JaclynMcKewan

This may be a weird question, but I'm not sure who else to ask.

I bike to work a few times a week, and my office is on this street, let's say "Main Street." On my usual route, I turn a corner to Main Street and my building is very close, so I spend very little time on that street itself.

Due to road construction, I've had to use a different route that involves me coming to my building from the other direction, riding on Main Street for about a mile. In the morning, I come to work riding east, and in the afternoon, I leave going west.

Last year, when I took that route once in order to do an errand, I had extremely strong winds blowing against me almost the whole way on Main Street while coming home. I didn't think much of it at the time. But this year, I've now ridden this route 3 times, and every damn time I've got the same really strong wind hitting me. I have never noticed much wind (with me or against me) during my morning ride. But when I leave in the afternoon, like clockwork, there's the wind, always against me. Today it was so strong that I ended up riding on the sidewalk because I was having such a hard time keeping up my momentum (even on a low gear) that I was starting to wobble a bit. Once I turn the corner and get a few yards down the next street, there isn't much wind at all.

I know there's not much I can do about it, as it's the only other route I can take while this construction is going on (anything else would involve going several extra miles out of the way). But has anyone ever heard of such a thing - wind always blowing in the same direction, in the same place, at the same time of day? It just seems really strange to me. If it makes a difference, there is an airport on this part of the street, so there is a wide open patch of land on the side where I'm riding as I head home. But I'm not sure if that explains the wind always coming from one direction only.

10 Wheels

Wind and Flat tires are part of bike riding everywhere.

Frankgt2

Usually the wind starts getting strong about at 10 am until 4 pm, at least where I live... There is not much you can do, but get aero mode

Machka 

Yes, there is usually a pattern to wind development depending on several factors such as buildings or the lack of them, mountains, large bodies of water, etc. ... that's where the term "prevailing winds" comes from.

Pete In Az

Down canyon wind in the morning. Up canyon wind in the afternoon. Always a headwind. Some days it's stronger then others, but, it's always there.

The Slow One

That's very typical.

That happens near oceans and other large bodies of water during the day because the land warms faster which heats the air and causes the air to rise over the land drawing in air from the over the water.

That occurs on the bay near me. I usually ride near the bay in the morning and on typical days it is nice, but if I go later in the day there will be a strong wind off the bay. There are a lot of variations, though, caused by other factors. Frinstance, if there's a storm coming in from the Pacific there'll usually be a strong wind coming from the completely opposite direction (the west).

AlmostGreenGuy

My commute is along the Hudson River. I have a light headwind on the way to work in the morning, and always a strong headwind on the way home in the evening. It sucks, but there's no stopping it.

DataJunkie

Every area has its own weather patterns. Ours is somewhat chaotic but there is an underlying pattern.
Soon the late afternoon thunderstorms should restart. Oh fun.
Then there is the Mt Evans hell after noon weather pattern.