The world rollerskiing record is over 60mph. It was done by some speed
skiing guy with full-on speed gear: aero helmet, rubber suit, boot fairings,
etc.

We have a canyon nearby that can be pretty exciting on the descent and I
timed myself over a few of the miles once with some pretty fast rollerskis
and a huge tailwind. My fastest mile time was 1:38, which I think is around
35mph average. I know that I've hit higher speeds than that on steep
sections of road elsewhere, but I don't have any objective confirmation of
that other than the huge amount of fear/clarity that comes when you go over
40mph on 3-inch wheels without brakes.

I think I recall those guys measuring their speed on a mile section and
hitting 45.

-Nathan
www.nsavage.com

"Chris Esposito" wrote in message
...
Hi,
A few weeks a go I got a Garmin Forerunner 201 (a wrist-worn GPS
unit) from my wife as a 12th anniversary present. Quite a neat little
gadget.

I was out rollerskiing with a friend yesterday and we did a few informal
double-poling maximum speed tests. The terrain was straight, flat, and
the trail we were on (the Sammamish River trail, north out of Marymoor
Park in Redmond, WA) was largely deserted except for us and the
occasional walker or runner. The person wearing the unit would double
pole for a minute or so, looking at the speed readout at the end of the
interval, and during it if they could manage to sneak a peek. The
highest speeds I saw for me were 15.9 MPH, 16.6, and 16.1 MPH.

In various books and articles written by US ski team members (Endless
Winter, Momentum, etc.) I think I have seen comments that these folks
have gone in excess of 30 MPH on downhills. Is this really the case? I
can't imagine going that fast on rollerskis downhill; not with the
pavement monster just waiting to take big bites out of any flesh that
comes its way. Anybody else know their maximum rollerski speed, on
either flat or downhill?

Chris