This morning, I managed to hit 37 mph (59.5 kph) based on the Garmin Forerunner 301's "speedometer" as I was coming downhill on Liberty. I was stuck behind a dumptruck that was also using the downhill slope to help accelerate, and -- although I remained in the bike lane -- I was able to catch enough of a draft on that larger, non-aerodynamic slug-of-metal to reach 37 mph!
That speed's so much more than the 35.4 mph that I clocked on July 7, and unlikely to happen again soon -- at least in the manner of this morning. Keep in mind that I wasn't tucked in right behind the truck -- like some might do -- but was actually in the bike lane, and several yards back from the rear of the truck. In other words, if that dumptruck was going to stop (relatively much slower than me, due to major differences in our respective mass-to-braking-power ratios), I had plenty of room to still maneuver.
Still, it was very exhilarating (although riding that downhill section of Liberty St really fast doesn't really cut down my overall commute time, since it is only about 15% of the overall ride, and the rest of my 3.5 mile commute is done in the 15-20 mph -- 24.1-32.2 kph -- range).
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