dkyser

I used to only want to ride on calm days but that really limits your riding here in northwest Pa. I now just figure it will take me longer and still give me a good workout.

Us clydes create a larger target in the wind, when do you say its to windy to ride?

GlennR

I just did 25 miles with a NW wind at 15mph and gusts of 25mph.

I'm tired but it was a good workout.

Troggie

It is never too windy.. sure it may take longer but here in the desert the wind right now normally helps cool me off after a long ride.

Dave Cutter

I don't mind fighting the wind so much.... as being in a debris field of dust, and branches. I was once hit by an out of control bird... and most recently got a hit with a stick or "something" right in the lip. And of course.. the cold. The Midwest off season/cold weather is also when we get the worst of the wind. I still ride... but I shorten both time and distance.

Johnny Mullet

I hate fighting headwinds, but I do get a workout! I commute from NE Ohio into NW Pennsylvania and in the mornings there is usually no wind while I head east, but on the way home I usally fight a headwind.

dr_lha

For every headwind, there's an upcoming tailwind.

WebFootFreak

This. I'm in AR just across the river from Memphis. When I head out, there's mostly farmland ergo straight-line winds from hell. I've been out in 30+mph gusts before. As much as it sucks having that as a headwind, it's even worse coming from the side. It may not be slowing you down quite as much, but it's dang sure trying to put you in the ditch

Bill Kapaun

Having emphysema, it doesn't take much to beat me down on my hybrid. I might ride 2 miles to the coffee shop in a 15MPH wind, but that's about it. I've been in situations where I'm on my 22T ring (12-23 in back) in front on level ground because of wind. Just not fun. At least I have closely spaced gears so I can dial in something that works best for the situation.
BTW, I have a 22-32-36 on front that I call headwind, calm & tailwind.

Willbird

I can do steady 15 with gusts to 22....but if it says steady 22-25 I do not head out, the cross wind is a factor too even with the stick wheels on my Fuji 1.5....if your wind exposure is intermittent, say some hills or bluffs along the road, or crops when the corn is up that sudden cross wind exposure can make things a bit exiting :-).

intransit1217

I think I would personally stay in at 15. Pushing thirteen into a 15 =28mph. I cannot sustain that for long. I went out last week and took an absolute batteriing for 28 miles. I. was. toast. And your calorie burn goes up significantly too. Don't forget that!

intransit1217

I hope wind actually makes us stronger. Cuz, damn.

JerrySTL

Around here it's pretty flat and windy at times. Lots of farm land so not many trees. I once was in a head wind so bad that I had to drop down into my triple's granny gear.
Riders around here look forward to the corn growing in July to get some protection from the wind.

I have 4 strategies for riding when it's windy.

1. Ride into the wind until suitably tired then turn around and let Mother Nature help on the way back.

2. Drive a few miles to a rail-to-trails which has a lot of trees and hills. It helps avoid the wind.

3. Ride with the wind to my back then have someone drive me home. I've only used this a few times such as crossing Illinois with a 20 mph tail wind. I guess you could count RAGBRAI and a few other tours.

4. Just ride and chalk it up to building strength and character.

Willbird

One thing about that Corn though, it can TURN a quartering wind along the crop and make it a headwind, when it does that I give Corn a new first name that starts with F :-).

It is all fun though :-).

Bill

Yendor72

I will ride it as long as my body holds out, which wasn't the case yesterday. Headwinds caused power application which in turn hurt my foot which caused me to favor that foot which hurt my knee, so I had to turn back. Very angry and upset, only 11.8 of the 50+ miles I wanted to do.

intransit1217

JerrySTL makes a point. If you can find a rout that is mostly shielded by, well, anything, it helps GOBS.

bransom

I live on the other side of St. Louis, the hilly side near the Missouri River. Over here, the hills occasionally help block the wind but more often seem to cause the winds to swirl and change direction. There are days when the winds seem to come from almost every direction. Headwinds are annoying and tiring but make for a good workout. When the crosswind gusts get too strong, though, I go (or stay) home. I really have no desire to get blown into traffic.

MikeRides

Never! It's the cold rain/snow that keeps me off my bike, wind just makes me work harder to get where I'm going. That said I was out on my usual 25 mile loop yesterday with gusts up to 30 mph. This is the first year since I've been riding constantly that I've noticed the wind direction following me as I change directions, I used to be able to plan a ride that would give me headwind on half the ride and tailwind on the second half. It was difficult but not an impossible task, just took me about 20 min longer than usual to complete.

SlowAndSlower

Come on now! I live here in the desert too and will not ride when the wind kicks the dust up. Something called valley fever out there. Then there was the time the wind blew me off the road in Kansas. I never use never.

Ayers

Riding into the wind = greater calorie burn. Which makes me happy. I wouldn't want to do it on every ride, but it does give a feeling of satisfaction afterwards that you toughed it out and overcame the difficulty.

nkfrench 

It's not fun about 18mph and I won't ride over 25mph. My threshold used to be 30mph but I don't like the gusts grabbing at my wheels and I've wimpified over the years.
There are some nice downhills that I avoid in strong and/or gusty winds. The road curves so it always involves a crosswind at some point. I'm afraid of having my wheel grabbed when I'm riding faster than 30mph.

It is unusual to have winds under 10mph here. 13mph is the usual.

Many of my rides include a long section of bike trail atop a levee. The "levee effect" (Bernoulli effect?) of the winds funneling into the river channel makes the winds stronger and a little crazy. My usual route there has a slight uphill with prevailing headwinds. Definitely a good workout for about 20 minutes at time trial effort.

kc0bbq

I hate the wind, but I don't let it stop me. (I'll feel less bad about it when my power meter gets in...) I've been out a few times this year with gusts of 40 or 45mph, and in certain areas gusts get to be continuous. Makes a "short" ride awfully long when you have to work to descend at 10-12mph that you can normally coast at 30.

All that work into the wind makes you stronger, just like hills.

dagray

well here in Boardman, OR it can be regular days of 30+mph winds usually heading from the west to the east and gusts to 50mph. For that reason, and the fact that in winter it is too dark to ride after work, and we have ice in the winter I purchased a BKool Pro trainer/simulator.

Well worth the investment as I have put around 350 of my 600 miles since September 2014 on this trainer.

Dave

Willbird

I love sailing back home at 30+ though :-). A HRM helps some pacing into a headwind.

Troggie

Luckily I have not had Valley Fever.. though my wife worries about it. There is a lot of dust control in the area I live currently due to all the construction so don't have to worry as much about it.

msr13

It's the crosswinds that can be scary if you get hit by one of the unexpectedly. Wasn't paying attention last week and got blown right off the road . My daughter couldn't stop laughing. At least I managed to avoid the more embarrassing fall.