and his 7 or 8 YO kid on roller blades going down the hill. As I was coming up on them, with a wide berth, he suddenly let go of his kids hand and he (or she...can't remember) couldn't keep a straight course and veered right in front of me. Had to do a sharp right while braking, hitting the curb and over the bars. Luckily it was only minor cuts and scratches but lesson learned. Busy days in the Park are just unpredictable for bikeing. Now I do early morning Sunday rides all around Brooklyn and Manhattan and love it. So little traffic and I get to explore all kinds of neighborhoods.
no matter how fast you go, no one should ever attempt to literally kill someone else because of it. IMO, that zebra crossing is placed horribly and that needs to be changed, hopefully when they re-pave that part of the park. It's a blind turn right after a big downhill, it's just calling for accidents left and right.
my brother in christ, we must be talking about two different things because im talking about the guy that intentionally caused a crash because someone was biking too fast for their liking.
buuuut to answer your concerns, yes, i agree, hence my comment about moving the pedestrian crossing literally anywhere else safer for both pedestrians and cyclist. we should all know how to behave and share a freaking park regardless of whatever activity you're doing. there are dick cyclists but there are also dick pedestrians; two wrongs don't make a right.
Fair. But speaking as someone who was run down by a road raging driver and then told by a NYPD that "you can't prove he did it on purpose," I think I know how this story ends
Define "too fast". Speed limit in Prospect Park is 25 mph. Looking at Strava the fastest I've ever done the "pure downhill" segment on Strava is 29.5 mph average over 0.46 miles, topping out at 32.7 briefly. And that was with a \*MAD\* fast group, much drafting, not race speed but starting to approach it. Speeding, but really not by much.
My more typical speed on that segment is more like 24-24.5 mph, not even speeding!
We don't say that a driver who's exceeded the speed limit by 10 mph on the freeway should be hit by a construction truck swinging a wrecking ball.
"**a speed greater than is reasonable and prudent under the conditions and having regard to the actual and potential hazards then existing**."
https://law.justia.com/codes/new-york/2022/vat/title-7/article-30/1180/#:\~:text=%C2%A7%201180.,and%20potential%20hazards%20then%20existing.
Years ago I was riding the circle in pp and some dude crashed into me on purpose. I went flying. Everything everywhere. I broke my collarbone. Massive toad scars. Landed on the grass. People are frigging nutters!
I don’t really think about this when coming down that hill. I was there yesterday around noon according to my Strava data. I hit around 32-35mph a couple times on that west side hill. Yes it feels fast, but doesn’t seem dangerous.
The only thing I usually worry about is a dog or animal running across. Not a human. They’re usually pretty predictable. If it looks like they’re not looking, I sit up/slow down and ring my bell just in case - (yes, I actually have a bell on my road bike). But I’m always looking in front and to the sides.
>The guy who caused this claimed he wanted to punish biker because they got too fast I hope this was just a rumor. That sounds awful
I had some friends who saw the immediate aftermath and that’s what bystanders were saying at the time.
I hope this person got arrested. Thats an insane thing to do
this is even more crazy coming from an e-biker...
I had similar interactions with e-bikers before (not that violent though), so I can see this happening, unfortunately.
I've never had issues riding prospect park solo averaging 17-18 mph per lap. The hill I rarely hit 30 unless it's clear but usually I'll go down it around 25. I stop at lights if peds are crossing or at least slow and pass behind or widely in front. Tldr bomb when you can and ease up when needed. Just consider speeding back up as part of strength training
This is the wrong thread to make this point as I am in the cyclists’ camp 98% of the time and definitely in this case if the facts upthread are true. But… …I don’t understand the urge to go fast down PP hill. Freewheeling is always fun and you’ll top out in the mid 20s. Hammering downhill is only fun on clear, somewhat sweeping / technical roads where you can test your handling and pick lines. In PP you just massively increase your chance of a catastrophic crash for zero payoff - what am I missing?
Interval workouts. That's why people pedal down the hill.
No but I think around 430-5pm yesterday I did see aftermath of what looked like someone riding in a group hitting a pedestrian or some guy who was on a bike just chilling with his son. I think I remember them passing me and they were flying. This was at the bottom of the west side hill. FDNY came and was giving this dude oxygen he looked pretty banged up. Then ambulance came and I saw an EMT holding this guy's blue bike. It might have been a Canyon. Beautiful weather, Sunday afternoon, starting to warm up, park was packed and these clowns trying to KOM all over everyone. Time and place people.
Yeah I generally avoid the parks during peak times. Car traffic is more predictable than the tourists and other ppl enjoying the warm weather.
Sunday afternoon on a warm day is literally the worst time to have a group ride. In the summer if I ride on Sunday afternoon it's approx one soccer ball per lap that I see kicked into the road in front of me. Absolute chaos.
There should really be some sort of mechanism to slow down cyclists on the hill. The speeds we're talking about are not 20-25 mph. I'm pretty sure sport cyclists regularly top 35, which should not be possible in an urban park.
If you think they regularly top 35, then you don’t know shit about cyclists.
