Wind.

[deedolce]

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.

[Geonz]

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.

[ehirsch83]

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.

[Python]

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

The bad news is, I've got a headwind and uphill all the way home

so I crawl over the doorstep gasping "Coffee...coffee..."

[RoadRaven]

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!

[HappyAnika]

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. 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.

[Jenn]

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.

[northstar]

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.

[chickwhorips]

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.

[spokewench]

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.

[BabyBlueNTulsa]

"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!!!!

[eclectic]

How bad does it have to be before you say, I'll just not go there today.

Where we are if you don't ride in the wind you don't ride.

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.

[Jenn]

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.

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?

[Wahine]

When it's really windy, I go windsurfing. Much more fun than cycling in the wind.

[annie]

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