When is a wind too much wind?

[Deleted member 1258]

I don't like strong gusts, or a side wind that moves the bike around underneath you.

 

[Reynard]

If you didn't go out in the wind, you'd never get out here either... The joys of fen cycling - the wind blows straight through and there's nothing much to stop it. Though I do try and go out into a headwind and come back with a tailwind, but it's not always possible. Guess wind is the equivalent of hills here LOL

 

[Ice2911]

If you didn't go out in the wind, you'd never get out here either... The joys of fen cycling - the wind blows straight through and there's nothing much to stop it. Though I do try and go out into a headwind and come back with a tailwind, but it's not always possible. Guess wind is the equivalent of hills here LOL

I'll second that one, always seems to be a headwind!

 

[slowmotion]

I really dislike headwinds. The first time I went up the LF1 from The Hook to Zandvoort, it was right on my nose, like cycling through Golden Syrup on a cold day. I mentioned the wind to a Dutchman at a café stop. "This is your destiny. Turn round and there will still be a headwind." I turned right at Zandvoort, and the wind was on my left shoulder for the rest of the way to Amsterdam. Luxury.

 

[pawl]

.

At least we got one reply in before the farting comments started.

Well done to @Drago for resisting the temptation.

Can't resist the temptation.I believe you can now get tablets for this problem called Wind Ease

Don't eat baked beans or mushy peas befor your ride

 

[jonny jeez]

If the weather report suggests anything over 15mph, I ask myself why I am going out to battle it. On a commute there is less of a problem/choice.

On a tour....I don't look, I can't change the ride itinerary or skip a day. Sometimes...rarely, I have enjoyed the madness of riding into a strong head, with plenty of stops to keep the spirits up. In strong winds I think the key is to abandon plans of maintaining normal speeds and just make the most of it.

 

[bikingdad90]

As part of my daily commute I follow the river along for about 5 miles each way. Without fail it is either a headwind or a sidewind on way in and then it swaps on way home to a headwind and other side wind. It's brutal when the wind gets into double figures.

When the wind gets above 20mph I just spin there, no point fighting it.

 

[Tenacious Sloth]

Anything under 50mph and I'll cycle to work. Once it gets over that it can be dangerous passing gaps in the hedgerow etc.

I'm quite heavy at over 14 stone though, so it takes quite a gust to move me and the bike across the road.

I often find the wind annoying on a commute, as living to the SW of where I work the wind is always lighter when it's behind me in the morning at 6am but has often worked up to a full-blown hooley in my face on the way home.

If I'm going out on a loop then the wind never bothers me as I know it will be be in my favour as much as it's against me.

I'm assuming that the wind must have swung in the ride mentioned in the OP, as 30 miles of headwind in a 50 mile ride is very rare?

Graham

 

[Fenrider]

Ah, at last a question where I can speak with some authority! Here, on the exposed Lincolnshire fens, wind has a greater effect on cycling than in other more sheltered places like towns or leafy-laned rolling countryside.
In answer to the OP's original question 'when does a headwind get a bit too much?' I'd say, for me, it's once the speed gets to about 25 mph. On the Beaufort scale that's just getting to 'Strong Breeze - large tree branches in motion, whistling heard in overhead wires, umbrella use becomes difficult, empty plastic bins tip over'.
At this point I'm focusing so much on the effects of the wind that the usual pleasures of the ride become secondary.
I'm fortunate enough to have the luxury of being able to choose when, and in which direction I ride. So a typical fen ride for me involves a circular route, going into the wind for as long as I feel like it, and then turning round and letting the wind blow me back again.
The only limiting factor is when the wind is from the north-east, because before too long I'd be in the North Sea.

 

[Tin Pot]

Today's ride made me wonder at what point does a head wind become a bit too much.

I did a 50 mile circuit, about 30 miles of which was into a head wind.

Hard work, even with the ebike, although I use it on low power to get a bit more exercise.

I was riding with a strongish roadie, and the pair of us were well cream crackered at the end of the route which usually leaves us no more than pleasantly tired.

According to the BBC website, the wind was up to 16mph.

I reckon anything under 10mph isn't too sore, but get into double figures and things start to get ugly.

What do you think is a bearable wind speed?

15-16mph I'd be considering the road bike with 35s over the tri bike with 80s.

Then up until there are weather warning for strong gusts - those are the life threatening ones.

 

[Crackle]

I find I don't know the answer to this. I've ridden in some pretty strong winds and it depends. On exposed coastal routes with no shelter a wind can grind you into a gibbering wreck inside 30 minutes but the same wind would merely be inconvenient inland where building and hedges break it up. Likewise a cold winter Easterly, even a gentle one can make you so cold that you'll struggle to get your heart rate up and the ride always feel taxing when that happens.

I did a coastal 20mph headwind a while ago which was staggeringly hard and cold. I could see my HR was way down for me and even when I turned out of it for the final 20 mins, I still couldn't raise my HR until the end of the ride when I began feeling human again.

Conversely I've ridden in +40mph winds on my commute, where the biggest danger is sidegusts from streets and passing lorries but there's enough shelter from the cityscape to break the wind up.

 

[CanucksTraveller]

If the weather report suggests anything over 15mph, I ask myself why I am going out to battle it.

I'm the same, a leisure ride kind of loses its appeal at that point.

 

[cyberknight]

Depends how I feel on that specific day.

I've found 40mph winds easy going yet struggled with 10mph if I've been tired or carrying a virus.

tell the virus to ride their own bike

 

[tyred]

When I look out the window and see trees bent over and stray slates and garden furniture flying through the air I choose not to take the bike out.

 

[Milzy]

Our mob says over 18 is too much.