Wind weenie

[marni]

put your riding clothes where you can see them as you wake up. Put all your breakfast fixngs out the night before. Pick a route with a couple of cop out points where you can either take a break and get a snack, or change directions, or call the ride. Promise yourself that you will do 10 miles at least. Ignore speed, spin easy and do it, you will probably find that you have another 10 or 15 miles in you or that you are enjoying the route and the day and the other people. I know you said it was flat and had no trees, but maybe consider changing your route to one which has a few trees or buildings as wind breaks? Pick a route that makes you ride into the wind on the way out, that way if you do an out and back, the wind can waft you home.

Once you are out, get the bit in your teeth (figuratively) and decide you aren't going to let the wind beat you.

I ride the Texas prairies which are also flat, treeless and windy. These are coping mechanisms that seem to work for me.

If you decide not to ride, do something else and don't beat yourself up about.

[Catrin]

Thanks everyone! I've decided to ride, but to wait for the cooler evening. The winds, they say, will drop like a rock around 6pm, so that is when I will ride. It won't be as warm & will have to break out tights and wool layers, but I won't have to deal with 22mph winds (they raised them). Tomorrow will be the same, so will just head out at 8am and be a little late for church...

As much as I would love to ride in the 67 temps tomorrow afternoon, I just don't want to deal with the 22 mph winds...but we will see if the forecasters change their mind - which they seem to do every 3.5 nanoseconds this time of the year.

[TrekTheKaty]

We also have a wind advisory for "25-35 gust 40-50--secure you lawn furniture!" tomorrow. It's a bummer because it's supposed to be 80!

We did a leisurely 20 today (on the new section of the Katy Trail--had to elbow our way through the ribbon cutting--ON YOUR LEFT!) When we got home, my new Louis Garneau shorts were in the mailbox.

DH says, "Oh good. You can wear them on the Trailnet ride tomorrow." I should also point out it is in the river flats where it's windy even when it's not supposed to be windy!

As a pilot, I have to ask: it's possible to go backwards in an airplane. Can you go backwards on a bicycle?

[Catrin]

Have fun tomorrow if you do go!

My ride today was rather....exciting I apologise in advance for the book, but it was quite an experience!

Even though I said that I would wait until 6 this evening to ride, at 3:00 I couldn't resist the sunshine and 57 temps any longer. Changed, grabbed Camelbak, bike, and headed for the country! This was my first country ride for the season.

It lasted an entire 30 minutes Tail wind was awesome, cross-wind was so wicked that at one point I was literally praying to not get blown over - and on one downhill I was pushed into the other lane Going up hill I needed the granny gears like I never have in my entire 2,000 miles of cycling! I know that isn't much, just work with me

My heart rate in those 27.35 minutes averaged 147 and maxed at 175 and rode an entire 4.5 miles! I actually was a little nauseous by the time I made it back to my car... I've no idea what the wind gusts were, but I suspect they were a lot higher than 22 mph!

That wasn't the end of things though, 27 minutes just wasn't enough. So...I drove to the large park across from my apartment and put in close to 10 more miles. This is a nature preserve type of park with lots of hills, so the trees and topography both serve as great windbreaks. I still felt the wind a little, but not like out in the country. In the end I rode an entire 14.5 miles and am quite happy with that! Not the long ride I had wanted to do today - but I will take what I can get

[Jiffer]

I rode today. Weather report says 21 mph winds. I didn't quite realize how windy it was until I got out there and then I decided to change my route. I was going to do a route that forced me into the headwind for a long period, then turn around and come back. Instead, I did a loop near my house twice. So I only had the headwind off and on for relatively short periods. Plus I think there are more trees, etc. to block the wind on the loop. Wasn't too bad and I wasn't out there to kill it anyway or ride a lot of miles. I haven't ridden since Monday, haven't been feeling well and just needed to get out there and move. So mission accomplished.

[Kerry1976]

My main sport is running and I'm knee deep in half marathon training. But Sunday is a great xtrain day where a morning ride would be perfect. I was all gung-ho about going tomorrow....but just saw we are supposed to have sustained winds of 24 mph with gusts of 40+....along with rain and some thunderstorms.

well, might be walking and or hooping instead.

