Interpreting Windsock

[grellboy]

Does anyone else here use MyWindsock? I joined the other day but not really sure how to interpret quite a bit of it. The bit I really want to know about is when you look on your map, you get a big blue number which is either side of 50. I think this corresponds to head/tailwind: as in, if you have a tailwind your number is below 50, but if its predominantly a headwind you get a number over 50. Does this tally when any other users' opinions?

 

[Globalti]

Never seen it before. Having just done a TT I'm aware of the effect of wind, which I believe must be the same as hills, i.e. that you climb or ride into the wind for longer than you descend or ride with the wind so you don't make up what you lost. However looking at that site just fills me with a sense of despair - do people really analyse their data to such an extent that they need sites like this? I guess the blue figure is some kind of slow/fast factor but can't figure it out either. In the end it's a bit academic because the site seems to ignore the effects of hedges, trees, topography, passing vehicles, buildings and other factors, which affect wind speed and direction locally.

 

[grellboy]

Never seen it before. Having just done a TT I'm aware of the effect of wind, which I believe must be the same as hills, i.e. that you climb or ride into the wind for longer than you descend or ride with the wind so you don't make up what you lost. However looking at that site just fills me with a sense of despair - do people really analyse their data to such an extent that they need sites like this? I guess the blue figure is some kind of slow/fast factor but can't figure it out either. In the end it's a bit academic because the site seems to ignore the effects of hedges, trees, topography, passing vehicles, buildings and other factors, which affect wind speed and direction locally.

Crazy amount of stats isn't it. I just tried to figure out the meaning of that one number and was perplexed!