Originally Posted by
corrado33
As for the video, if you guys were in that much of a headwind, why the hell was nobody in the drops? My first reaction to a headwind is "be as small as possible."
The quick answer was control, the gravel was newly laid with the last day or two. Riders on 35/38/40 mm tires were sinking in bad. I was riding a drop-bar fatbike with 4" tires and I still sunk in a few times. So riders were staying on the hoods to have better control when the front tire cuts in. The video has a couple clips showing riders fighting for control in the sandy gravel.
Originally Posted by
corrado33
I honestly think you guys who are claiming to have biked in 50/60/100 MPH winds are full of it. I can maybe believe 40 MPH for a very short stint... maybe. But only a headwind or tailwind. A 40 MPH crosswind would easily knock you off your bike.
Many riders were knocked over, or off the road... the clip with the rider in the grass, that was happening a lot, and I was that rider a couple times too. Those 4" tires have a huge cross section to the wind. You'd get pushed off the road and just decide to ride in the grass for a while.
One of the issues that got my little 'dialog' started was this same event back in 2014 (see page 2); I posted about a violent storm front blow through our course. Wind gusts all around town were recorded at 50 to 60+ mph. I did ride through it with a pace line, it was insane to see the lean of the riders in front to fight the wind. I wish I had the GoPro for that ride!