Riding in strong winds.

[KCookie]

Hey guys,
I'm sitting at home debating weather to go for a ride, my mobile weather app is saying 35kmh winds with 50kmh gusts, by the sounds of it they are right. I ride mostly through the hills so from experience I can add another 5/10kmh to that. I hate riding in the wind, not only is it bloody hard work it's quite dangerous, even with my Ventoux wheels I have to hold on tight.
I have a Wahoo Kickr which I've been on twice this week but Saturday is my only day I get to ride out on the open road.
Where do you guys draw the line and say sod it, it's just to windy to ride today.
Cheers.

[antonioiglesius]

I decide when I'm lying face down in the dirt having just crashed because I lost control of my front wheel on a windy descent. Ahaha.

Ok not really but it depends on how strong the wind is around the route I'll be taking. If there's a stretch where I know the wind will get sketchy, I'll avoid it. So it's about how much I know I can handle based on past experience, and how the wind around the terrain behaves. Then it becomes a question of how much risk I want to take. I've sort of gotten used to headwinds, I just tone things down, put my head down, and think of something else while trying not to blow my legs up. Yes I'm (way) slower but I still keep the cadence high so to passers-by I still look cool.

[jorryt]

I know it is different when you have to decent but in Holland, it is always windy and sometimes really windy. When the trees go down I draw the line. That's it.

[Miller]

Run shallow rims, stay low, hold on tight, anticipate where the wind is likely to hit you.

[velomane]

For me, the wind is a mental battle, so the question for me is: "do I have the will to fight nature today?" If the wind is 50kph, then I try to choose a route where the wind will be mostly crosswind.

[dim]

If you are going for a ride, and the wind is strong, and you are returning where you started from, you will be riding in a loop

headwind halfway, and tailwind the other half ..... even if you plan a route so that the wind is sideways for most of the way .... one half will be tough, and the other half easier

check the hills/climbing and choose accordingly (c/wise or counter clock wise)

headwind is your friend .... it makes you strong and you will find that your climbing speed increases ...

on the turn with the strong tailwind .... cycle as fast as you can and beat your previous Strava PB times on segments

where I live, the wind is brutal at times... don't fight it, spin and dont worry about your speed ... when you make a turn and the wind is behind you, your average speed for the loop will increase and average out for the loop

I always look at the wind predictions before a ride and I use this site:

https://www.windy.com/?52.200,0.117,5

enter your location ... it is pretty accurate

[avispa]

I have a Wahoo Kickr which I've been on twice this week but Saturday is my only day I get to ride out on the open road.
Where do you guys draw the line and say sod it, it's just to windy to ride today.
Cheers.

A Russian solution to this: just ride with the tailwinds and have someone pick you up!

Seriously, sometimes one can get a much better/safer workout staying home on a trainer. From experience, I do not bother going out if winds hit more than 25-30 mph and if it's below 45F degrees.
I do not mind heading into the wind so much as to have the wind push me into the way of danger.

PD: cool site dim, thanks!

[dim]

I have a Wahoo Kickr which I've been on twice this week but Saturday is my only day I get to ride out on the open road.
Where do you guys draw the line and say sod it, it's just to windy to ride today.
Cheers.

Seriously, sometimes one can get a much better/safer workout staying home on a trainer. From experience, I do not bother going out if winds hit more than 25-30 mph and if it's below 45F degrees.
I do not mind heading into the wind so much as to have the wind push me into the way of danger.

been there .... done that (my son uses Zwift) and I've use it many times

shows you that you cycle at 32-35km/hr .... but get on your bike and try replicate that on the road on a long ride with good hills and you cycle at 28km/hr with the same effort if the wind is not head on

I'm fast on a trainer, but much slower when gravity and wind are involved

suppose a trainer is good if it's hailing and snowing for several days and you need to turn some pedals

but bottom line .... if you want to get fit, head for the hills and if there is a strong headwind, it's a bonus

[bilwit]

I do not mind heading into the wind so much as to have the wind push me into the way of danger.

Yep, I'll take headwind all day if I had the choice. Cross or tailwind at particularly twisty, slippery descents with traffic or exposed and narrow roads with oncoming cyclists/pedestrians.. no thanks.

If I'm in a situation where I HAVE to take a certain route where there's a sketchy section during high winds (30km/h+), I'd rather take the bus. If I'm caught out and I have no choice than to brave it then I'll detour where there's less exposed sections and I only have to deal with head/tail wind rather than cross.

[KCookie]

Thanks for all the comments guys, some great answers. The wind is now 53kmh at home so more in the hills, so trainer it is. The loop I ride I never seem to get a tail wind, cross head wind which completely knackers me out, I spin like a mad man and feel like I'm not getting any where, you guys must be strong riders.

[dim]

I do not mind heading into the wind so much as to have the wind push me into the way of danger.

Yep, I'll take headwind all day if I had the choice. Cross or tailwind at particularly twisty, slippery descents with traffic or exposed and narrow roads with oncoming cyclists/pedestrians.. no thanks.

If I'm in a situation where I HAVE to take a certain route where there's a sketchy section during high winds (30km/h+), I'd rather take the bus. If I'm caught out and I have no choice than to brave it then I'll detour where there's less exposed sections and I only have to deal with head/tail wind rather than cross.

i rode a 110 km Audax a few days ago .... together with 59 other cyclists ... this was on the day of storm Brian in the UK (winds were 35km/hr+ with stronger gusts at times )...


here is a video that I took of part of the ride (part of the 3rd song on the video is where I was riding into the headwind or where it was hitting me sideways) of the 110km ride, 35km of the ride was in direct headwind .... scary moments at times, but luckily not many cars

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IBtlhcnr47I&t=140s

[bilwit]

Thanks for all the comments guys, some great answers. The wind is now 53kmh at home so more in the hills, so trainer it is. The loop I ride I never seem to get a tail wind, cross head wind which completely knackers me out, I spin like a mad man and feel like I'm not getting any where, you guys must be strong riders.

Riding in strong headwind is always a mental thing, you just have to accept the fact that you won't be going very fast, just keep your cadence and power at reasonable levels just like you would on a long climb. No point in blowing up just so you can say you were in the big ring the whole time. Doing hard work in headwind is much more preferable than fighting my front wheel to stay straight (and upright) in a gusty crosswind while dealing with slippery roads, traffic, etc

[dim]

Thanks for all the comments guys, some great answers. The wind is now 53kmh at home so more in the hills, so trainer it is. The loop I ride I never seem to get a tail wind, cross head wind which completely knackers me out, I spin like a mad man and feel like I'm not getting any where, you guys must be strong riders.

53km/hr wind? .... I'd be all charged up, fully carbo loaded so as to get a few Strava PB's or KOMS in that wind

[KCookie]

Thanks for all the comments guys, some great answers. The wind is now 53kmh at home so more in the hills, so trainer it is. The loop I ride I never seem to get a tail wind, cross head wind which completely knackers me out, I spin like a mad man and feel like I'm not getting any where, you guys must be strong riders.

53km/hr wind? .... I'd be all charged up, fully carbo loaded so as to get a few Strava PB's or KOMS in that wind

As long as it's a tail wind.

[Hellgate]

Growing up in Colorado springtime winds were brutal, some days gusts up to 50mph+.

Usually rode into it on the way out, tailwind on the way back. Or, go into the mountains for some shelter. Or...employ the Russian method.

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