Originally Posted by
cccorlew
I rode the Solvang Double Century this year. Not much wind on the first 100 miles, which took 6 hours rolling time. Then the wind preceding a storm came up. It was brutal. I found weather stations reporting mid twenties, but we were near the coast and I'm sure they were 30 at times. It took 10 hours rolling time for the second hundred miles.
I thought I was going to die. Imagine a pack of cyclists in a tight group struggling to maintain 12 mph. It was so demoralizing.
Solvang is supposed to be a "easy" double. Ha!
The most annoying wind I ever rode in was the first time I did the "really, easy" double in Davis. The Capay Valley had flooded badly during winter '83, so the route was changed to include an 80 mile southbound stretch down right down the Sacramento Valley to home. Of course it was 105F that day and there was a south wind of around 20 mph all afternoon. I remember being on my 26-tooth granny chain ring when a small paceline went by. A young woman on the back looked at me and with pity in her voice said, "We're really not going very fast if you would like to hop on."
Nearly 2000 riders started that day, but only around 500 finished. People were jumping on the sag bus at the 180 mile mark; they just couldn't take any more wind.
I've ridden in stronger winds, but I've never suffered more in the wind.