How much wind can you endure?

[Miranda]

How much wind can you endure? Meaning, miles per hour speeds, to road ride in?

I posted a similiar question once about "what's your coldest riding temp?". Had some great discussion.

I finally overcame that element obstacle of "cold" with investing $ in proper gear. What a freeing experience! I think I like the chill better actually.

But, I feel like I'm a bit of a wind weenie. The last thing I do before I head out for a ride is to click on weather.com and get the hour by hour forecast. Wind speed as a detail option (with direction).

Today, it has the bold word "Windy" written next to the forcast (over 20 mph). I weenie out.

I want to ride my first century this season. I keep thinking to myself, "Miranda, what if the wind is 20+mph on ride event day? ...you can't weenie out then!".

Just curious what you other wind riding gals have to say. Tips?

Btw... One of my very skilled riding aquaints only says "it (wind riding) is all mental". Hmmm... I feel like my "mind power" gets blown in the open midwest farm field OFF THE ROAD when it's 20+mph.

TYIA... signed,
"Miranda, wind weenie".

[Geonz]

Snork.... all mental? That's silly.

Two weeks ago we had 25 mph winds for my Saturday Saunter - the easy ride. I had about a dozen riders (?!?!?) ... and half of us actually rode to Tolono (half rode the 6 miles out to our first 'regroup spot' and turned back).
One thing we do is stop more often On our Tuesday long ride when it's been windy we sometimes stopped every 3 or 4 miles.
I realized plugging along at 4 mph into it that, indeed, if I were doing an event that yes, I could have ramped it up to 8 mph and just kept pluggin' along. (I was thinkng of things like week-long rides where you reailly could just be riding into the wind for 70 miles.)
Today it was almost that windy and I decided we'd do a shorter ride adn stop at Espresso Royale at the edge of town and then head back. It was much nicer
Tomorrow is an event ride 22 miles out of town. Yea, I could scarf a ride but I am aching for a good long ride, so I'm getting up early to charge into the wind - but it should "only" under 15 for the ride out Not bad if it sails me home at the 20+ predicted for the afternoon And I *might* have talked somebody into riding out with me...
When it's 30+ ... welp, then I'd have trouble explaining what the heck I was doing out there if something blew into me and knocked me down and I landed in the ER. So sometimes it *is* just too windy.

[redrhodie]

It's always windy on the roads I ride. I usually don't ride if there's a small craft advisory. I'm kind of a small craft .

A more aero bike really helps, as does tight fitting clothes. IMO, the worst thing you can do is wear a windbreaker on a bike. It's like wearing a sail, and if it's a headwind, you're going to be fighting hard!

[Miranda]

It's always windy on the roads I ride. I usually don't ride if there's a small craft advisory. I'm kind of a small craft .

A more aero bike really helps, as does tight fitting clothes. IMO, the worst thing you can do is wear a windbreaker on a bike. It's like wearing a sail, and if it's a headwind, you're going to be fighting hard!

I had to google "small craft advisory" to curiously figure out how many sail wind knots that is in miles per hour. Seems like about the 26 mph mark the advisory kicks in. Some winter pounds I'm still working off, but normally I'm more of a small craft too, lol. I never thought about the lose windbreaker gear. Being more aero does help. Thx.

[mimitabby]

Last year i did a ride, I think it was about 20 mph. It felt like riding into a wall when we were going into the wind. Even down hill was a chore. After 20 miles of that, we turned around and went back. My legs were so sore from the exertion that the return with a tailwind was not fun. So wind is a heckuva lot more than "mental" if it's terribly windy, I won't do a long ride. On my commute, it's not so bad, because it's short and circular.

