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I live in a horseshoe-shaped valley, with mountains on three sides. There are multiple mountain passes coming into the valley, and the one side without mountains is basically open to the Pacific Ocean.
Go out in the wrong direction at the wrong time, and due to the way the winds swirl around, you can quite literally ride into headwinds all day long, with the wind never at your back. Add to that the fact that as winter approaches winds blow down from the High Desert at +40mph, and there can be days when you just want to say, "Nah. I'm gonna stay in." |
i usually use flags along my routes , if i know the route like a path or road ive been on i know where to look to get an idea or wind direction ...
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Originally Posted by Teamprovicycle
(Post 20599156)
i usually use flags along my routes , if i know the route like a path or road ive been on i know where to look to get an idea or wind direction ...
Originally Posted by Jim from Boston
(Post 20141869)
” How Much Wind Do You Tolerate?”
Originally Posted by Reynolds
(Post 20140768)
I'm not used to evaluate wind speed. but I ride as long as the wind doesn't blow me off the road
Originally Posted by Jim fromBoston
(Post 20127547)
On my Excell spreadsheet I track:...
Originally Posted by Jim from Boston
(Post 20142051)
My idea of a 1 to 6 scale of wind phenomena (waving flags) to guage wind force (speed) is based on the formalized Beaufort Wind Force Scale
Originally Posted by Wikipedia
The Beaufort scale is an empirical measure that relates wind speed to observed conditions at sea or on land. Its full name is the Beaufort wind force scale…
Today, many countries have abandoned the scale and use the metric system based units, m/s or km/h, instead, but the severe weather warnings given to the public are still approximately the same as when using the Beaufort scale. On review of the Beaufort scale descriptions, I would estimate my determination of 4 of 6 equivalent to the Beaufort number of about 5 of 12 (“fresh breeze” ; wind speed of 19-24 mph/29-38 km/hr). One standard for assessing wind speed with a weather vane or flag, is that it should be unobstructed, and about 20 feet above ground. I make my determination on flags of at least a few feet in length. The Beaufort number of 3 (“gentle breeze,” 8-12 mph) is identified when “Leaves and small twigs in constant motion; light flags extended.” My personal 1 to 6 scale is a handy way to make that assessment en route. |
Originally Posted by Jim from Boston
(Post 20599249)
I have an informal system for estimating wind speed and direction:
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The problem with the Beaufort Scale is that in cycling terms, everything above a 2 sucks. If you're on a sailboat, you might be fine with a 4 or a 5. I like some Light Air.
I do like the hardman factor of it, though. Sustained 31mph is a "strong breeze." |
Originally Posted by Jim from Boston
(Post 20599249)
I have an informal system for estimating wind speed and direction:
Originally Posted by Jim fromBoston
(Post 20127547)
On my Excell spreadsheet I track:...
Originally Posted by Troul
(Post 20599738)
x2 using the beaufort scale
Originally Posted by DrIsotope
(Post 20600328)
The problem with the Beaufort Scale is that in cycling terms, everything above a 2 sucks. If you're on a sailboat, you might be fine with a 4 or a 5. I like some Light Air.
I do like the hardman factor of it, though. Sustained 31mph is a "strong breeze."
Originally Posted by kbarch
(Post 20142053)
Jim's 1-6 scale reminded me of the Beaufort scale, which goes to 12 (for hurricanes) - and I suspect the numbers are fairly close, seeing how a 6 on the Beaufort scale is a "strong breeze" of 25-31 mph.
It isn't until you get to an 8 or a gale that twigs get snapped off and progress gets generally impeded. I always liked the description of 5 on the Beaufort scale: Fresh Breeze. Sounds nice, but at 19-24 mph, above most cyclists' comfort range. Seems like many cyclists start to be dissuaded when there's anything more than a Gentle Breeze. :)
Originally Posted by Jim from Boston
(Post 20142051)
My idea of a 1 to 6 scale of wind phenomena (waving flags) to guage wind force (speed) is based on the formalized Beaufort Wind Force Scale
The Beaufort scale is from 1 (calm) to 12 (hurricane force) and the determination of the scale number is based on defined observations of phenomena such as rising smoke; papers, dust and debris on the ground; wave heights; flags; umbrellas unfurling, etc…and my personal 1 to 6 scale is a handy way to make that assessment en route. BTW, I have found a semi-quantitative scale of 1 to 6 a pretty suitable estimation for wind speed; I also use such a scale to evaluate my levels of dress by temperature increments. I picked it up on a whitewater rafting trip when I learned the difficulty of rivers is determined as 1 to 6. |
The 8 Stages of Cycling in Wind
https://longhaultrekkers.com/the-8-s...into-headwinds https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...f1a334a3c0.png |
Originally Posted by DrIsotope
(Post 20571368)
Wind gust kt would be the top wind speed recorded for that date, in knots. So just a single gust.
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Windy is still my go-to for every ride, whether a workout or casual ride. I've tried other apps, including Dark Sky, but nothing beats Windy for getting a real time and forecast estimate of the entire region. The ability to see an entire region is much more useful than the apps that claim monodirectional wind yet don't offer any indications of the swirling that can make some terrain challenging and even a little dangerous.
I took advantage of this weekend's sustained strong winds to check my pedaling effort consistency. And we don't have any long sustained climbs so a headwind is the best we can do to approximate a long climb. I snagged a few PRs and one top ten on the flip sides with tailwind, but I was mostly interested in how I handled repeats on a familiar 6 mile elongated oval circuit while riding into 20-30 mph headwind on a segment with mostly roller coaster climbs. I wasn't fast but my times were consistent over four repeats, which is an improvement over a year or so ago. Not sure I'd want to spend all day riding 6 mph, between climbs and headwinds, but for part of a two hour workout it was tolerable. Better than sitting on the trainer for two hours. |
Rolling the view on the nullschool link south polar, displays the vortexes in the southern ocean around Antarctica, in what would be summer..
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Excellent night not to be off Cape Hatteras too. |
Originally Posted by MoAlpha
(Post 20755363)
In a forecast or a report from a station, it’s the mean peak velocity of the gusts. Wind Gust: Rapid fluctuations in the wind speed with a variation of 10 knots or more between peaks and lulls. The speed of the gust will be the maximum instantaneous wind speed. Gusts are recorded over 10-minute intervals. The highest recorded velocity during the 10-minute window is the wind gust. |
Originally Posted by DrIsotope
(Post 20755897)
The average velocity over a 2-minute period determines the wind speed. Per the NOAA,
Wind Gust: Rapid fluctuations in the wind speed with a variation of 10 knots or more between peaks and lulls. The speed of the gust will be the maximum instantaneous wind speed. Gusts are recorded over 10-minute intervals. The highest recorded velocity during the 10-minute window is the wind gust. Re prediction, if you look at the Windy app, three of the four models, including the GFS (used by NOAA) predict gusts at 3hr intervals. These are probabilistic estimates of some kind, for the peaks during that period, but I can’t find anything about how they do it. |
Originally Posted by Machka
(Post 20568681)
Yes!!
Or plan that one-way tailwind century ride. :D |
Originally Posted by mcours2006
(Post 20568796)
Interesting data, but I found all it did for me was give me some anxiety about going out when it's strong headwind.
Originally Posted by bobwysiwyg
(Post 20568874)
I hear ya, that's when I make new route. 😁
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