Traffic vs Headwind

[Mo1959]

Ride west on the way out and east on the way home if considering the sun

Definitely. Low sun in following drivers eyes is way more worrying than a bit of wind!

 

[Alex321]

Ride west on the way out and east on the way home if considering the sun

Wish I had that choice for my commute!

Yesterday was into the sun all the way in, and halfway home before it clouded over.

 

[Ming the Merciless]

Wish I had that choice for my commute!

Yesterday was into the sun all the way in, and halfway home before it clouded over.

You do but the commute might take some time

 

[PaulSB]

I ride my bike when I want to. Weather is a consideration but never traffic except the school run. The group of retirees I ride with midweek all live 30-45 minutes from our meet point so we choose to start at 9.30 simply because we aren't rushed. When we're off on a 100+ miles it will be earlier.

I'd never allow traffic dictate where or when I ride.

 

[ColinJ]

I ride my bike when I want to. Weather is a consideration but never traffic except the school run. The group of retirees I ride with midweek all live 30-45 minutes from our meet point so we choose to start at 9.30 simply because we aren't rushed. When we're off on a 100+ miles it will be earlier.

I'd never allow traffic dictate where or when I ride.

I ride my bike where I want to. Weather is an important consideration and always traffic, especially the school run.

If doing a shortish ride I will either set off after the morning rush and try to get back before the afternoon one OR in the summer, go for an evening ride instead.

If planning a long ride, I would probably opt for the weekend to avoid the school run on roads/commuter crush on trains issues, and opt for an early-ish start.

I'd always consider traffic when choosing where or when I ride. The older I get, the more the traffic bothers me...

 

[I like Skol]

Got to ask, where are you heading? It's probably more useful to discuss the ride/route than talking about hypothetical weather and traffic conditions

 

[Supersuperleeds]

I'd be riding with the better weather, traffic will be what it will be, but then when I plan my rides I try and avoid the busier roads.

 

[cougie uk]

I'd go for less traffic. I don't think I've based a ride around headwind in all my years. Winds can't be trusted.

 

[Moodyman]

I'd stay at home. Avoid both the traffic and the headwind.

 

[Oldhippy]

I just go out and go wherever the fancy takes me. I don't plan rides.

 

[Alex321]

I don't take traffic into account much, apart from tending to avoid the main roads. But if it is windy, I will usually take a route that starts out against the wind, so that hopefully I get a tail wind towards the end of the ride.

 

[ianrauk]

Less traffic.
I have to deal with traffic every day on my cycle commute so it makes a nice change. Wind is rarely as bad as they weather people make it out to be.

 

[Arrowfoot]

I do relish my rides. I have no issues with traffic or even rain. Not strong winds. One good thing about London is that it is in a valley so hardly any winds. Roads are gritted by 5am in winter. Unlike a motorway, London traffic is heavy but slow.

 

[ebikeerwidnes]

There are some roads I tend to avoid due to high speed traffic and no cycle path - but some I will take anyway but with hi-vis and lights even in daylight
There were some busy roads that I used during lockdown 1 with no problem but now we are back to normal traffic I wouldn't use them

HOWEVER - there are very few of these and generally I ride where I want to - if there are highish winds I will often check the direction and ride into the wind to start - then I have an easy ride home
This applies especially in winter as the wind is colder and there may be rain
so - headwinds generally matter more

 

[Ming the Merciless]

Was out this morning. No idea what the wind speed was. Mostly it’s just nice going for a ride without overthinking the weather.