How bad does it have to be before you say, I'll just not go there today.
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How bad does it have to be before you say, I'll just not go there today.
wow Jenn, I can't believe no one has posted a response to this! For me it depends on air temperature. I have exercise induced asthma that is made worse by cold air, so if the temps are below 45 & the wind is at, say 10 or above, I don't ride.
However, this time of year, I will go out if the wind is blowing 13 - 16 mph with gusts to 25. It's not necessarily fun, but I will go. The only thing to worry about around here this time of year is the thick clouds of pollen! aaaaaaaachooooooooooo!:eek: :D :eek:
Yea, I'm kind of surprised to....maybe everybody is out riding!!:D
I just got back and OMG...I knew it was windy because we have this balloon windsock and it was going pretty good when I left. Dh was like are you sure I was, so off I went. WELL, it was coming DIRECTLY out of the east so it was a you know what going that way. I passed like 5 male cyclist flying west and thought, ahaha but they have to ride back in it to. Well, about an hour and a half later they passed me, not very fast and the leader of the pack yelled at me..."Wind doesn't suck it BLOWS.":cool: ......so I kicked it down and hung with them until I turned. I got home and turned our news, and we have a 25 mph wind out of the east gusting to 35....No wonder I'm BEAT!!
Thanks for the response though, I thought I was just a big puss because I don't like wind. :o
Like IFJane, it also depends on temperature. In the summer though, I'm a lot less likely to wimp out because of the wind. A day with 13-16 mph and gusts to 25 is pretty average out here. We rarely get a day with the winds below 10 mph, so if I waited for that I would never ride. :) In fact, 25 with gusts to 35 mph is pretty common also (last year's Biking Across Kansas had its longest day with headwinds that strong). I just buckle down and resign myself to going slow, with "I hate western Kansas" repeating in my head. :rolleyes:
If the grass is moving I'm not.
Not really quite that lazy but almost.
HAHA, AWESOME love it!! That is how I think but living her there is ALWAYS wind it seems. I think it's really making me stronger though. Before they men came up I just had my head down and was just SLOWLY counting the rocks as I went by while my legs were going 100 mph.Quote:
Originally Posted by zencentury
I look outside. I grow Douglas Fir trees on my land, and if the tall, strong, sturdy trees are moving about vigorously, then it is too windy for my bike. If it is just regular movement or no movement, then I bike.
Oregon can get real strong wind storms, the kind of strong winds that blow down trees and bring down electrical lines, so I am always careful to check the wind conditions every day.
Pretty much I bike in the wind everyday. I am used to it and no longer give it much of a thought. The wind makes me a stronger cyclist.
Darcy
I've been out in gusts over 40mph. That was not fun. I don't want to do that again. Wind should not be strong enough to make you slow down if you coast down a fairly steep hill.
The worse wind is when you are pedaling up a steep hill and the wind is blowing you back down.
What makes it even worse is you get a line of idling vehicles behind you because it is a narrow road and a hill, and the vehicles can't see around you to pass in the other lane, but it is taking you forever to get up the hill because of the strong wind and so you can sense the frustration of the drivers.
The absolute worse situation is the above conditions, but add heavy rain to the mix.
Darcy
I just came back from a short trip to the shop (about a 1 and a 1/2 mile round trip). There was a fairly strong head-wind going but it was behind me on the way back.
What did annoy me more than the wind was there were quite a few "boy racers" showing off in their cars:mad: They all seem to come out on a Saturday night. I had one twit think it was a good idea to sit about 6 inches from my back wheel. I held steady and just carried on until he got fed up and finally overtook. I wonder about their mentallity:rolleyes:
Don't fancy riding the bike in a gale force wind though.
Today...20mph with gusts to 26. No problem. I just look at the wind as a training partner. A very mean training partner.
We've biked in worse while on a tour--it wasn't van supported and we had to get from one town to the next. 25 with gusts to 40. That was scary getting hit with cross gusts while in traffic.
But, in general, I just find a happy gear and enjoy it. I take it easy on the backroads and save the strength for the busy roads so I can push the pace can get off them as quickly as possible.
But, if the temp is under 40. Nope. I'm a wimp.
25 gusting to 35?? Yeah that was me two weeks ago! Try riding 112 miles in that!
After that race I just have no desire to ride in anything over 10-15 mph. I know I need to, but I've lost that loving feeling...
Oh and it's heating up here, so when it's windy it feels like your riding into a blow dryer! :D
Despise the wind. If I see tree branches moving, I go to the gym. Hills, you see, have an end. Wind? You'd THINK if you had a headwind and turned around, you would then have a tailwind. NO! It follows me. Honestly, I've been known to raise my fist to the sky and curse the powers that be.
