Originally Posted by LSD
The gusts kept snuffing out my momentum like it was a birthday candle--is this really due to my new pannier bags or is it my non-lycra attire? Bonus question: should I quit pretending my mountain bike is a mountain bike and just put smooth "street" tires on it?
Panniers won't snuff out your resistance that much. I was using them while riding into 130km/h winds in that mini-cyclone a couple of months back (not to mention 5 consecutive days of 60km/h+ winds on my tour of Tasmania). I think the tyres are slowing you down more than the panniers. It could also be a relative lack of conditioning at riding into the wind. Believe me, it's
very different to riding in any other kind of conditions or terrain.