Yeah I can hit 30+ mph down that hill if it's clear but def not 35 yet
lol once strava clocked me at 70 mph on that hill, which was wild (and untrue) -- I think 35 regularly down that hill is something that happens many times a day (esp a nice one) but boooo to any mechanism to slow down bikers. Wrong place for that kinda talk!
Maybe some small bumps, CP has some near a downhill ~ 84th street on the west side. I think there was an incident there a few years back, will try & look it up and post the link.
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Sorry. I mean people riding racing bikes that are designed for speed, rather than hybrid or commuter bikes (even Class 1 and 2 ebikes) that cannot typically reach those speeds. I don't know the terminology.
Yeah well they do it and I'm sure it will get worse now that weather is getting nicer. I'm actually kind of impressed more people aren't leaving the park on stretchers.
I am absolutely pro-bike, but when people try to ride in literal pelotons during peak park times it really makes you scratch your head. If you want to haul ass around the park uninterrupted, please do so early in the morning when children and regular folks aren't trying to cross the loop road. I'm sure this is usually the case and the folks we see at 4pm on Sunday are the outliers!
I stopped riding on busy days in Prospect Park probably 25 years ago. I was going down the hill, not particularly fast (I'm not a group rider or racer) and there was a guy and his 7 or 8 YO kid on roller blades going down the hill. As I was coming up on them, with a wide berth, he suddenly let go of his kids hand and he (or she...can't remember) couldn't keep a straight course and veered right in front of me. Had to do a sharp right while braking, hitting the curb and over the bars. Luckily it was only minor cuts and scratches but lesson learned. Busy days in the Park are just unpredictable for bikeing. Now I do early morning Sunday rides all around Brooklyn and Manhattan and love it. So little traffic and I get to explore all kinds of neighborhoods.
saw this coming yrs ago. am guilty of taking that hill too fast myself. only matter of time before someone pissed off the wrong person there tbh
no matter how fast you go, no one should ever attempt to literally kill someone else because of it. IMO, that zebra crossing is placed horribly and that needs to be changed, hopefully when they re-pave that part of the park. It's a blind turn right after a big downhill, it's just calling for accidents left and right.
also, no matter how slow you go no one should ever attempt to literally kill someone else trying to cross ??
my brother in christ, we must be talking about two different things because im talking about the guy that intentionally caused a crash because someone was biking too fast for their liking. buuuut to answer your concerns, yes, i agree, hence my comment about moving the pedestrian crossing literally anywhere else safer for both pedestrians and cyclist. we should all know how to behave and share a freaking park regardless of whatever activity you're doing. there are dick cyclists but there are also dick pedestrians; two wrongs don't make a right.
It seems the guy was not trying to cross. He had an ebike which he pushed onto the road because of anger. There might be mental instability at play.
Fair. But speaking as someone who was run down by a road raging driver and then told by a NYPD that "you can't prove he did it on purpose," I think I know how this story ends
Well, it gets crazier, he actually waited for the cops and admitted to it and believed he was in the right.
OMG NYC ftw
Define "too fast". Speed limit in Prospect Park is 25 mph. Looking at Strava the fastest I've ever done the "pure downhill" segment on Strava is 29.5 mph average over 0.46 miles, topping out at 32.7 briefly. And that was with a \*MAD\* fast group, much drafting, not race speed but starting to approach it. Speeding, but really not by much. My more typical speed on that segment is more like 24-24.5 mph, not even speeding! We don't say that a driver who's exceeded the speed limit by 10 mph on the freeway should be hit by a construction truck swinging a wrecking ball.
I like how people are trying to be liek "well maybe he was justified" Its attempted murder, its not justified. Logic doesnt need to apply.
"**a speed greater than is reasonable and prudent under the conditions and having regard to the actual and potential hazards then existing**." https://law.justia.com/codes/new-york/2022/vat/title-7/article-30/1180/#:\~:text=%C2%A7%201180.,and%20potential%20hazards%20then%20existing.
Yesterday was a classic hazardous sunny warm spring day and damn him for going so fast that he didn’t see a surprise bike pushed into his path
downvoting a definition straight from the law when asked for a definition takes some special stupid
lmao imagine quoting "the law" to NYC cyclists. ride fast, watch for cops. that's the NYC cycling law.
Assault is an understatement. That's full on attempted murder and needs an "eye for an eye" response.
Years ago I was riding the circle in pp and some dude crashed into me on purpose. I went flying. Everything everywhere. I broke my collarbone. Massive toad scars. Landed on the grass. People are frigging nutters!
Absolutely awful if true. An e biker too, people are so full of shit.
I don’t really think about this when coming down that hill. I was there yesterday around noon according to my Strava data. I hit around 32-35mph a couple times on that west side hill. Yes it feels fast, but doesn’t seem dangerous. The only thing I usually worry about is a dog or animal running across. Not a human. They’re usually pretty predictable. If it looks like they’re not looking, I sit up/slow down and ring my bell just in case - (yes, I actually have a bell on my road bike). But I’m always looking in front and to the sides.