Riding in windy conditions

[JDMFanYo]

I was out last night for an hour and saw my avg speed drop from 15.2mph to a mere 13mph.

It was a cross wind the majority of the way (which was pretty damn strong) so the bike was at a constant lean to counteract this, it therefore felt pretty risky being in dropped position as I felt I needed more control so probably explains why I had lost some speed.

Any tips? Become a fat bd and buy a mountain bike? Become a fair weather rider?

Edited by JDMFanYo on Wednesday 31st March 12:29

[Abe Froman]

Yes make sure you don't have deep rims on

also make sure the first half of the ride is into the wind in order to help you home.

Other than that it just sucks a bit, I found the whole of last summer blowy so in the end just put up with it, although didn't enjoy it. I'd rather ride in the rain than the wind.

[groomi]

Choose routes with tall hedgerows to provide shelter and if you're riding with a mate and the roads are wide enough, ride side by side and swap sides every now and again so you each get the benefit of shelter from the other.

Oh and ride a TT bike with tribars and deep rims to find out how bad it can be!

[Nick_F]

Hills all have tops but the wind can be soul-destroying.

Change gear, grit your teeth and make the most of the er, training value. Oh, and as per the above, if you're riding out-and-back try to arrange to have the wind behind you on the way home.

[Gooby]

JDMFanYo said:

Any tips? Become a fat bd and buy a mountain bike? Become a fair weather rider?

Ride like a mountain biker - push harder and grit your teeth.
Perhaps you could put on more lycra to cut your wind resistence.

[Nick_F]

Gooby said:

JDMFanYo said:

Any tips? Become a fat bd and buy a mountain bike? Become a fair weather rider?

Ride like a mountain biker - aim downhill and shout 'wheee!'.
Perhaps you could put on more lycra to cut your wind resistence.

Fixed that for you.

[Gooby]

Nick_F said:

Gooby said:

JDMFanYo said:

Any tips? Become a fat bd and buy a mountain bike? Become a fair weather rider?

Ride like a mountain biker - aim downhill and shout 'wheee!'.
Perhaps you could put on more lycra to cut your wind resistence.

Fixed that for you.

perhaps you made a small error, perhaps you should find out the difference between downhilling ( a sport that takes more balls and skill than 99% of roadies) and cross country mountain biking. That involves crossing any types of terrain AND downhill.
Poor roadies, keep up that steady cadence and don't forget to run for cover if it rains or gets a little wet. Don't forget to put you bike in front the telly for 6 months of the year incase you get cold or muddy or there is a risk to your CF lightweight wheels from stones in the road or god forbid a pothole. Please remember if you emigrate to Norfolk you don't need to be afraid of hills are they are all just as wierd.

[slomax]

Gooby said:

Nick_F said:

Gooby said:

JDMFanYo said:

Any tips? Become a fat bd and buy a mountain bike? Become a fair weather rider?

Ride like a mountain biker - aim downhill and shout 'wheee!'.
Perhaps you could put on more lycra to cut your wind resistence.

Fixed that for you.

perhaps you made a small error, perhaps you should find out the difference between downhilling ( a sport that takes more balls and skill than 99% of roadies) and cross country mountain biking. That involves crossing any types of terrain AND downhill.
Poor roadies, keep up that steady cadence and don't forget to run for cover if it rains or gets a little wet. Don't forget to put you bike in front the telly for 6 months of the year incase you get cold or muddy or there is a risk to your CF lightweight wheels from stones in the road or god forbid a pothole. Please remember if you emigrate to Norfolk you don't need to be afraid of hills are they are all just as wierd.

With that little motivational speech i'm off for a quick blast around the local woods.

[Roman]

Gooby said:

Nick_F said:

Gooby said:

JDMFanYo said:

Any tips? Become a fat bd and buy a mountain bike? Become a fair weather rider?

Ride like a mountain biker - aim downhill and shout 'wheee!'.
Perhaps you could put on more lycra to cut your wind resistence.

