Wind Direction explained(ish)

[Salty seadog]

If you study that closely you will see that there is no such compass direction as "North by North-West". Which may puzzle Alfred Hitchcock fans.

The film title comes from the fact that Cary Grant's character took a flight going North, on Northwest Airlines. Hence "North by Northwest".

Au contraire Mr Trousers. North by North West is compass point number 30 of 32 when looked at like a clock.

 

[Dogtrousers]

Au contraire Mr Trousers. North by North West is compass point number 30 of 32 when looked at like a clock.

That's North West by North. Which isn't an Alfred Hitchcock film.

I think the title was chosen with "nothing is quite as it seems" in mind. I've read that Cary Grant thought the script was rubbish as he didn't have a clue what was meant to be going on. This was by design, as Hitchcock wanted him to play the part confused.

I've also read that an alternative working title was "The Man in Lincoln's Nose".

 

[Toshiba Boy]

As my old Dad used to say before any training ride, check the wind, go out into it, and hopefully it won't change before you head for home.

I remember riding with a mate in 1985 from, then home, in Coventry to Lands End and back for charity, and the return leg was markedly easier (and much quicker), despite no major winds either way, just the culmination of a light to steady prevailing SW.

 

[rogerzilla]

There is no such thing as a tailwind.

Either there's a headwind, or you're going well.

 

[al78]

My normal rules is to pick a route based on having a headwind on the way out to avoid having it on the way home

As an extra I got into an argument a while ago on some forum or other, when I said that the prevailing wind direction is from the NW
This was based on spend my whole life living near the sea either on Merseyside or in North Wales
And spending many years sailing racing dinghies on the Wirral coast. The wind was nearly always coming from the NW

But apparently the official prevailing wind for the UK is from the SW - just not round here!

The wind can vary a lot due to local topography, coastline and land use. The Wirral is like a wide peninsula between two big river estuaries, so it wouldn't surprise me if summer heating on the peninsula generated an enhanced sea breeze from the Irish Sea and estuaries.

 

[mjr]

As my old Dad used to say before any training ride, check the wind, go out into it, and hopefully it won't change before you head for home.

Doing that maximises your chance of getting a headwind both ways. Why did your Dad want you to suffer when he told you that? Had you scratched his bike while getting yours out?

 

[yello]

I've ridden a couple of audaxes on the Fens. Valuable lessons for learning about head wind (there is seemingly no other kind out there) and.... saddles.

If I miss it (and I don't) there is somewhere local to me where I can ride just to relive the experience. Coincidentally, it's got a not dissimilar name.

 

[DaveReading]

Doing that maximises your chance of getting a headwind both ways.

Mathematically true. Fortunately, most of us know enough maths to ignore such advice.