Why is it whenever I'm on my bicycle the wind seems to be consistently coming towards me, yet when I've started the charcoal grill the wind seems to come from every direction? It seems like anywhere I stand by the grill results in the wind blowing smoke towards me - why is that?

Murphy's Law.

Wind changes direction in the afternoon, so I get the joy of riding against the wind both ways.

yup, i know how you feel

https://earth.nullschool.net/#curren...=-1.095,50.797

On a bike you create your own headwind. Near the grill your body creates turbulence which results in the smoke coming back at you. (There's a reason most people around a campfire are sitting down low.)

In order to tailor this question for Bike Forums, you need to make this a poll thread, with the question being "Which Way is the Wind Blowing?" or "Which is the Ultimate Wind Direction?"

Should result in oodles of responses.

I pass wind. all the time.

That's kind of cool, I bet the dogs on the bike path would love it too.

Do I know that feeling!

and why is it typically windier in winter (when moving air only makes the cold that much colder) than it is in summer (when a cooling breeze is FAR more welcome)?

mother nature is a sadist.

'Rabbit Rabbit'

problem solved

However unlikely, we should never ride together.

We sailors call it Apparent Wind .

Sometimes it's a real effect with a reason. I notice changing wind at sunup and sundown, but I also always felt like nature was working against me on the commute because I go almost due west in the morning and then back east in the evening, and it was generally beneficial in the summer and working against me in the winter. Then I found this site where you can query local weather stations for wind speed and direction and obtain seasonal plots of same, and in my case it turned out nature was against me, not just a conspiracy theory.

Wind history map

You can see that I am receiving significantly more eastbound wind in the face during winter (February) than summer (August). I don't generally mind more work at night on the way home, but in the bottom image you can see I suffer from a sort of cold-weather slow-down effect and so those winter mornings when my nominal commute time of 60 minutes becomes 75 minutes, I have no legs in that final 10-15 minutes and of course every now and then when nature gangs up with low temps plus high winds in the face and I get 85-90 minutes on the clock, I just want to go back to sleep after arriving at work, having a shower and breakfast, etc. Nothing worse than a sustained strong headwind !

Comanche's average speed is almost double my average riding speed!

I read somewhere that any wind that is more than I think 30 deg. off of directly behind you feels like a headwind.

I ride south around the bay in the morning, north in the afternoon, and of course the wind blows from the south in the morning and north in the afternoon, and riding a big C around the bay means I've never had a tailwind for more than a minute or two. What's it like?

Aside from what others mentioned about changes throughout any given day. On the macro side, fall-spring is windier than spring-fall in my area, maybe your area too. Any wind not in a large open area can be diverted by obstacles. If you have large buildings, trees, houses, a slope etc, right next to to you, even a wind from almost 90 degrees from the side can be diverted and funneled into a reasonable headwind. Strange but even with you going the same direction but on the other side of the road could result in something different. Add hills and valleys into the mix and you have a complex array of directions and speed.

[MENTION=457988]Hoopdriver[/MENTION] is right. The apparent wind is different from the true wind, and there is almost always an apparent headwind on a bike. When I learned to sail, I learned to gauge wind direction with my ears and cheeks. Spin your head around until the noise in your ears or the feelings of your cheeks are equal. You have to do this when standing still. Or you could mount a chopstick to your handlebar vertically and hang a piece of soft twine from it.

[MENTION=71490]Wilbur Bud[/MENTION], that's a great web page. I bookmarked it in my weather folder.

Also, everyone should bookmark the US wind map or the World wind map and check it in the morning.

Nice page

Nice chart

Nice asymptote there, my man

What are the best lubes for headwind and tailwind, and how do I get them to stay on the leading/trailing sides of every individual roller in my chain?

But seriously, it's called 'headwinds/tailwinds asymmetry'. It's because you're way more likely to notice and whine about bad things in your life than notice and be grateful for good things. A.k.a. because you're human.

Why Is My Life So Hard? - Freakonomics Freakonomics