[Geonz]

When I've done some of those windy rides on the prairie with our club I've noticed that we'll go out as a group and fight it nobly, with a good paceline... and then at the turnaround point the group splits into the "We can REST now!" group in the back and the "We can FLY now!" group in the front.
*Some* of that is mental but most of it's in the legs and lungs... maybe

[redrhodie]

I had to google "small craft advisory" to curiously figure out how many sail wind knots that is in miles per hour. Seems like about the 26 mph mark the advisory kicks in. Some winter pounds I'm still working off, but normally I'm more of a small craft too, lol. I never thought about the lose windbreaker gear. Being more aero does help. Thx.

Thanks! I was actually going to look that up myself.

Also, if it's windy, but it's quiet, that means it's a tailwind. I sit upright and use my body like a sail. I don't know if riding the drops into headwinds makes much difference, but I do that, too.

[spokewench]

10-20 is just a mild breeze in Flagstaff in the Spring. If you don't get 30-40 on some rides, you haven't ridden in Flagstaff in the Spring.

It's not fun, but if you want to ride, you have to do it.

Now, today is the most beautiful day of the year - it is actually probably only 10 mph winds with gusts to 15 - how wonderful

[Miranda]

Snork.... all mental? That's silly.

Two weeks ago we had 25 mph winds for my Saturday Saunter - the easy ride. I had about a dozen riders (?!?!?) ... and half of us actually rode to Tolono (half rode the 6 miles out to our first 'regroup spot' and turned back).
One thing we do is stop more often On our Tuesday long ride when it's been windy we sometimes stopped every 3 or 4 miles.
I realized plugging along at 4 mph into it that, indeed, if I were doing an event that yes, I could have ramped it up to 8 mph and just kept pluggin' along. (I was thinkng of things like week-long rides where you reailly could just be riding into the wind for 70 miles.)
Today it was almost that windy and I decided we'd do a shorter ride adn stop at Espresso Royale at the edge of town and then head back. It was much nicer
Tomorrow is an event ride 22 miles out of town. Yea, I could scarf a ride but I am aching for a good long ride, so I'm getting up early to charge into the wind - but it should "only" under 15 for the ride out Not bad if it sails me home at the 20+ predicted for the afternoon And I *might* have talked somebody into riding out with me...
When it's 30+ ... welp, then I'd have trouble explaining what the heck I was doing out there if something blew into me and knocked me down and I landed in the ER. So sometimes it *is* just too windy.

The stopping more often is a good tip. Sometimes if I'm on a higher traffic road to get to point A to B (less traffic) I can't stop it seems. Then I feel like I'm gonna die, omg. When it's straight into the headwind, open fields, gheez... it's about like a Bugs Bunny Wyle Coyotte cartoon. The Coyotte is hanging mid air off the cliff. Ooooo... I can't pedal one more stroke. But, for sure on the coming home... wind pushing you back... SWEET!

[shootingstar]

hmm..I believe I've cycled into headwinds and front crosswinds blowing at 40 km/hr. It's not so horrible on a quiet, flat road but downright scary with cars, trucks...and rain. But all of this is not for long...that is if I have a choice. Sometimes no choice if you are cycle-touring.

In Vancouver, there are several major car road bridges each approx. 1 km. long. Some of them, are not cycling-friendly in design/feel unsafe to cycle over just under calm air, car-jammed conditions. I think twice, thrice about cycling a bridge in headwind/crosswinds over 25-30 km/hr. Most definitely it helps to understand trip planning alternatives, plus a public transit that allows you to throw on the bike and hitch a ride.

In windy weather, I prefer to have my bike weighed down with panniers. It feels as if I won't be blown over as easily ...even though it makes movin' along frickin' more difficult.

[Cheryl SF]

I feel like I've never had the good fortune to experience a tailwind- it's always headwinds and crosswinds. The crosswinds are the worst, IMO, and are my biggest fear. This is because I was going downhill fast on a roller on HWY 1 last spring, when a huge crosswind gust blew me across the double yellow line (luckily no oncoming traffic), and I almost lost control and crashed. I've been mentally scarred since then and go way too slowly descending in the wind now. I hope I eventually get over it!