Fixed that for you.

perhaps you made a small error, perhaps you should find out the difference between downhilling ( a sport that takes more balls and skill than 99% of roadies) and cross country mountain biking. That involves crossing any types of terrain AND downhill.
Poor roadies, keep up that steady cadence and don't forget to run for cover if it rains or gets a little wet. Don't forget to put you bike in front the telly for 6 months of the year incase you get cold or muddy or there is a risk to your CF lightweight wheels from stones in the road or god forbid a pothole. Please remember if you emigrate to Norfolk you don't need to be afraid of hills are they are all just as wierd.

Why don't you enter a 200km Road race or something like the 260km Paris-Roubaix sportive to show the roadies up? With more balls and better skills than 99% of the field I'd have thought you'd do pretty well.

[M400 NBL]

Always cycle in the opposite direction to me on a windy day.

I always get a fking head wind. Even if I go back the way I came, an hour later, the wind has changed fking direction.

Good for the quads though

[Gooby]

Roman said:

Gooby said:

Nick_F said:

Gooby said:

JDMFanYo said:

Any tips? Become a fat bd and buy a mountain bike? Become a fair weather rider?

Ride like a mountain biker - aim downhill and shout 'wheee!'.
Perhaps you could put on more lycra to cut your wind resistence.

Fixed that for you.

perhaps you made a small error, perhaps you should find out the difference between downhilling ( a sport that takes more balls and skill than 99% of roadies) and cross country mountain biking. That involves crossing any types of terrain AND downhill.
Poor roadies, keep up that steady cadence and don't forget to run for cover if it rains or gets a little wet. Don't forget to put you bike in front the telly for 6 months of the year incase you get cold or muddy or there is a risk to your CF lightweight wheels from stones in the road or god forbid a pothole. Please remember if you emigrate to Norfolk you don't need to be afraid of hills are they are all just as wierd.

Why don't you enter a 200km Road race or something like the 260km Paris-Roubaix sportive to show the roadies up? With more balls and better skills than 99% of the field I'd have thought you'd do pretty well.

How about the 100 MILE XC charity South Downs? ( we dont need to quote Km in order to have big numbers to massage our ego) All hills and unlike most of the roadies around here it isnt canceled due to rain or wind (or what is commonly known in this country as "weather".

If the "weather" gets real bad, remember you could build a nice wooden banked track with AC so your lycra will dry quickly and there will be no chance of getting uncomfortable in any way! I am sure they could put in some boothes for a nice manicure after your "ride". When you really need some motivation and training, you could buy a video of your favourite race, put your bike on rollers and every so often you can have subtitles from your Granny telling you to hurry up. Put your bike in front the telly, turn up the heating (dont want to be uncomfortable) and dont forget the little hammock to catch any sweat that could wonder from your brow. At least then you are close to the shower and your moisturiser and dove soap. You can even time your riding around Eastenders and X-factor.

I am joking and pointing fun at Roadies, aneorexic, carb counting, computer obsessed, cadence monitoring, lycra freaks

Edited by Gooby on Wednesday 31st March 16:48

Edited by Gooby on Wednesday 31st March 16:50

[Nick_F]

How about a PH team entry in a South Downs event? I've been looking for an excuse to ride that.

Mind you, all my bikes are nice and clean now, so maybe that's not such a hot idea...

[Gooby]

Nick_F said:

How about a PH team entry in a South Downs event? I've been looking for an excuse to ride that.

Mind you, all my bikes are nice and clean now, so maybe that's not such a hot idea...

didnt say I wanted to do it! ...

What the hell .... Ok, I can slow anyone down, why do you think I dont ride with the roadies!!

[Nick_F]

Excellent! Dates for the BHF event this year are 26th June and 31st July.

Details here.

[ewenm]

Two tactics for riding in wind - try to plan your route so the second half is a tailwind and MTFU

[Roman]

Gooby said:

Roman said:

Gooby said:

Nick_F said:

Gooby said:

JDMFanYo said:

Any tips? Become a fat bd and buy a mountain bike? Become a fair weather rider?

Ride like a mountain biker - aim downhill and shout 'wheee!'.
Perhaps you could put on more lycra to cut your wind resistence.

