Given the right conditions yes, when I was fit (up to last Sep) I could cruise on the flat at 27mph for hours, odd bursts at 30mph and much shorter at 40mph, down hills can be limited by bravery, max I've seen is 72 mph, their problems start as you saw on steep inclines as they're heavy, but overall given what goes up must come down they are quicker. My fastest on road was 1hr @33 mph BTW I'm just coming up to 60 years old! There is a velomobile sport of roadie baiting, yes it's childish, if you see a decent rider or group just overtake them, sit in front and up the pace a bit, sometimes you'll get a bite and you up it a more, watching all the time in the mirror, as they close the gap, go again, repeat until they sit up, but never do it when you know there's a steep hill coming up, maybe your example was that
, at the end of the day we're all cyclists, and many like me have ridden road bikes for years, I only moved over to the dark side after badly hurting my neck in a mountain bike accident. I still have a mountain bike and enjoy it for short rides.