A Windy MS 150??

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bluebottle1

Yes, but look at it this way, the winds look to be pretty light, and the last part of day one into LaGrange actually heads south, so you're likely to have a bit of tailwind right when you could use it the most. Otherwise, the forecasts I've heard thus far say we'll have primarily a crosswind of no more than about 6 mph. No big deal.

heavydutytrek

Ok, good. That makes me feel a little bit better. I mean, I can handle some wind. But I dont want to to do 100 miles on day one into a 16 MPH headwind.

bluebottle1

Actually, I just checked Weather Underground, and it seems it'll be a bit stronger than that--11 to 12 mph--but not as bad as in the teens. It looks like pure crosswind on day one, and a lighter wind (the aforementioned 6 mph) on day two. Just get a good start and don't screw around at the early rest stops. The winds always pick up later in the day, so get as many miles under your belt early as you can. Also, other than the wind, conditions look ideal.

yeamac

Yeah, looks like more of a crosswind for both days with the wind coming out of the north. From the Tully or Rhodes starts, some of the stretches at the start will be straight north, right into the wind. But what bluebottle says is true about the finish -- I remember last year turning south into a headwind and that really took it out of me. To have a crosswind all day and then end with a tailwind will be very refreshing. I'd rather have any headwind at the start.

Going to Weather.com's hour-by-hour forecast, it is showing that we'll have 12MPH north winds at 7AM Saturday. That's pretty windy for that early in the AM. Those are typically sustained speeds with gusts being higher. But, I watch the weather every week for rides, and even 2 days out like this the wind forecast often changes, so don't be surprised to see different speed numbers by tomorrow night or even to have the winds shift slightly one direction or anotehr (more out of the east would be REAL nice).

mrstupor

Accuweather is predicting a 17 mph wind from the N/NW on Saturday. That would be ugly.

txags92

Don't forget your cool weather gear...they are predicting 42 overnight in LaGrange Saturday night. Gonna be a chilly start Sunday morning.

Tyrell

The weather temps are looking perfect for the ride and overnight in La Grange. Haven't looked too much at the wind yet, though from what I'm reading on y'alls investigations, it doesn't look too bad. Looking forward to this weekend!

Mash Master

Woohoo, I'm pre-loading up on Vitamin-I (Ibupropen) now then :-)

yeamac

The weather temps are looking perfect for the ride and overnight in La Grange.

Yeah, if you're a POLAR BEAR! :D (or, the dude wearing that chicken costume.)

First couple hours of the ride Saturday is predicted to be in the upper 50's. Sunday morning in LaGrange looks to be starting about 10 degrees cooler. And don't forget that 12MPH North wind which will make the "feels like" temp a little colder.

I'm a wuss when it comes to riding in cool weather.

Tyrell

I love the cooler weather for riding. I normally bike commute to work ~3 days per week (give or take) and I love it when it's ~35F for the morning ride. Sure I've got a little chill for the first 5-8 minutes but after that, it feels great!!

Bluechip

Don't worry about the wind too much. 15000 riders all going in the same direction can change the wind patterns all by themselves. :D

Good luck to everyone doing the ride. Be safe.

bluebottle1

It's mostly gonna be crosswinds anyway, not in your face. That said, stay off the aerobars in your pace lines, guys. I just know I'm gonna be *****ing at people about that all weekend!

saintsfan342000

The wind is not my biggest concern. I woke up Thursday morning with a sore throat and runny nose, and it hasn't gone away. Looks like I've got 182 miles and a nagging cold to deal with.

bluebottle1

The wind is not my biggest concern. I woke up Thursday morning with a sore throat and runny nose, and it hasn't gone away. Looks like I've got 182 miles and a nagging cold to deal with.

Just always remember to look behind you before you launch a snot rocket. It's the polite thing to do.

mrstupor

Well, it WAS pretty windy, fortunately most of it was a strong crosswind, but it made the last half of the ride tougher with the hills on Saturday. But that wind was nice coming into La Grange for those last 3-4 miles!

