atxlatino

Today was supposed to be my first long ride on a road bike, ever. Wind is 20-30 mph, gusting to 50 today in El Paso. I've lived here a long time so my legs are used to dealing with wind, but wow, it's way different on a road bike. Without even realizing it, I was riding at a significant sideways tilt into the wind in order to keep my balance. The gusts would steer me sideways a little too dangerously, and a little too often for a newbie. I was planning to do a nice road climb of ~1500 ft where on the downhill I've hit 40 on knobbies and 50 on slicks with my mountain bike, but I really didn't trust myself with this wind on the road bike. No way.

After 3 miles out, I rode back home, jumped on the mountain bike, and went back out for a nice offroad ride. So considering that wind speed, is my problem just rider control? Something that gets better over time and training, or is a road bike always this jumpy in crosswind? BTW, I weigh in at 190.

kwrides

In Houston, crosswind is a constant issue. You get used to it, but it's never comfortable when you get jerked to a side by the wind. Even worse is riding behind someone who isn't used to it and jumps all over the road. This might be a case where being a larger rider works to our benefit.

btw - this is why I have never even considered Zipps or whatever.

bdcheung

yeah it sucks. I just hunker down in the drops and pedal. If I know it's going to be windy I'll ditch my normal 30mm wheels and go with my box section (but heavier) wheels.

atxlatino

So I happened to check weather.com just now and its snowing outside now, 33F (it was 48 when I was out there earlier, lol). So I'm glad I'm not riding out in that. Snow + Wind, no way.

What's weird is that on Sat I went riding in 75 degree calm weather. That's the weird SW weather for ya.

atxlatino

I would probably be that guy jumping all over the road. Good thing it was a very wide street I was on.

botto 

the trick is to relax, and lean. relax, and lean. relax, and lean.

2manybikes

Thanks, I think I got it now.

atxlatino

That looks fun.

2manybikes

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jX5nObphEMY

Busta Quad

50 mph?

www.darwinawards.com

merlinextraligh

the difficulty is wind gusts, and coming in and out of sheltered areas (openings between buildings, breaks in tree lines.)

The relax part of the advice helps to deal with those changes in the wind.

Busta Quad

The relax part of the advice will really help as the doctor removes the tumbleweed from the OP's arse.

Creakyknees

you can relax all you want, but it's no fun riding in 20 - 50 mph gusty winds.

waterrockets 

I've ridden in a few 60mph gust days in Boulder. No real issues. I did get blown into a ditch once -- had to be an enormous gust, as I was leaning into it, and I essentially slid out from the wind force.

Busta Quad

And if the gust had been from the other side and you slid out just as the 16 yo in the SUV was passing...

jesspal

I rode in a 20mph wind today, the bad part was heading into the wind. The reward of the tailwind always makes up for it. Unfortunately today some jagoff was doing about 25mph in reverse, by the time i realized it I had to swerve off the road onto the grass. I managed to stay on the bike but it kinda took the fun out of the rest of the stretch. I had just changed my tires yesterday, new GP 4000's, good thing because my previous tires did not and were about spent. I'm sure I would have had a blowout otherwise.

waterrockets 

Well, riding that direction would have been asking for a Darwin Award.

An accident like that can happen at any time, wind or not. I've ridden in a lot of strong winds in 18 years of cycling, and I've gone down once because of a gust. It's probably the least threatening threat out there.

botto 

correct.

tntyz

I find I can begin to anticipate how the wind might behave around buildings, trees, etc. It's tough when the wind is getting funneled between buildings. Today I had it hitting from both sides in rapid succession. Glad there was no traffic around.

Camilo

What kind of rims and spokes do you have? Bladed vs. round spokes and rim depth can make a HUGE difference w/ cross winds.

waterrockets 

The only place I anticipate the wind changes are on the shoulder, with the wind coming from the left (US-sided driving). When I hear a truck coming, I know the wind is about to be blocked and my bike will be suddenly over-compensating, which will work to send me into the lane.

The relaxing helps a lot with this.

Also, countersteering is key. I hear people come back from windy rides saying their arms are tired from fighting the wind. All it takes is mild pushes to the bars to correct for crosswinds. Learn to countersteer intentionally, and it will become natural.

atxlatino

It's a steep road, lots of straight sections. 190 lbs + 36 lbs bike adds a lot of momentum which I'm sure helps out.

atxlatino

I guess I'll just have to deal with it. The wind doesn't stop here until mid April. Then we've got heat, which I don't mind at all. Thanks for the advice. I'll have to get better at controlling the bike before I feel confident to bomb down a nice descent in the wind.

atxlatino

They're Alex DA22, 36H, round spokes.

Motman320

whaat?? Did you ever live in Boulder? I've lived here for 8 months now and I've hardly seen 60mph gusts. That would be seriously unlucky if you were just visiting.