ricohman

I had to drive today. This damn wind.
I live 20km outside of the city so my commute is mostly highway with about 5km of city.
And it is pretty much east to west and back.
Monday and Tuesday the wind was 40-50kmh. Today it was gusting up to 80kmh with an average 50-70kmh wind. I can get to work in under 30 minutes but the long grind home with panniers attached took nearly an hour yesterday. The wind is blowing out of the east, constantly.
Tomorrow it is supposed to die down to 60kmh, so I will go again.
How do you guys battle the wind?
I hate this wind....

YULitle

That's almost everyday where I live. Since I've moved here, my solution has been ride less, shamefully. When I find what works, I'll let you know.

RT

I would rather ride when it's raining nails than in wind. Odds are, it's a headwind. I have turned it around though, and as hard as it is, it makes me more fit. Fighting to maintain a wind-less speed exerts more energy, makes me hungrier, which allows me to get pizza for all of my hard work.

Ergo, wind = Papa Murphy's

ricohman

Thats how I've been looking at it but the rain has turned to little sleet bullets lately and the wind chill is about -10 to -20. Its been about -10 in the morning. The rain today is the horizontal kind!
More pizza and beer for me on the weekend I guess.

thebarerider

What's up, my fellow Oklahoman?

Winds today were around 70km in my neck of the woods. I don't have any solution other than: a) do what you did; or b) ride anyway and complain bitterly with every nasty blast.

YULitle

I've not been here long. But I've been told that where I live, in the Panhandle, is the worst. I've ridden in Tulsa and didn't notice any wind at all, could've been the day. Perhaps it's more windy in OKC. Can't wait to leave the panhandle though. It's really windy, all the time. ALL THE TIME.

FatDogRiding

I am still trying to get all of the sand out of my ears from today... At least I don't think all that sand was in my head before...

I was almost blown over today at a stop light. Sure makes for an interesting commute though!

Winter76

I just shift to an easier gear and keep on pedaling. We get pretty brisk winds here on a daily basis. A light breeze is 15kph, and really windy is 40kph+

ricohman

Well, it makes me feel better knowing I'm not alone in this battle.
And I am in the middle of the windy Canadian Prairie, much like Oklahoma or Texas!

jimlamb

If you don't already have them, drop bars can help quite a bit. Anything that helps you get into a more aerodynamic position will help some.

UmneyDurak

Just curious anything for the noise? I am somewhat concerned with lose of hearing because of continual exposure to it.

YULitle

I've had the same problem. My ears are pretty sensitive to such things. I use a head band that covers my ears. It can be warm though... So that's the best I got.

Buglady

I HATE wind. HATE IT. The only thing I hate more is when the wind is carrying sleet. (My first winter here, I discovered that "blowing snow" actually means "sandblasted with ice molecules". I have never been so miserable in my life - I didn't have a down parka yet, and was at the mercy of the irregular bus schedule and some idiots who had smashed the shelter... by the time I made it home I was so cold I had stopped shivering. That's never good).

I get earaches if I don't cover my ears when it is windy.

gnome

Have you ever considered a recumbent? Even though my Rocket isn't the most aero 'bent around it is still easier to push into a strong headwind than my other bikes.

I like some winds and dislike others. Nor'westers are nice and warm but a barstid to bike into , Easterlies often are cold and lazy and Southerlies are down rite nasty. Here in Christchurch the Nor'Wester is a hot Foehn wind; the Easterlies are a wind coming in of the sea; and the Southerlies are evil winds that blow from Antarctica, across the Southern Ocean before slamming into the South Island with lots of rain, or worse.

It is heading towards winter here so the winds will either abate to nothing (damn temperature inversion) or be cold and wet southerlies.

road_rascal

Wind sucks. It seems like I'm always traveling into a headwind. Like Winter76 says- downshift and keep going.

rodar y rodar

There ought to be a law against wind! At least it should have some kind of limit. Fortunately, my commute is only 3.5 mi each way, so I can put up with a lot and not be too hard pressed to make it to work and back, but SHEESH! I`m tired of having to hunt down my garbage can and lid each Wed afternoon and tired of trying to sleep (bad enough just to be on nighshift) with howling wind outside every day! We`ve had about four days out of five for the last two months or so with 30 MPH steady and harder gusts. The trees are all full of plastic bags, garbage stuck to all the fences, shingles laying in the streets and my sister-in-law`s storage shed jumpped the fence and died two weeks ago. We haven`t had any snow to speak of for quite a while now and rain is almost a novelty around here.

Buglady: Sandblasted with ice molecules? Yikes! I still want to see Alberta one of these days (if Canada ever decides to let me in) but I think I`ll try for June or July.

tarwheel 

I feel your pain, and don't know how you prairie folks handle the wind. It is windy in NC primarily in late winter-spring, so it's just starting to die down. However, even at its worst -- except hurricanes -- the wind is not as bad here because we have so many trees and hills to block the wind. I rode in a century at the coast several weeks ago on a very windy day, and it is flat and open like the prairies along the NC coast, and it was THE hardest ride I have ever done.

lil brown bat

Wind on the coast is great, too. In Boston, when I'm riding into downtown (i.e., toward the harbor) we get an onshore wind; then in the evening, when I'm riding home, we get an offshore wind. Reliable headwind both ways every day! Usually not too severe though.

timdoug

Here the wind comes either out of the north or the south, in the spring nice days have a southern wind. The warmer the windier. My commute home starts straight into the wind. Yesterday (approx. 40-50kph). But the good thing is I turn around halfway and go with it for the last half. My commute is shaped like this > so I can follow the bike trails. It all evens out in the end. To me the worst thing is the noise.

ricohman

I use my Sherpa touring bike as my commuter so buying another new bike is out of the question. Although I have often wondered if a recumbent would drag less air, and in wind like this every little bit would help.
We get two winds here. Howling cold winds out of the arctic (from the north west) and dry blasting winds (from the southeast).
But I rode into work today. The wind blew me to work in record time. I was even passing the tumbleweeds blowing along side me. But I know I have to go home against that tonight and it is supposed to be raining or snowing.
And I use foam ear plugs for noise. I roll them up and put them in my ears. They cost about a $1 for a pair and work very well.
I guess I should be thankful my commute is only 40km. I know guys who travel farther.
And now that I'm really starting to whine, I should add I have to go uphill on the way home, into that damn wind, driving those ice pellets into me....
OK, I'm done!

truman

Wind just IS. I try to make friends with it.

It's helping some, I think - I catch myself grinning at the ludicrousness of of riding into 35-40 mph gusts. We don't have many hills worthy of mention here in North Texas, so the wind is my mountain.

And it makes me deserve an extra beer, so I got that going for me, which is nice.

timthorn

Think of wind this way:
God is blessing you by providing resistance training.

My average speed has increased by 2-4 mph when winds are normal.

I love when the local weather say, wind advisory as I head out the door.

envane

Its the psychology of having an invisible force slowing you down. When you are going up a hill, at least you can look back and see your accomplishment.

gholt

I feel for ya. But you need to look at it as your training partner. Just take a lower gear and go for it. This last week I have had to go into a headwind all the way home 18 miles. The only break i get is when I change streets to get to a new street for a 1/2 mile, and the big hill. But if you look at it as an opportunity to get your legs stronger you should do OK.

HardyWeinberg

Today should be the exacta for me, headwind going to work and coming home. The headwind getting home has been steady for a while, but it's been still-ish (if raining) in the mornings for a while.