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What's the stiffest wind you have ever faced?

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What's the stiffest wind you have ever faced?

Old 11-29-12, 08:21 PM
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Originally Posted by Louis
Back in the '80's, on a late August ride in western Ohio, the wind was ripping mighty oak trees out of the ground They were flying across the road barely missing us as we leaned into a heavy west wind. Not sure of the wind speed that day...but every time I tell this story, it gets stronger.
Fixed that for you.
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Old 11-29-12, 10:01 PM
  #27  
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Just be glad you're not this guy:

"The years rolled slowly past
And I found myself alone
Surrounded by strangers I thought were my friends
I found myself further and further from my home
And I guess I lost my way
There were oh so many roads
I was living to run and running to live
Never worried about paying or even how much I owed
Moving eight miles a minute for months at a time
Breaking all of the rules that would bend
I began to find myself searching
Searching for shelter again and again

Against the wind
A little something against the wind
I found myself seeking shelter against the wind

Well those drifter's days are past me now
I've got so much more to think about
Deadlines and commitments
What to leave in, what to leave out

Against the wind
I'm still runnin' against the wind
I'm older now but still runnin' against the wind
Well I'm older now and still runnin'
Against the wind"

(Bob Seger)
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Old 11-29-12, 10:44 PM
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Originally Posted by JanMM
Fixed that for you.
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Old 11-29-12, 10:57 PM
  #29  
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There was one evening in the desert when it was blowing pretty strong. In addition to the grit in my face, I was going real slow.

The happy part was that it was a round trip and coming home what should have taken over 45 minutes only took 20.
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Old 11-29-12, 11:49 PM
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I live on the northern Great Plains and every spring we have many days when the wind doesn't drop below 20 mph, and frequently will gust over 30 mph. You learn to put up with it or stay home. Once the wind hits a sustained 30+ mph with higher gusts, though, I find something else to do rather than ride my bike.

The highest wind I rode in was in New Zealand years ago. I was on a tour when the wind came up and was gusting over 60 mph. It was a struggle to keep upright and in my own lane. I parked the bike once I was able to find some shelter.
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Old 11-30-12, 12:51 AM
  #31  
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Pretty strong winds today (30 mph with 40 mph gusts) on my 50 mile ride going South in the hills behind Oakland, it was blowing every which way and very hard to predict!

Fortunately on the way back the wind was from behind and on flat roads more or less--unfortunately it was raining and the last 20 miles or so were wet--fortunately my fenders helped keep me a little drier.

With fenders you do not get your rear end soaking wet and the front fender keeps the water from spraying into your face!

Last edited by VNA; 11-30-12 at 10:55 AM.
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Old 11-30-12, 05:19 AM
  #32  
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Typhoon-force winds while in Japan but that was when I was young and foolish.

Now I see hurricane-force winds only during the winter – Skiing above tree line powder.

The ‘young’ has been cured.

Last edited by Ali_Pine; 11-30-12 at 09:07 AM.
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Old 11-30-12, 05:30 AM
  #33  
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45 or 50 .Just by accident , I usually dont' ride above 30
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Old 11-30-12, 06:10 AM
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I live in south-central Nebraska. And the wind does blow here. (understatement) On a tour to the Black Hills this past August ( https://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/..._id=11208&v=Fw ), riding through the Nebraska Sandhills, I finished up a day with wind gusts of 30 mph. What made it better was the temp was over 100 degrees F. Talk about a blast furnace!
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Old 11-30-12, 08:45 AM
  #35  
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40 years ago, living in Boulder, CO, I found myself caught out on the far side of the CU campus staring into the teeth of 80 mph Chinook winds. Having more guts than brains at the time, I decided to ride my bike back home. I can remember the front wheel coming off the ground at times as I was struggling to make headway while some rather large debris was rolling by going in the opposite direction. Somehow, I managed to make it home without mishap.

Last week I encountered a strong 3/4 headwind on the homeward leg of my ride in the high plains east of town. I felt like the character in some sort of video game while braking and accelerating in order to dodge the tumble-weeds blowing across the road. The almost total lack of traffic made it even more fun.
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Old 11-30-12, 09:49 AM
  #36  
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50-55 mph? We rode into a bit of headwind touring across Wyoming a few years ago. It took us five hours to ride 20 miles, including a top speed of 6 mph, pedaling, down a 6% grade. I didn't want to estimate the wind speed because no one would believe me, so I asked one of the hosts where we camped how strong the wind was. He estimated 50-55 mph. Since he had just come the other way with a trailer, I figure he had a good idea of how fast he was going. It took us a few days to recover after that!
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Old 11-30-12, 02:03 PM
  #37  
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I've ridden all over the US and Europe in all sorts of winds. Two were quite memorable. In one race we had two bikes and the bike/roof rack ripped off the top of the follow car and deposited a hundred yards off the road. During RAAM one year we had a tornado on the ground about 5 miles from us. I have no idea what the wind speed was but it was a tail wind and we were flying! A Sheriff stopped us and suggested we might want to pack it up and wait it out but we decided to take advantage of the little push we were getting.
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Old 11-30-12, 07:49 PM
  #38  
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I would never intentionally ride in dangerous winds. I've been blown into the oncoming lane of traffic on a downhill in NM on a day when the winds weren't supposed to be all that bad. Having said that, winds don't normally bother me that much - no upper body.