Fixed that for you.

perhaps you made a small error, perhaps you should find out the difference between downhilling ( a sport that takes more balls and skill than 99% of roadies) and cross country mountain biking. That involves crossing any types of terrain AND downhill.
Poor roadies, keep up that steady cadence and don't forget to run for cover if it rains or gets a little wet. Don't forget to put you bike in front the telly for 6 months of the year incase you get cold or muddy or there is a risk to your CF lightweight wheels from stones in the road or god forbid a pothole. Please remember if you emigrate to Norfolk you don't need to be afraid of hills are they are all just as wierd.

Why don't you enter a 200km Road race or something like the 260km Paris-Roubaix sportive to show the roadies up? With more balls and better skills than 99% of the field I'd have thought you'd do pretty well.

How about the 100 MILE XC charity South Downs? ( we dont need to quote Km in order to have big numbers to massage our ego) All hills and unlike most of the roadies around here it isnt canceled due to rain or wind (or what is commonly known in this country as "weather".

If the "weather" gets real bad, remember you could build a nice wooden banked track with AC so your lycra will dry quickly and there will be no chance of getting uncomfortable in any way! I am sure they could put in some boothes for a nice manicure after your "ride". When you really need some motivation and training, you could buy a video of your favourite race, put your bike on rollers and every so often you can have subtitles from your Granny telling you to hurry up. Put your bike in front the telly, turn up the heating (dont want to be uncomfortable) and dont forget the little hammock to catch any sweat that could wonder from your brow. At least then you are close to the shower and your moisturiser and dove soap. You can even time your riding around Eastenders and X-factor.

I am joking and pointing fun at Roadies, aneorexic, carb counting, computer obsessed, cadence monitoring, lycra freaks

Edited by Gooby on Wednesday 31st March 16:48

Edited by Gooby on Wednesday 31st March 16:50

It sounds like you've got a chip on your shoulder from being smoked on the trails by mtb riding roadies to me

Still, are they any worse than some of the weekend warriors kitted out like Steve Peat for a 30min loop at a trail centre before retiring to the cafe for a chocca mocca-chino and a slice of cake to discuss their 'rebound' settings?

What's this about cancelling road events due to wind or rain? Not experienced it - is it a Southern thing?

[Roman]

JDMFanYo said:

I was out last night for an hour and saw my avg speed drop from 15.2mph to a mere 13mph.

It was a cross wind the majority of the way (which was pretty damn strong) so the bike was at a constant lean to counteract this, it therefore felt pretty risky being in dropped position as I felt I needed more control so probably explains why I had lost some speed.

Any tips? Become a fat bd and buy a mountain bike? Become a fair weather rider?

Edited by JDMFanYo on Wednesday 31st March 12:29

Tighter fitting clothing (esp. jacket) - doesn't need to be lycra + wrap round shades. On a roadbike, if you feel less confident on the drops, hands on leverhoods & low flat back so your elbows are around 90 degrees. The lower you are the less gusts will effect your steering. Low profile rim on front - less than 20mm deep.

[b2hbm]

Roman said:

Tighter fitting clothing (esp. jacket) - doesn't need to be lycra + wrap round shades. On a roadbike, if you feel less confident on the drops, hands on leverhoods & low flat back so your elbows are around 90 degrees. The lower you are the less gusts will effect your steering. Low profile rim on front - less than 20mm deep.

All good stuff, the only thing I'd add is to watch your cadence. With a side or headwind knocking your speed back you end up concentrating on the speedo dropping and at some point you can end up pushing too high a gear. If I'm stuck in strong winds I drop a gear and invariably I'll gain 1-2mph as the cadence goes back up.

[pdV6]

bh of a headwind on the way to work this morning...

[M400 NBL]

pdV6 said:

bh of a headwind on the way to work this morning...

Me too, but at least now I know i'm not alone.

It always seemed as though everyone was on the opposite side of the road with a tail wind... cycling at speed effortlessly. Even grannies with baskets on the front of their bikes.