Head winds
12-03-16 | 12:49 AM
#26
Senior Member
Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 792
Likes: 20
From: New England
Bikes: Brompton M6R, Specialized Tricross Comp, Ellsworth Isis, Dahon Speed P8
I'm into folding bikes with the multi-modal transport options being one of the reasons. In addition to doing loop routes, and double-back routes, I often like to take public transport out twice as far, and then ride straight back (or vice versa). It's nice to be able chose that direction to take advantage of elevation and/or prevailing winds 
12-03-16 | 09:31 PM
#27
Senior Member
Joined: Dec 2010
Posts: 1,965
Likes: 6
From: Falls City, OR
Bikes: 2012 Salsa Fargo 2, Rocky Mountain Fusion, circa '93
I wish. In the morning when I ride to work there isn't any wind, but there is frequently a head wind (or at least angled from the west) on my way back home. The worst it does is slow me down though. After all, I have mountain bike gearing. Maybe I should move to the other side of Salem.
12-04-16 | 09:29 AM
#28
Senior Member
Joined: Feb 2013
Posts: 1,472
Likes: 11
From: Near St. Louis, Missouri
Bikes: Giant Defy Advanced, Breezer Doppler Team, Schwinn Twinn Tandem, Windsor Tourist, 1954 JC Higgens
Years ago I was riding west into the wind while approaching a bluff overlooking the Mississippi River. It was flat and treeless. I had to drop into the granny gear of my triple just to keep moving. I even had to pedal hard going down the bluff where usually I can coast at 30 mph. When I got home I found that the wind was 35 mph with gusts into the 50 mph range. I think that the wind coming up the bluff increased it.
12-04-16 | 09:35 AM
#29
Senior Member
Joined: Feb 2013
Posts: 1,472
Likes: 11
From: Near St. Louis, Missouri
Bikes: Giant Defy Advanced, Breezer Doppler Team, Schwinn Twinn Tandem, Windsor Tourist, 1954 JC Higgens
Had a couple of days respite from headwinds along the Katy trail, till almost to Clinton. On the Horizon was a line of black visibly moving toward me, and it was dead calm, almost dark. I was actually within sight of the overpass at the west end of the trail, about a mile and a half, and tried to beat the storm. Failed hard, a sudden wall of wind hit me, knocked me and the bike back onto the ground. Pushing the bike, I left the trail and crossed the road in a pitch black storm, aiming at a parking lot and building I could just see in all the lighting strikes. When I crossed into the lee of the building out of the wind I fell over again from leaning into the wind so far, just as the electricity in the area went out. Spent the next few hours huddled against the building in the dark, which happened to be a funeral home...
12-04-16 | 02:42 PM
#31
Senior Member
Joined: Dec 2004
Posts: 12,551
Likes: 798
From: Middle of da Mitten
Bikes: Trek 7500, RANS V-Rex, Optima Baron, Velokraft NoCom, M-5 Carbon Highracer, Catrike Speed
Being closer to the ground is a definite advantage. My lowracer makes me look like Superman(tm) because while headwinds slow me down too, they don't slow me down nearly as much as all of my buddies on 'taller' bikes.
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