One of my youngest daughter's favorite memories of skiing was when she was about 8, and we we at the top of the steepest run at Windham, NY. The wind was blowing so strong that I had to pull her downhill with one of my ski poles. That was a strong wind.
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Old 11-30-12, 08:30 PM
  #39  
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I don't remember the head winds.
I still remember riding back to Grand Rapids, Michigan from Holland, around 40 miles.

The ride out there was into a moderate wind. We swam for a few hours, and by the time we left for home, the wind had picked up to 25mph or more. That made the ride home seem effortless! One of the most fun rides in my memory. That was probably around 1987.
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Old 11-30-12, 10:14 PM
  #40  
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About ten years ago climbing up steep hill here in southern AZ.
As I hit the apex wind blew extremely hard through a gap between two mountains. Pushed me sideways and off the road. Did my paratrooper roll over the bars and that's the last I remember.
Result: 6 broken ribs and a punctured lung.
Was lucky . . . I just missed a 50 ft. dropoff!
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Old 11-30-12, 10:53 PM
  #41  
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I don't know the wind speed but I recall a verrrrrrrrrrrry long day touring in Belgium back in the 80s. Belgium is about as flat as you can get but at times I had to stand on the pedals, in my lowest gear just to keep moving forward. I was just there for a few days and even though I toured in a circle, that damn headwind span around ahead of me. I think that was the only bike tour I was ever glad to finish. I got hit in the chest by a bouncing coke can and on the knee by a cartwheeling wooden sandwich board. I saw it coming from about half a mile away and just knew that whatever I did, it would still catch me. I resolved to hold my line and let it do its worst. Then at the last moment I lost my nerve. I zigged but it zagged and caught me a pearler. Dang, it hurt.

More recently, last spring here in Colorado I spent almost 2 hours riding 10 miles into a headwind, then turned for home and at one point hit 43 mph, sitting upright and barely pushing the pedals.
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Old 12-01-12, 01:14 PM
  #42  
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On the bike:
has to be the night before Sandy hit and on a barrier island in south Jersey south of where it made landfall. Was a hard 5 miles into the wind but what a blast going back. Didn't even have to pedal if I didn't want to in order to cruise along I ran out of gear fast when I did pedal I have no clue what t he wind speed was but had to be 25 or 30 maybe a little more. Steady but varying strength.

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Old 12-01-12, 07:24 PM
  #43  
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I can't say what the strongest wind I have ever ridden in was but my riders log shows that I left home more than a dozen times this year with the sustained winds above 25 and gusts well into the high 30s or more. Generally I try to start out with a charge into the headwind so I can coast home after I am wrung out. Nothing worse than realizing that you are 30 miles downwind of the car and you are already used up.
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Old 12-02-12, 08:49 AM
  #44  
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When it's windy ,
I often hit the bike trail,
where trees the railroad let grow up
kind of block the breeze .
I ride out against the wind
and back with the wind also
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Old 12-02-12, 09:53 AM
  #45  
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I'm don't know that the wind speed was epic but it was strong enough to blow you over. My experience was on one of the early days of Bike Tour Colorado in mid June 2011. We were riding on Trail Ridge Road in Rocky Mountain National Park from Estes to Granby. The Park Rangers were reluctant to let us ride through the park. After a long wait they opened the gates and we quickly saw why. Not far into the upper parts of the park we were hit with severe cross winds and blinding sleet and snow. The sleet felt like pins hitting your skin.

I was afraid the wind was going to blow me off the road and down the cliff, so I was alway moving further away from the edge of the road. Only 100+ of us made us all the way the Granby. All the other 1100 or so were bussed from either Estes or from the Visitors Center at top of RMNP.

Here is a picture right before we hit the wind gusts.






This is what it was like while we were waiting for the gates to open:

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Old 12-02-12, 01:29 PM
  #46  
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I can't believe the guys riding in that stuff wearing grey, dark blue, and black--no blinky on the back or other hi-viz wear.
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Old 12-02-12, 04:02 PM
  #47  
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Originally Posted by Bikey Mikey
I can't believe the guys riding in that stuff wearing grey, dark blue, and black--no blinky on the back or other hi-viz wear.
None of us had any clue what we were getting into. Everyone was totally unprepared. We had heard "rain and snow" but weren't expecting blizzard conditions.
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Old 12-02-12, 04:07 PM
  #48  
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i was doing a metric early this year and was doing a medium climb...a gust hit me so hard it stopped me dead. Was kinda scary as I veered wildly left into the lane (nothing was coming however). That 63 miles was the longest of my life...the wind was terrible all day. I would guess half the riders that started bailed before the end of the ride.
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Old 12-02-12, 07:24 PM
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Originally Posted by overthehillmedi
4% grade, eh? That must be one of the steepest hills in the neighbourhood.

I dunno, going up a 4 per cent grade powered only by the wind ( no sail involved) sounds impressive to me. You gotta read the whole post i guess.
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Old 12-02-12, 08:08 PM
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I can't add to some of the wind velocity stories above, or the broken ribs/puntured lung, however, 4 weeks ago returning from a 3 hour ride with a tailwind and then, after feeling like a stud, I rode 75 miles into a 15-20mph wind with gust of 25 to 30%. A gust on a down hill slowed me from 14 mph peddling downhill to 7 MPH. It took me 7 hours to get home. It was a 7 hour ride uphill, or so it seemed.
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