Too windy to go cycling....

[MrBeanz]

I love riding in the wind. Pretty usual for us to have a few months of high winds. 30-40 MPH winds with gusts of 60. I won't ride on the streets when it windy like this but riding on the trail is a blast when it's really windy.

On sections where I can hold 19 or 20, I am trying hard to hold 9 MPH.

The wind builds character!



I get my wife out there as well. She used to wuss out when it came to the wind but after she saw I was right about the tailwind reward, she gave it a try and didn't mind so much. Heck, we even climbed a mountain pass under these conditions, as you can see from her hair in the wind.

30 mile ride up the pass with about 2,000 ft of climbing. And a 40 miler on the bike trail. The blowing sand hurts but you get used to it!

 

[Distorted Vision]

Having a very upright cycling position is comfortable for me because I'm very overweight. Weight loss was part of the reason I took up cycling.

 

[ColinJ]

You're confusing a high bars setting with a too low saddle setting. Not the same thing at all. If the saddle to pedal distance is correct for the OP's inside leg measurement - then it's right, irrespective of the relative height of the bars.
It is quite common on womens frames for the head tube, and therefore the bar height, to be taller than an equivalent sized mens frame. If the frame is a bit on the large size for the rider, a tall head tube and bars height has the effect of shortening the reach and making the bike comfortable to a rider who would not be comfortable on an oversized bike with a short head tube and lower bars.

Actually ... I wasn't!

Something looked a bit odd and I took a guess that the saddle was too low. I was thinking to myself that if the saddle height is okay then the bike is probably too big, which apparently turns out to be the case.

 

[ColinJ]

Having a very upright cycling position is comfortable for me because I'm very overweight. Weight loss was part of the reason I took up cycling.

Me too ... back then. I couldn't bend over very far because my beer belly got in the way!

I have lost lots of weight over the years and my position gradually got lower and lower. This what my best bike looks like now ...

(I had to tilt the saddle down because I was starting to suffer from NNS, but I had overdone it when that photo was taken. I have reduced the tilt to about half of that now.)

 

[Distorted Vision]

Good job!

I've lost 30kg so far. My original plan was to buy my first road bike when I reached my goal weight as an incentive and to keep me motivated.
But then I saw this Cannondale Synapse discounted and just had to go for it! I'm not planning on riding it until I'm below the manufacturer's maximum rider weight.

 

[Zipp2001]

Just take out a bike that will slice thru the wind a little better, that's what I do.

 

[mjr]

Indeed not. But waterproofing and insulation doth not necessarily the bike ride make enjoyable.
Fair weather cyclist and proud of it.

I find that rides are shoot mainly due to motorists. Very rare that weather does it. Maybe if it's windy enough to knock you over or throw large objects at you - but we've not had that in a few years.

 

[tyred]

There is no such thing as "too windy", only insufficiently windproof clothing!!!

I did genuinely get blown off my (fully loaded) touring bike once as I crested the top of the Connor Pass in Kerry. It became clear to me that the mountain had been sheltering me from gale force winds coming from the other side of the peninsula. It was not a nice experience, I could barely stand upright or actually hold on to the bike and I ended up having to go back the way I came and take the main road to Dingle which added about 35 miles to my total, a lot of it a slow grinding slog into a hellish headwind. So yes, it can be too windy. I did sleep well that night however...

 

[Zipp2001]

Thank goodness I'm a Clydesdale and I like a little added suffering, which the wind helped with.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0UfxFlzVf8I

 

[Cuchilo]

Just take out a bike that will slice thru the wind a little better, that's what I do.
View attachment 449593

Tri spokes in the wind ? Are you sure ?

 

[Zipp2001]

Tri spokes in the wind ? Are you sure ?

I've been running tri-spokes since the early 90's and am very comfortable in the wind with them. Shot I'll run a tri-spoke / disc combo for months at a time, in all kinds of weather conditions. Not for everybody but I'm comfortable with them and have never had any major handling issues.
Now my 81's by Reynolds I find can be trickier dealing with the crosswinds than the tri-spokes.

 

[wyre forest blues]

I find that rides are shoot mainly due to motorists. Very rare that weather does it. Maybe if it's windy enough to knock you over or throw large objects at you - but we've not had that in a few years.

Thursday 14th June 2018.. storm Hector. I remember it well because we were cycling C 2 C and back. Having cycled Workington to Tynemouth and back to Carlisle we had a final 40 mile ride to Workington on 14th June. On the morning of 14th June it was practically impossible to stand up let alone cycle. We didnt finish the ride but at least we cycled the majority. Gutted at the time but safety was of paramount importance.

 

[mjr]

Thursday 14th June 2018.. storm Hector. I remember it well because we were cycling C 2 C and back. [...]

That might have hit you up there but it didn't hit us. Our last two seem to have been Storm Doris early 2017 (more recent than I thought but still a couple of years ago) and the St Jude's Day Storm 2013.

 

[wyre forest blues]

That might have hit you up there but it didn't hit us. Our last two seem to have been Storm Doris early 2017 (more recent than I thought but still a couple of years ago) and the St Jude's Day Storm 2013.

Yes, I know. By the time we had driven back to the midlands the storm was no more than puff of wind, which made it even more annoying.