*new*guy

this morning i enjoyed a nice tailwind for a good portion of my ride. however, my fun was spoiled at one point as i was spinning along no-handed, doing 25mph or so as if it were nothing, i spit to my right and watch in horror as it left my mouth and accelerated away from me at a greater speed than i was traveling. the commute home is going to be rough.

list some things you've dealt with on the way in that told you the reverse route was going to be one to remember (or forget).

texasphil

everyday winds 15-20mph at my back to work, winds 15-20mph in my face on the way home

that's like a 30-35mph headwind if i'm travelling 15mph going home

Itsjustb

Night rolls in at 2 pm (stormclouds)

dobber

You're late getting out, your rear tires flat and it's starting to snow.

And you forgot your gloves

ATRodger

If there's any wind at all, I know my commute home is going to be tough. No matter if i'm heading in one direction to school, or the other to go to work, theres always wind in my face on the way home.

BCRider

One time I pedaled to work in a huge headwind from an incoming front. Then the weather swapped and reversed and it was just as bad going home. The classic "uphill both ways" into some 20 to 25 mph winds.

Other than that I'm OK with the callenges. But I REALLY hate it when I come down to get the bike and one of the tires is flat. Oh well, at least I'm in a warm storage room to change the tube.

ItsJustMe

My commute is usually upwind both ways. Really. The wind tends to blow from the west here, but in the morning it's either still, blowing from the south, or from the east. Tailwinds are very rare in either direction.

*new*guy

ah yes, the evil morning surprise flat. always happens as you're rolling the bike out and wonder why there seems to be some resistance to forward progress

TRUMPHENT

Nope! That's still only a 15-20 mph headwind.

tbannin

When you get to class and realize that you still haven't gotten around to purchasing fenders or rain gear.....and it just started raining. Am I the only one like that?

noisebeam

Nothing in the morning will tell me how my ride home will be.
Al

knucklesandwich

Were you riding East this morning? I go the other way and it was a struggle. Looking fwd to a tailwind tonight.

*new*guy

hah. yep! typical NW winds. enjoy your ride home. I'm going to try and sneak out a few minutes early so I don't have to kill myself to get to my kid's daycare on time.

unixpro

Last week I rode in and parked my bike just outside my office like I usually do. Nothing special on the ride in, except it felt a little heavy, but I just put that down to being tired. Lunchtime rolls around and I look to see the back tire flat. Rats. Oh, well. I figure I'll just patch it before I go home.

A couple of hours later, I'm sitting in my office working when *BAM* the front tire literally blew up. Nice and loud. Scared the heck out of my co-workers. So, before I could go home I had to use my spare tube on the front tire and use the sink in the kitchen to find the slow leak in the back tire.

Oh, and there was a headwind on the way home.

Artkansas 

It was Friday. I was planning to ride my new Bacchetta Giro 20 in the Big Dam Bridge 100 on Saturday. I was riding to work and it was past rush hour so I got down a hill and through a light and was cruising along at almost top speed when suddenly, a fool going in the opposite direction decided that he had missed the Denny's half a block back and he left hooked me. I jammed on the brakes and when that didn't slow me down fast enough, I dropped my feet to the pavement and managed to stop myself within a foot of his front fender.

You know how shock is. I cussed him and insisted that he turn into the driveway before I went on, because I sure wasn't going to trust him twice. He went through the parking lot to get his Grand Slam breakfast. I rode to work grateful that there hadn't been a grand slam. My feet hurt, but I figured that more pedaling would help the circulation and ease the feet.

-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-

I was all alone at work that day. But as the day wore on, my feet hurt more and more. Late in the afternoon, a coworker from another office needed some equipment sent to him. I hobbled around the office and wrapped it up. The Fedex/Kinkos was on my route home.

By the time I left, it was almost too painful to walk. I managed to get rolling on the Bacchetta. It was rush hour on Friday. I found that I couldn't press the pedals too hard. So I had no power, intense pain and hills to climb. Maneuvering in traffic was nasty especially because I was on the recumbent with no power and the traffic was fast, close by and unforgiving.

