Fifty Plus (50+) - Winds - bah!!

Our temps have been wonderful. But when the winds just blow you around, it really isn't as much fun, and we have been having high winds for several weeks.

And this is Denver, in March - our supposedly snowiest month.

Yes, I ride in it, but, WOW! it sure does blast you.

From today's forecast:


Fire Weather Watch
Hazardous Weather Outlook
Red Flag Warning
Short Term Forecast

Today: Mostly sunny, with a high near 75. Breezy, with a west southwest wind between 22 and 24 mph, with gusts as high as 33 mph.

Tonight: Mostly cloudy, with a low around 42. Breezy, with a west southwest wind between 18 and 23 mph, with gusts as high as 28 mph.

Thursday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 66. Breezy, with a west southwest wind between 21 and 29 mph, with gusts as high as 39 mph.

Thursday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 31. North wind between 7 and 17 mph, with gusts as high as 20 mph.

Friday: Partly sunny, with a high near 62. East southeast wind 7 to 16 mph becoming west. Winds could gust as high as 21 mph.

I'm trying to empathise DnvrFox, but it just ain't happenin'. We've had a very blowy season here-abouts also. The winds have been wailing through here for the last three or four days with temps threatening to rise above the teens. I'm cold, the wife is cold, even the cat is cold. We took a ride in the little pick-up truck yesterday just to savor the heater...oooooo it felt so nice to be warm. :)

The temp is supposed to be approaching 50F on Friday (of course I'll be at work all day and I'll miss it), but this is the frozen NorthEast so it won't last. We still have five to six more weeks of cold and snow before our cold rainy Spring starts. Shiver shiver shiver.

On a positive note, the sun is shining. Another thing, I won't be taking Shorty out in this frigid weather so I guess I'll not be breaking any bones soon! :eek:

Wind is a problem even when on the trainer...................especially when on the trainer.

"Firefighters hope to get on top of fires burning more than 6,500 acres in El Paso and Teller counties [Colorado] today, but they won't be helped by Mother Nature.

Temperatures are expected to again reach near-record levels in the 70s today and it will be windy with low humidity. Those are the worst conditions for trying to control wildfires.

A 6,500-acre blaze that started on Fort Carson and raced eastward is still mostly uncontained, and a 42-acre blaze at the National Fossil Beds near Florissant in Teller County also poses some danger, considering the weather forecast. That fire, however, was 50-percent contained this morning, a Teller County dispatcher said."

I think I would rather have snow!

I was fighting the usual head-wind on my after work ride on the local MUP yesterday evening, trying to think "Positive" about what a great training effect the head-wind was providing, really working to get 15 mph . . . when some guy passed me (felt like a 5 mph difference in speed) going into the same wind, except he had aero bars, i.e. the "clip-on" type like triathletes use.

So okay, he was younger and no doubt stronger than me, but I'm thinking about trying aero-bars for future head-wind training. Anyone else here use aero-bars specifically to combat head-winds?

Rick / OCRR

I rode today with a 15 mph wind, and to make matters worst it was only 29 degrees out. Little chilly.

Put the bike rack on the car and have your wife drop you off, say 40 miles, to the WSW. Ride home with the tailwind. Come to think of it, that'd be in the mountains, right? (Or pretty near.) Descent with a tailwind. Sounds like fun!

Meanwhile, I can confirm Cranky's comments about the winds here this winter. I'm resigned myself to the extra training. Especially since my winter gut gets in the way of breathing while using the drops. Boy, now that's a workout.

I was fighting the usual head-wind on my after work ride on the local MUP yesterday evening, trying to think "Positive" about what a great training effect the head-wind was providing, really working to get 15 mph . . . when some guy passed me (felt like a 5 mph difference in speed) going into the same wind, except he had aero bars, i.e. the "clip-on" type like triathletes use.

So okay, he was younger and no doubt stronger than me, but I'm thinking about trying aero-bars for future head-wind training. Anyone else here use aero-bars specifically to combat head-winds?

Rick / OCRR

I have tried off and on for about a year and a half to get used to aerobars. I've probably got 4/500 miles on them and I have never become comfortable.........I am an aerobar failure. Their off the bike for good, the bike has been reconfigured as a road bike and I am happier.

Congrats to Hermes and Velodiva and all who can master these beasts but something has forever made me feel like I'm going to wobble right into the path of an 18 wheeler. I could never get a smooth enough pedal stroke to allow me to use any more than casual power. More power, more wobble.

I have to admit that I cannot remaster the childhood thrill of riding without hands anymore either so perhaps there is something wrong with my balance (insert your age and hearing damage here)(1 funny car=139db at 50 ft from centerline and I was the centerline)

I guess it was never ment to be. It has become a fun road bike though.

Very windy here since November... about three non-wind rides since then I think. I just drop down a couple gears and spin along at 9-10 mph when it is blustery, trying not to get bored. Maybe push up to 12mph for a time and then slow to recover... it isn't too bad. Then coming home I am an awesome pro biking machine! :) There is also a big park off our main MUP that you can ride into and do a big four mile loop to get some shelter from a big wind.

The drop off for a 100% downwind ride is big fun IMO. Not to be done too often, but it is refreshing. I have a friend who talks about doing a downwind century. We seem to be all in this wind thing together.

High wind warning out for most of Utah today, meaning gusts over 45 mph. Makes riding difficult.

I got lucky and got in a ride yesterday, had to go to the LBS to have a extra spacer in the headset installed, got rid of pain in my neck:thumb: The day started of with a very FLAT tire, even with having slime installed I have never gotten a NEW bike and NOT had a flat within a weeks time:rolleyes: The ride was good and the wind stayed reasonable till after I got home. Today would have been really tough, the wind is gusting up to 40 mph and it's changing directions at will!:eek: As Denver Fox has shown we've got BIG grassland fires and it's killing my allergies so riding is gona be tough for the rest of the week. Still it's NICE to see sunshine, we've had a lot of gray, high clouds hiding the sun lately, I'm not good at gray days, seems to mess up my bio-rythems or something;) Beleive it or not, MARCH is our snowiest month of winter here in Southern, CO. so the fires are a real danger unless we get some snow or rain soon!

It's only a problem when winds are above 25 or 30 mph. think of these days as form days, you get to practice the best aero position for you. More than 30, don't ride.