Being at sea level we get LOTS of wind. If I ride to work, it's 13 miles due north. The prevailing wind is usually out of the north, so it's 13 miles of headwinds and no where to get out of the wind since I have the ocean on one side and the bay on the other. Typically the wind shifts in the afternoon, so somedays I am treated to headwinds in both directions. Oh joy. Up to 25 mph is ok I guess, but slow. Very slow.
Somebody famous said: "Hills make you strong, but the wind makes you mean." I don't know who said it, but I believe it wholeheartedly.
If I need to get some miles in, I'll ride as long as I can move forward and not stand still or go backwards. I figure, I'll eventually get the tailwind. It seems like it's always windy these days, if it ever stops I'll probably feel really strong and fast!
Wind weanie here. I went out once in 30+ mph, and nearly got blown into traffic, and that was the last time for me! I'd rather do something else and live to ride another day. :p
OUt here, if you don't ride in the wind, you don't ride.
TOday's "Saunter" ride was in I think 13 mph winds. I've done 20 & 25 and still had a reasonably good time. Couple of SUndays ago I called a ride and rode out there - the prediction was 20-25 mph and I said people could ride behind me ;) - and thought it was pretty hairy in town... and we went 3/4 a mile towards the prairie and I just figured it was too gusty for stability.
Got home and the weather channel said the wind was 45 mph, gusting to 56. Holey Cow!!! I didn't feel like a weenie then...
... My reality criteria is that if I would be embarrassed telling somebody in the ER why I was out riding *voluntarily* in the conditions that put me there, I should go back home. And I"ll ride one of my heavy bikes and not in a group.
so funny, I was thinking just this the other day!
I was out and it was supposed to be headwinds, so I thought no big deal ride 12 miles north in 15+mph ne winds(so gusting in the 20s), turn around and be pushed home!
haha joke was on me, the headwinds changed to crosswinds! So I ended up going nowhere for 25 miles! it took me ages(i think I averaged around 15.5mph) There were definite times when my speed was around 13, and I felt like I was being blown backwards and sideways.
I am not sure when enough is enough, sometimes I look out at the palms just blowing sideways and say no way- not fun! don't want to be blown sideways into traffic, and then other days I am all gung(sp?)ho! for it..
I guess I would rather be riding out into a headwind then a tailwind(always more fun being blown home then vice versa)
Crosswinds above 15mph are just dangerous to me(I don't feel very safe being blown into the street when the cars already want to drive in the bike lane).
Also whoever said the hills make you strong wind makes you mean is right!
I would much rather have climbs, where you can see when it ends over winds where you can't see when it is going to let up.
Just checked our weather forecast for the next 10 days. Winds are East-Northeast and anywhere between 10mph and 17mph.
The good news is I've got a tailwind all the way to work:D
The bad news is, I've got a headwind and uphill all the way home:(
so I crawl over the doorstep gasping "Coffee...coffee..."
Well... we go from calm to outrageous winds here, depending on the season.
In the spring we have westerlies, which are sometimes gale-force. So its a warm wind but tough.
When trees are getting close to parallel, or when small branches start coming down, we don't ride.
Otherwise, if i go out in a tough wind, I just accept that i will not be doing a PB that day, and when I am into the wind on the flat I will be doing about 12-14kph instead of 28-30kph...
Wind makes me strong!
I hate wind. Recently got caught in sustained 30-40 mph headwinds (which included going up a big steep hill) and it almost made me cry. Gusts of about 60 at the top of the hill across the lake. :eek: I will venture out in, say, 15-20 with gusts to 30, but I don't like it. The problem is around here the weather can change so fast, it can be nice when you head out but then it comes out of nowhere. Also lots of shifts in direction, such that you can have a headwind around an entire loop.
Not that I've ridden in this, of course, but at work right at the base of the mountains we've had 96 mph gusts where you literally can't open the door. I'm not exaggerating, I work next to an NWS station, its measured and documented. Luckily that's a very rare occasion.
I believe you, being your neighbor to the south here in New Mexico, wind is a fact of life. It's either bad or worse. Although, I'm looking outside right new it's is ABSOLUTELY gorgeous a slight breeze, but I can't go out because the baby is napping.:(
I'm a wind weenie so far.
If I see leaves blowing across the grass, count me out. I'd rather go for a run.
I need to toughen up.
reading this makes me glad i moved out of cold bay and to anchorage. no wind here, well compared to cold bay. if you had anything below 20 mph in cold bay it was considered calm.
It is perpetually windy in Flagstaff during the Spring and sometimes during the Fall. Although Saturday was a blessing we had almost no wind! What a break.
You get used to riding in wind around here cause if you want to ride you ride in wind. When it is gusting 50-60 mph, then it is just TOO WINDY.
I rode in that last year and it was REALLY, REALLY SCARY - I was also on a brand new to me 16 pound bike with arrow spokes. What out for sideways wind- That is just too much for me.
