I've never had wind stop me dead in my tracks. Here that usually means Thunderstorm heading my way and I high tail it and run, cycle? to cover. So I haven't had the joy of knowing how it is to cycle in gail force winds.
No...not gale force, but just winds in the 30-40 range. Got them a lot in NW Ohio. If it was fall or spring and there were no crops standing tall. There would always be a pretty good swing in temp that could push those winds. I don't remember a lot of rain with them though.
Illinois is not as bad as it was in NW OH, and I am sure there are many places that are even worse.