I ride on roads, but many of the roads here in NY are so choppy, with potholes and debris it can feel like off-roading at times. In the picture shown, I took a little pitstop at a nearby creek to cool off. How do you like your Verve?
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I think it's pretty awesome to see the stats. You still kept at a good speed with the 20 mph wind! I bet those non windy days went smooth lol.

I can understand why you aren't a fan of the wind after my ride yesterday lol. The cold tends to bother my equalibrium.

Awesome rides, and good point about the wind. It is just there like everything else. I will keep that in my mind the next time I'm out on a gusty day!
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Fully agree with this! I was on a super busy road yesterday when the cross winds stuck. Definitely felt like I was being pushed over at times between the wind, and the big tractor trailers flying by lol.

I wasn't prepared either. Not that it was a huge deal or bother, but definitely worked my legs harder then I'm used to lol.

Very true! This was my first wind encounter, and I was surprised to feel how much work it was. Made me have even more respect for the advanced cyclists!

[QUOTE=JA TREK;20320490]I ride on roads, but many of the roads here in NY are so choppy, with potholes and debris it can feel like off-roading at times. In the picture shown, I took a little pitstop at a nearby creek to cool off. How do you like your Verve?
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I'm really liking it so far. I upgraded the grips to Ergon GP5's and those have made a big difference in comfort and no hand or wrist pain on longer rides. Everything else on it is stock. I'm using it for casual rides and this week I bike commuted to work twice on it and it worked fine. I did just order a Topeak rack and trunk bag that I'll install this weekend. For true trail riding I have a Trek 4900 MTB that I use. The Verve definitely is a little rougher ride than my MTB due to the lack of suspension but I'm mainly riding it on roads and MUP's so its not been a big issue unless I'm going over some rough patches. Handles and rolls pretty good.

You know what they say about the wind.

Climbing makes you strong.
Distance makes you lean.
Intervals make you fast,
but the wind makes you MEAN!!

Monday I stopped for a touring cyclist pushing his bike down the road here in the middle of Kansas. I thought maybe he was broke down and needed a hand. After telling me the wind pushed him into the ditch 3 times he begged a short ride. I got him to the next stretch of road so he could get a tailwind for a while and sent him on his way! I really feel for those guys running cross country and hitting weather like we've had this week.

Yep. If you can't ride in the wind, you can't ride in Sacramento. Especially this time of year. Most riders I know plan their training rides so as to do the meat of the work into the wind, then enjoy the tailwind for the cool down on the way home.

I have those on two of my bikes and love them. I have foam grips on mine for extra padding.


picture share

I hate the wind. It's so demoralizing to me. I much prefer mountains. With mountains you can see what you are fighting, then when you get to the top you can look back at what you conquered. There is no such satisfaction dealing with the wind. Mountains even have categories to make us feel better about our conquest. Screw the wind.

My bike loves the headwinds. It doesn't like climbing so much; but part of that is because it has to carry 200+ lbs of me up every one of them.

actually I have these Vincita's on mine. But had to order from overseas. I had the Origin8s but didn't like the band at end of bars.

I actually skip cycling during windy season, it's too rough to fight with mad winds

Seems to be too true. I've noticed that drivers in my area are meaner when it's windy.

Hard to be certain since I'm expecting bad behavior, so perhaps I see it more, but I'm very careful riding in traffic in heavy wind that comes before storms. The past couple of days in particular I'm seeing more overtly aggressive driving, including a truck that nearly ran down one of my neighbors just an hour ago outside. I was walking home and saw the truck deliberately brush-by the neighbor as he crossed the street. Several times the past few days I've seen vehicles pass within a foot of me on unnecessarily dangerous turns -- drivers who are too lazy to make proper turns and cut diagonally into the opposing traffic lane or pedestrian crosswalk. In daylight you can clearly see the drivers looking at you and they look angry. It's a bizarre passive-aggressive behavior too many drivers exhibit, forcing unnecessary confrontations the dramatically increase risk, including cutting off fellow drivers who signal to change lanes, or swerving across three lanes of traffic to brush-by pass pedestrians and cyclists.

There's a theory dating back decades that heavy wind accompanies changes in ions and barometric pressure changes that influence human behavior.

One of the more interesting movies I've seen, The Mean Season (1985), is based around a serial killer's escalating violence during Florida's hurricane season. But the movie never really emphasizes any connection between the weather and human behavior, beyond a few casual remarks early in the film. I've watched it several times since first seeing it in the theater. Overall it's a good but pedestrian '80s movie, but Richard Jordan plays one of the all-time great movie villains, an underrated performance by a versatile actor who died too young. I'd rank his portrayal of a killer above the more infamous Zodiac killer played by Andy Robinson in Dirty Harry.

So while I don't avoid riding my bike in the wind, I'm much more alert.

I've been fighting wind and rain on a daily basis and every day I think I hate this wind. But than you go home and the wind is behind you and giving you a push in the right direction. That is a great feeling. We dont have mountains so cant really compare.

No they're not. It's just that the tailwind you're looking forward to on the return trip changes direction.

I think it's a reference to the observation, "There are no such things as tailwinds, there's headwinds, and there's good days." When we're cruising effortlessly down the road, we'd rather chalk it up to our superior conditioning, than to think we're getting help from the wind.

Thanks! It has been such a long winner this year. Or maybe it just seems that way because I've been so desperate to get out on the roads and ifo the trainer lol.

Hi there! I was surprised at first as well. Especially with the side winds. Hold on and pedal through lol. Pretty cool we're about at the same point. Would love to hear updates about your progress!


I rode in the light rain yesterday myself. I agree when it's not a direct hit from the wind is actually kinda nice!



Makes sense!

Holy smokes! I feel bad for them as well. Very kind of you to drop for him!

Nice! It's pretty interesting learning about the weather tends in different locations.

Haha! Good points there.



Very interesting!! I know I certainly feel changes in barometric pressure. I get dizzy and or headaches. I agree about how sad this world has gotten with passive aggressive jerks. I swear I had a truck intentionally swerve towards me the other day. It's really a shame. I'm constantly looking in my mirror. When I see them start to move over I feel relieved, but some of them get so close. That movie sounds like a good one!

[QUOTE=beachball42;20320539]Awesome that you've been commuting to work by bike. The Trek mountain bike sounds nice as well! Glad you like the Verve!

Lol nice!

Lol!

Okay, you want to talk about wind. It was a windy day already, perhaps 40 km/h side winds. Very tough. About the halfway point it picked up and then the rain came. Gusts were apparently up to 80 km/h and whipping the rain sideways. I could literally see the next gust coming by the rain hitting the ground, like in buckets. I had to take shelter behind a Costco for ten minutes until the storm passed. It just wasn't safe to ride under these conditions. The panniers loaded with groceries didn't help matters.



Funny enough, the sky cleared right up after, and the wind died down to about 30 km/h.

Winds are bad up here too. I had 35MPH winds the other day. Into the wind wasn't too bad, with the wind was better, sidewinds about blew me off the road!. Have to pay attention when riding side winds.

I try to do laps when it’s windy so I’m not heading into it for that long. (If it’s a cold wind it’s really miserable. If it’s a hot wind it’s just annoying.)

Wind is a factor on mot rides in my neck of the woods. If it is really blowing, I try to plan my routes so I start out going into the wind and have a tailwind on the way back. The wind keeps me humble on the way out so I don't get the idea I am stronger than I really am.

This is from my personal weather station at home. First half of my afternoon ride is West bound, Average wind was above 20 km/h with 40 km/h gusts. Couldn't wait 'til I turned East, made up for the time I lost combating the wind