"Ooooooooooh-klahoma where the wind comes sweepin' down the plains"
yeah...
30+ no thanks
Anything less and I'll get laughed at for not going. :P
I like that quote - Hills make you stronger, but wind makes you meaner... however that goes. Good one!!!!
Where we are if you don't ride in the wind you don't ride.Quote:
Originally Posted by Jenn
I used to say 20 mph was my limit, now we go out pretty regularily in 25 mph. We try always to ride out against it and with it back.
The worst I rode in last year was accidental - it was about 25-30 mph going out and it picked up when we were on our way back in (x-wind) 41 mph w/ over 45 mph gusts.
We made it in but I draw the line there - it blows you into the line of traffic.
the longest distance against the wind was on a tour in NoDak last year- 50 miles per day for 2 days running against a sustained 30-35 mph headwind (the other 20 miles were w/ a x-wind)
I HATE the wind but like I said if you don't ride in the wind you don't ride because it is AlWAYS blowing out here.
OH how I miss Anchorage! We are trying to get orders back there as we speak, Elmendorf was the BEST assignment ever, I'm envious. However, how do you train in the winter??? I know we had studded tires on the car, does Bontrager have them?:DQuote:
Originally Posted by chickwhorips
When it's really windy, I go windsurfing. Much more fun than cycling in the wind.:D :D
I'll fight a headwind up to 25-30 mph, but I hate crosswinds!! Both are a struggle; to keep pedaling, to keep your bike straight, to mentally not give up. Headwinds are simply a struggle of wind against pedaling power to keep one moving. Crosswinds test your control of the bike, your stereing, your balance, your strength, your reaction time. Much more challenging, IMO.
Annie
oooooohhhhhh windsurfing...... :D
jenn not sure about riding here in anchoarge. i know people get studded tires. out in cold bay, i didn't have to worry that much. didn't get much snow. i'll let you know next winter, or if all goes well you can experience it with me. ;) otherwise i'll be bugging sarahlou to help me out.
Talk about crosswinds, I had a few hit me this morning that I thought it was going to take the bike right out from under me, didn't like it much.:mad:Quote:
Originally Posted by annie
Crosswinds are worse than headwinds. Passing vehicles can toss you around in the wind and you have to hang on for dear life. My new road bike is more difficult to control in windy conditions than any bikes I have ridden in the past.:mad: I'm sure part of it is my upper body strength just isn't what it should be.
I won't ride when the wind blows me farther backward then I can go foreward. I have always wanted to go out and ride on those days with 60+mph gusts but they are always in the winter. So the wind chill would be horrible. I rode a few weeks ago and one of my really strong cycling buddies got stuck in a headwind that forced him down to 12mph. That type of wind likely would have had me at 4mph or less.
I decided to commute to work on my bike today (didn't yesterday as I got a lift in from hubby - we both work in the same place and we both slept in:o ).
It was quite calm in the morning and I had a really good run into work. Coming back the wind had got up and was quite strong at times, plus it was a headwind. Feeling very pleased with myself that I got up the long hill without stopping again:D
Club ride starts tonight so went on and read the weather report
It is forecasted to be "breezy" today and tomorrow is going to be "windy"
when I looked at the full report "breezy" is up to 29 mph winds w/ gusts up to 34 for today
"windy" on thursday is 31mph w/ 40 mph gusts.
I guess 30 mph is the cutoff point for "breezy" :rolleyes:
17mph winds here are "light breeze" :p
I wonder how they would categorize 29 mph winds somewhere else?
4MPH! Dang, that's awesome, I'd be doing....., .5 if my computer ever reads that low.:pQuote:
Originally Posted by CR400
Quote:
Originally Posted by Python
There is NOTHING better then that feeling of making it up a long hill especially when you have a HUGE wind (picture the fans they use on movie sets) blowing against you.! We have a massive one here on base that I avoid on windy days, but you have inspired me that this weekend I will go and CONQUER!! ( And not ask DH to ride behind me in the car with hazard lights on...lol:p )
Oops Sorry, that wind we were riding in I mentioned was 30-35mph with gusts over 40mph. I got hit in an open field by one of those 40 gust and got dropped into my drops and struggled to maintain 8mph. I was in a 52/17 gear and could have swore it was much bigger. I usually don't gear down in big winds because I want the strength they'll give.
During the winter I rode my mountain bike on the road with a sustained wind of 30 mph, and hopefully no gusts. It was about 3 degrees above 0 too. It took me a little over 7 min to go a mile. It was brutel I could have swore I was in a monster gear, because it took so much force to pedel. It was like 42/26. Lets put it this way on the way back from that mile of torture I didn't have to pedel if I didn't want to. Its a love hate relationship, I hate riding in it but love the strength it gives.
I bow to you in respcet and envy...woman I bet you have some killer quads!:eek:Quote:
Originally Posted by CR400