When I got to Fedex, I gritted my teeth as I locked the bike and stumbled in and filled out the form. While I waited, I fell down to my knees because standing hurt too much. My feet felt like they were on fire.

After the package was sent, I went back out into traffic and climbed up even more hills and back home. As you can guess, I didn't ride in the Big Dam Bridge 100 the next day. Fortunately, nothing was broken and after a couple of days, my feet were better.

zoltani

It always happens when I wake up too late, knowing i only need 10-15 min to get to work. Then i realize i am late and i have a flat so i got to take the bus.....which in turn makes me even later. Should have just fixed the flat instead of waiting on and riding the bus

coldfeet

Something like your story, you know those big revolving signs some strip malls have? Some of them
are wind driven, apparently they have a limiter device, this particular one didn't have a working
limiter, it was spinning round so fast you couldn't read it and it was threatening to leap free of it's
mooring and thrash its way down the street! Of course, I had some idea already as I was spinning
out in top gear, with a breeze on my back!

SweetLou

For me, it isn't anything on the ride to work, it is the work itself. Sometimes I am too busy to eat lunch. By the time I realize that I haven't eaten, it is usually too late to do any good on the way home. I often don't have enough energy for the ride and the last bit is going to be tough.

nashcommguy

My route is 20 mi sw to nw in, basically downhill...probably about a 50-100 ft change in elevation. Weather patterns are generally sw to nw. So, I know it's trouble for the way home when there's a 'front' moving in...warm or cold it brings a nice brisk head wind. No complaints, though the bikes are runnin' smooth and I'm pullin' hills in higher and higher gears every week. Learning to climb while standing in the 'drops'. Getting the singlespeed together in two weeks and think I'll be able to cut 45x17 w/165mm cranks/clipless based on what I've been pulling in experiments. Did the whole route home in 48x16 and survived, though I had a few moments of doubt. We'll see...not much of any wind tonite. Makes me wonder if I'd pull it w/20-25mph headwinds under load on an ss. On an ss or a fixie there's pretty much nowhere to hide...the hike of shame is always an option, but who wants THAT on their resume?

MarkInNC

10-15 mph head wind all the way to work last Wed, 18 miles. Slowest avg speed yet. Flew home that afternoon with a 25-35 mph tail wind. Fastest avg speed yet.

Mark

*new*guy

I do a lot of my commutes on a 48x17 fixed gear. IMO, so long as you are well fitted to the bike and don't have any issues there, just about anything short of sustained 40MPH is doable. The most challenging winds to deal with on a fixed gear are the strong gusts that always seem to hit as you come out of a position sheltered by trees or at the base of some modest uphill :-D there were a few times riding home last night when my cadence was really low but a quick burst of effort helps get things moving again and you can kind of chug along on a fixed wheel and just put your head down and deal with it.

xfimpg

When you realize that your bicycle seat has been stolen.

*new*guy

ooh, good one.

similarly, last summer i was messing with my seat height about 2 miles into my commute when i broke my seat binder bolt. i rode the balance of the ride home standing as i had no way to keep the saddle up. suffice to say, i started carrying a spare seat binder after that day.

BroadSTPhilly

Yesterday morning it was really windy but mostly crosswinds not tailwinds. Anyway I knew it would be brutal on the way back and it was confirmed when about two block into my ride home the wind blew me about three feet sideways. That was before I made the turn to face into the wind. Around here it seems the wind blows mostly west to east in the morning and north to south in the evening. I have to ride south to north in the evening.

knobster

I had one that I'd like to forget... I have a routine where I would go fill my water bottles, come back to the office and put them on the bike. Then go to the locker room and change clothes and then leave. One day my boss came in and talked with me for a good 10 minutes after quiting time. This screwed my entire routine up apparently. I instead went and changed clothes, then did my water bottles. What's the problem? Well, I put all my stuff in my office (I work in a secure area) and after I went and filled my bottles I discovered that I had left my badge in my panniers. Locked out.... Bike is sitting in my office along with everything else. Nobody is there. No cell phone and I don't know anyone's number by memory. Screwed. I live a good 25 miles away and am dressed in cycling gear. With a combination of hitch hiking and hoofing it, I got home about 9pm. I left at 5:30pm. That's a bad commute.