Mash Master

Man the wind was just crushing me these last two day. I was surprised the see how many people had trouble with hills on both days. Just the sheer amount of people was amazing. I'll have a full report later with pictures. All in all, I'm glad I did it.

chinotex

That was frickin' awesome. The wind was the price for what was otherwise beautiful weather. I can't wait until next year!

dr. nate

It was better, the park was awesome. glad that I ended up on that route. It felt good to finish with all of those people cheering on both days.

-Nate

Tyrell

Had a great time on my first MS150. Overheard some guys talking on Saturday night about whether this was the hardest since '96 or since '86. I didn't think it was that bad. The wind was pretty tough at times but overall not too bad. Pretty chilly start to Saturday but the weather warmed up nicely and we were fortunate with excellent weather both days. The park was definitely a blast! Some of the hills in there were pretty testing but well worth it. Having all the support at the finish and breakpoints both days was a big boost. Hope everyone had a fun and safe time. I heard that 3 had to go to the hospital.

Bikedued

I had a young woman crash about 20 yards in front of me Saturday. Wasn't a difficult area or fast downhill either. Pilot error possibly? She was conscious when I rode by and at least 6 people had already stopped.

The wind was horrible, lol. It was my first MS150, and I finished. Not bad for a 40 year old whose longest ride before this was the Space Race last weekend(60 mile). I only walked a few hills, and mostly the last 30 yards of the top. Riding into Austin was awesome. The people yelling and clapping, etc. I totally surprised even myself. I had no idea my legs could stand up to that kind of punishment, hehe.:D,,,,BD

Anyone else LOVE that serious downhill? Felt like flying! I was on the brakes for most of it, and still hit 36mph. My eyes were watering so bad I could barely see:eek:.

Tyrell

The downhills are the reason we do the uphills, right? ;) My max speed for the weekend was 40.6 which was plenty fast enough for me in the park!

Bikedued

It seemed like the downhills were nearly non existent, or at least rare, lol. Every time you'd top a big one, there was a higher one beyond.:eek:,,,,BD

I still feel pretty good, considering.....

mrstupor

This was my first MS150, and I didn't really ever feel that much pain (not near as much as I have on a few training rides). The hardest part was Saturday from Bellville to La Grange. The winds were tough and there seemed to be no pace lines anywhere to join. I pulled my friend pretty much the last 25 miles until we got a pace line for the last 3-4 miles downhill/downwind to La Grange.

Sunday was a different story. We were pretty much in pace lines all day except through the Park. We got to Austin around 11:45am, so I think we beat the worst of the wind as it seemed to pick up later in the day. The Park route was great, I recommend that everyone take that route at least once. It gets a little scary on the downhills with the turns, and there is one long climb with a steep incline at the top where it really hurts, but it well worth it.

yeamac

Wind? What wind? :D

Wait until you do this ride with a SE tailwind, like most of the time this ride has. When you get one of those, you'll feel like a bicycle god on steroids.

That downhill before the parks is just awesome. I got up to 43.8 MPH.

Overall an excellent ride and the organizers do a fantastic job. The HP timing chip was cool. I like knowing when I crossed the finish both days.

Mash Master

My chip beeped but nobody that signed up got the mail :-( bummer

Finished at 11:45.... you are a hammer! good job.

I loved the hills, both up and down(Although some of the others decending were pretty scary), but then again I've done 90% of my riding in the Seattle area where there are some really killer hills. You should try the MS150 in Washington state. Beatiful ride and hilly.

chevy42083

Dunno if it beeped or not, by friend's chip never send a message. Sounds like a good idea though.

yeamac

I thought I heard beeping at one of the crossings -- the others were too noisy with music/wind for me to notice. I made sure to have my chip foot (right foot) in the down position closest to the mat when I crossed it.

My times all showed up on the RiderConnect website. I had signed up to have them emailed to myself. My wife's cellphone never received the text messages like it was suppose to. Not sure if it was ever confirmed to receive them, but on the website she was on my list as one who was going to receive messages.