jimmie65

Today's commute was straight into a 20+ mph headwind. No gusts, just sustained winds. It slowed me down quite a bit but never felt it was dangerous.

narr33

The safe wind speed will depend on the bike, the bike's speed, and how it is setup. I have a light road bike with narrow tires and a short wheelbase where 35mph crosswinds have forced the bike across the road. A touring bike that has a very long wheel base and wider tires is very solid in 40+mph winds.

gregf83 

I don't ride when the ferries stop sailing.

ganchan

I get nervous (and slow) in the wind. It's the side winds that worry me. At the very least, I won't ride with panniers or bags or anything else that might give the side wind something extra to push against.

spivonious

Sustained winds are always safe; just shift down a few gears or lean into the wind.

dipy911

I went on a couple of rides this last weekend in Kansas. 65 degrees with 25-30 mph wind from the SSW. Keeps people off of paths and I still get my workout only a lot harder effort. On roads I take the lane because I may go either direction without meaning too. Pass with more distance as well.

Darth Lefty 

Depends on location. Around here it would merely be annoying. If there's dust storms or gravel trucks - no thanks!

Also, wind chill

https://www.nws.noaa.gov/om/winter/windchill.shtml

pdlamb

In addition to gusting side winds (over 20-30 mph), beware of any wind that's about 15 mph over normal for your area if you've got trees near your path. That's about 35 mph where I live, but in places where the wind is often 30 mph, the trees won't even notice a 35 mph gust. The problem is that trees seem to get used to a certain wind speed, and when a gust exceeds that by a significant margin, it'll start blowing limbs down.

rumrunn6

I once road in during a rain storm with 50mph gusts. that was fun, but not recommended. sometimes when it's your day to ride you are too prepared not to ride

Darth Lefty 

This weekend we had some strong winds before a rain storm and there were some downed trees. Watch out for downed trees and debris on bike trails, they don't get ridden as much this time of year and the agencies aren't as quick to clear them as they are to clear the roads. Ride safe out there!

snow_echo_NY

It happens. this fall i've ridden in 30 mph sustained winds gusting up to 50/60 mph. the worst is when the rain is heavy and blowing at you hard, it hurts the face. the fall, winter and spring generally brings those winds. you can look at it as the glass half full in that anything you sweat you will have a nice breeze to cool you down.

it's a matter of riding and getting used to it. i agree with others that gusts are worse than sustained winds as they can make handling harder (or more stressful).

tarwheel 

If winds are gusting to 30 mph or higher, I avoid riding. Sustained winds are easier in some respects because you can adjust to them, but gusts can catch you off-guard, particularly crosswinds. My threshold for winds also drops in very cold temperatures due to wind chill and the potential for frostbite.

I am also very cautious about riding on greenways and areas with a lot of nearby trees in windy weather. We have had several people killed on local greenways when trees or large limbs blew down and hit them. Some of these cases were very tragic. Eg, a family was out for a walk on a "nice" sunny day on one of the greenways when a fast-moving storm front hit. A large limb broke off a tall tree and hit the mother, killing her. The front was visible on radar if they had checked before their walk but they probably didn't even think about it because it was a sunny when they left.

dim

I rode into 35km/hr head wind for a 15 mile ride on saturday ....I went more than 3/4 of the distance on my return trip on good cycle roads, but it took 1 1/2 hrs ... I had heavy traffic through one stretch of the city .... I actually got off and pushed my bike through christmas shoppers

going there earlier in the morning, I covered the same distance/route in 67 minutes .... not much traffic as it was early .... (very light wind of 6km/hr on my back ... it was a 30 mile commute (15 miles one way) ,I rode to work, then worked for 3 hrs and rode back)

good excercise as where I live, there are few hills... I'm not sure how it would have panned out with a 35km/hr side wind though