Commuting - Forecast

I got up this morning, and the first thing I did was turn on the local news channel to check out the days weather forecast. I took yesterday off, so it really didn't matter what the weather was, as long as there were no tornados in the area, I was riding! The weather was 67 degrees with 15 to 30 mile an hour winds out of the south. By the time I head for home, it would be 101 degrees, and the wind would then be out of the northwest. This means that I would have a nice ride to work with a pesky cross wind, and a quartering headwind (and heat!) to deal with on the way home.
So, I got ready, jumped onto the Roubaix and headed for work. When I turned east onto the Highway, to my dismay, I found that the wind had apparently missed the forecast, as it was blowing straight into my face! I worked for a couple miles trying to keep up a 15 MPH pace, but I finally gave up, dropped a gear, and found I could easily hold 13.
I rode into the Town where I work, and rode through town to stretch my ride out a little. If I turn around at the first intersection I come to, that makes my 7 mile ride an even 10 miles. As I neared the intersection and continued to battle the breeze, I looked ahead, and could see a hill beckoning me! I will admit with the wind, I did think about turning around, but then I thought "Hey, last time I was on this thing, I rode 70 miles! Am I going to let this little breeze and insignificant hill stop me!?!" So, I kept going! When I reached the top of the hill, (at a rather slow speed that would add nothing to the story, so I will leave it out!) I had to go over the crest a ways before it was safe to turn around, and with the 20 mile an hour tail wind, it was 25 to 30 MPH all the way to work! Turned out to be a great ride after all!!
I just stepped outside, and the forecaster was at least right about the temperature...and time will tell about the wind!

Originally posted by nebill
I took yesterday off, so it really didn't matter what the weather was, as long as there were no tornados in the area, I was riding!

I have given up on weather forecasts. If I based my cycling on when the weather was ok, I would never get out! The forecasters have said rain everyday for the last 3 weeks :( , but I've gotten wet twice. :) :dance:

The deal is, it may rain, SOMETIME that day, or not at all. It may rain while you are at work or overnight.

So my policy is ride unless Armegeddon is coming...
What the heck, ride then too. There MUST be bikes in heaven! :angel:

Tailwinds that allow me to go faster are really cool, I mean, it's unreal.

True words about the tailwinds!
And guess what, the weather guy was wrong again! 91 degrees and almost dead calm wind! Zoomed home at 18 with no problem!
Is life good, or what? Good bike, good roads, good friends...WOW!

And if it rains, what's the worst that can happen(barring lightning of course)?

You'll get wet!

Then I get to learn how to clean up my bike after it gets wet! So far, I have kept them nice and dry, but I know the day is coming!

Especially here in the Midwest (home to several of us forum people!), forecasts are unreliable at best. There are just too many opposing forces meeting up in the sky at unpredictable times.

Remember, too, that maximum temperatures refer to what the Weather Service thermometers register inside their standardized, shaded housings. In the full sunlight, temperatures can easily be ten degrees or more beyond that. One day at the office the weather report said the temperature was something like 95. I took a thermometer out into the open parking lot and it read 115 degrees. That's what your head is experiencing when you cycle, not the 95 degrees!

I am glad to hear that you also have unreliable weather forecasting in your area. I thought it was only us that had incompetant weather people.

It baffles me that with all the radar and three dimensional imagine and satelite imaging that they can be so wrong so often.

If I was as wrong so often at my job, I would be looking for new employment (maybe I would look for a job as a weather forecaster).

It is especially funny when the weather people who are announcing the weather at the news station only 1/4 mile from my house claim that the "conditions now are cloudy with a chance of rain later tonight. Humidity at 70%". Meanwhile in the real world outside their window, rain is pouring like beer at happy hour.

I just got my new rain cape in the mail from campmor and now i expect it won't rain for a good three weeks! Wait a minute that's not a bad thing.:D

Andre

Andre, with Murphys Law and the National Weather Service, I imagine that you will get up one day to the promise of perfect weather, and leave the rain cape at home....and that will be the day you need it! As I always say, there are just two kinds of weathermen...lucky and wrong!

The weathermen here just include every combination of weather possible just so they can say they were partly right.

Andre

There's a joke about two campers going to sleep in the woods. One starts putting on his jogging shoes.

"Why are you putting your shoes on?" asks the other camper.

"Bears."

"You can't outrun a bear!"

"I don't have to outrun the bear, just you."

Weather forcasters don't have to be accurate, just more accurate than each other.

The only way to get a sound weather report is to walk outside. I have gotten to wher I can walk outside in the morning and tell by the way it feels outside if it is going to rain, be hot,windy, or cold.

Originally posted by mike
... rain is pouring like beer at happy hour.

Now that's an image! :beer:

Does this mean cyclists are weather channel addicts or what? :D

I don't worry about what the weather forecast says anyway. During summer it's going to be stinkin' hot here no matter whether it's raining or not, and I think that is about the most unpleasant weather you can get. So I don't bother to check the weather forecast anymore.

I have also banned myself from forecasting the weather ever again after a particularly pathetic miscalculation on a tour a couple of years ago in the vicinity of Stanthorpe. Maybe I'll go back for my rainjacket one day!

Chris

Yeah, Chris, I don't think I would ever try to forecast the weather...that would just open the door for the weather guys to criticise me!

The thing that I really look for is the live action radar images....if there are storms in the area, it gives me an idea if i can make it to work between storms or not!

Hmmm, you want to tell us all the story about the left-behing-rainjacket??:D

I, too, use the radar images. Many a time, I've read the forecast, then looked at the latest images, sometimes at a "loop" if that seems indicated, and make my own forecast. I've been more accurate than the officials a number of times! I can often predict when the rain or snow will reach my area, within an hour or so, by looking at the Wichita radar. Or tell (from looking at the animated loop) sometimes if it's likely to miss me.

The nice thing about bicycling home in the rain is that you can't tell whether you ever got sweaty...

Meanwhile, I'm looking at a 101 degree heat index and only a 20% chance of precip for my commute... only an hour or so away.