[emily_in_nc]

Amazingly, we rode! The weather station I checked when we got home said sustained winds in the 20-25 mph range with gusts to 35, and I believe it. It wasn't so bad when we left at 9:30 am, but built during our ride. The tailwind on the way back was AWESOME!

I wouldn't have done it if we lived in the plains or were riding in rural areas with open fields, but this was an urban, campus, and surburban ride with plenty of trees and hills and buildings to help break up the wind gusts.

The only scary moment was when we were making a left turn across busy lanes of traffic at a light, racing to get through before the light changed, and the visor on my helmet was caught by the wind and pulled the helmet as far back on my head as the straps would let it go (which wasn't very far). It was just a strange feeling as it felt like a sail catching the wind. I've never had that happen before, and I kept my head down for the rest of the ride when we were heading into the wind!

We ended up with 21.4 miles at a utilitarian pace, with stops at the farmer's market, food co-op, and Trader Joe's, and full panniers coming home. That's when tailwinds are much appreciated!

Tomorrow is supposed to have much lighter winds (5-10 mph), so I'm looking forward to a longer and less 'exciting' ride!

[Julietiede]

Well, here is one answer for you. My husband did the 508 a couple of years ago (48 hours, 508 miles) and winds through Death Valley were 50 mph. The only bikes that were blown over were the recumbent bikes. So as long as you are holding on-no time to take your hands off the handle bars you should be good. We rode yesterday in 30 mph winds and it was miserable and we loved it (when it was over with!) We get wind a lot so refuse to change our plans. We always say it makes riding on flats like climbing so it is great training and will power you up! Happy Trails,
Julie

[mariacycle]

How do you handle the wind on your ears? My ears feel like they're being boxed if I ride in extreme cold, wind, or both. Ear warmers? Ear plugs?

[redrhodie]

How do you handle the wind on your ears? My ears feel like they're being boxed if I ride in extreme cold, wind, or both. Ear warmers? Ear plugs?

I wear a headband over my ears.

[nscrbug]

My name is Linda, and I am a wind weenie. There...I said it. I hate the wind...no more like, despise it. That being said, we get a lot of windy days in "the Windy City"...so, I try and not let if affect my decision to ride. The past 2 days have been extremely windy here. My cycling buddy and I headed out at 7am, both today and yesterday. Even at that early hour, the sustained winds were at least 15-18mph, with gusts around 25+mph. And as the morning wore on, the winds only got worse. It was brutal...I literally felt battered and beaten down by the end of the rides. Yesterday was 63 miles, today was 57...and tomorrow doesn't look to be any less windy either, with forecasted winds of 15-25mph out of the N-NW...lovely. I'm secretly kind of hoping that it is still raining in the morning (severe storms forecasted for overnight), so that we can bag the ride for tomorrow and I can recuperate from such a tough riding weekend.

[jenniferh]

The wind keeps me home. I'm in flat, flat, flat Texas and there have been several rides where the wind at my side has cause me trouble staying straight up on my bike. Once I was very close to being blown over. It's frustrating. I really want to ride. Not fight the wind to keep going forward when it is pushing me sideways.

[Tri Girl]

Rode 40 miles today- winds were sustained at 30 today with gusts up to 45. I almost got blown over a couple times. If I didn't ride in the wind I'd never ride from December through November.

[Catrin]

Rode 40 miles today- winds were sustained at 30 today with gusts up to 45. I almost got blown over a couple times. If I didn't ride in the wind I'd never ride from December through November.

Wow, those are some pretty strong winds and I am in awe of you! I would ride this afternoon if'en my quads weren't complaining a tad from my 29 miles yesterday. That isn't very far, but the weather has kept me from riding consistently since I got back on the bike in March. Going for a gentle hike this afternoon with a friend, and back to my usual routine tomorrow.

It is hard to pay attention to my body as I really want to ride this afternoon, but learned my lesson last year about not allowing my legs to rest!