How much wind is too much?
 

I have been very frustrated this spring as the wind seems to blow in my location every day. I have gotten used to a 20 mile an hour wind but I am having a hard time with it when it gets over 35 miles per hour. One of the problems is that the wind is almost always on the nose at least for half of the ride. I wonder what other riders feel about where their threshold is for not riding in terms of wind speed?

meh. the wind blows. I ride into it in the first half of the ride, so I can be super human on the return leg. Its good for resistance training if you dont have hills.

No wind is too much unless you and your bike is flying because of it. Heck, this winter had 20-30mph, I went through it with a solo ride many times. Only annoyance is the crosswind, you have to be careful on those. Nearly got blown under when I did sharp turns and off the cliff into the ocean several times.

Builds strenght and character

When is it too much ? When it's unsafe.

+1, especially gusty crosswinds. I ride with a powermeter so don't really care if there's a headwind, I'll just go slower. High tailwinds are pure fun.

Thinking 35 mph is too much. I went out on a 30-35 mph day once, and the crosswind almost blew me off the road.

i draw the line at sharting premonitions.

wind aint all bad, crosswinds don't bother me much at this point, the one I hate is headwind uphill... and here in the midwest there aren't many hill and most are minimal grades, but enough to get on my nerves... even in the 15-20 range... a still day though I can just fly... love it...

I have lived in many places in the country and "wind" is definitely defined differently everywhere. I am familiar with Wyoming -- I would suggest riding in sub 30, try to ride into the wind to start and then use the tailwind to ride home, if you can control your route in that manner.

On the high plains, spring is generally the windiest time of year. Also, if you can, early morning or evening rides tend to have less wind.

I share your pain. The wind out on the plains is an entirely different animal than many places around the country. I use the <35 guideline, if you go much lower, there just won't be many ridable days.

Best ways I've found to live with the wind:

-Ride very early or very late in the day, these times tend to be calmer. Get familiar with your environs; wind tends to favor valleys that channel and accelerate it.

-I take to the MTB on really windy days and do forest rides. With careful selection I can even find a good canyon route oriented such that it provides a tailwind on the uphill leg.

Where I live and with the routes I normally ride, I often face a headwind on the way out and a tailwind on the way back (which is nice since it gives me a chance to take it easier on the return trip). What bothers me is crosswinds... for some reason, my bike gets rather squirrelly if the wind hits it from the side just right (or maybe it's just me). I'd rather ride into a calm wind, but as others have said, riding into a headwind is great resistance training...

Agree, thats one method allthough it limits other aspects such as light and warmth. If it aint tailwind out on the plains (where my training ground´s at), wind always sucks!

Riding in wind is not fun. It's good for "I just want resistance training", but no or light breezes are a lot more FUN. Here in the Great Plains, we get a lot of 20 mph winds with 30 mph gusts, some 30 mph winds gusting to 40, even occasional 50+ gusts. It's crap. A prevailing 15-25 mph wind with occasional 30-35 mph gusts is awesome for sailing and sailboarding.

It's not just me saying it. Low-wind places have a lot more people cycling than high-wind places. In high-wind-prone areas, a lot more people come out to ride when the winds are down.

If you want to ride fastest, winds are a bummer. You can chart your rides, into a wind, then turn around and ride tailwind, or cross-wind, versus no wind. No wind generates the fastest times. Riding purely cross-wind isn't "neutral".

If the wind is blowing, I prefer riding cross-wind, except if it is gusting 35 or more, it can be dangerous. Sometimes I haul my bike into town to get building and foliage wind-diffusion. On very windy days I stop short of the unfoliated high-rise downtown area, which can funnel winds to very high speeds, even causing "direction reversals" from the prevailing area winds.

Low winds are cyclists' friend. If you ride in a mostly windy, but sometimes calm area, what days of these two categories have given you your favorite rides?

The other day I was riding an area with a couple of hills, doing repeats. I had a tailwind going up and got hot. On the descents, I had to pedal, and pedal hard into the 35 mph wind, just to keep above 12 mph. And got cold from the wind and sweat evaporating. Nuts.

It's funny you mention no wind -- when that happens, I often find myself "cooking" as I can't get enough air flow, so I actually prefer a bit of breeze 15 mph or so.

I appreciate all of the thoughts. We have many days of 35 gusting to 50. My biggest problem is that the track where I usually ride is closed as a result of flooding so I am limited to rides that seem to be most effected by the crosswinds. On the track you have at least a good part of the ride without a head wind and the crosswind doesn't seem as dangerous. On the highway, I have been afraid of being blown out into traffic.

ou want to know what really wind is... read this...

http://www.bootsnall.com/articles/07...h-america.html

I try to HTFU the wind but the smoke with ash from the Arizona and Southern NM fires was all I could take. It has been windier than ever here, windy enough to crack tree limbs, blow off corrugated tin roofs and lift gritty sand and embed it in your hair. There is a car dealership here with a very big US flag. If they take it down I know it is that windy.

Any wind will slow us down over a round trip, like hills will.

+1

Anything over 5 mph....Why bother. Popcorn and movie time.

I find it useful to think of wind as nearly invisible hills.

I find that I can battle winds that blow faster than I normally ride. This is a mystery.

One of my regular routes is a perimeter road around an HUGE airport (an alternate landing site for the soon to be obsolete Orbiter) and some parts - most importantly for me the approach - are protected from a seasonal strong SW wind but when you turn the corner the wind comes straight up a very broad river, over marsh and right on your back. In a steady 25 to 35 mph wind you can get up easily into the 40+ with an easy spin! WAHOO!

Really. Around here our only real hills are county landfills. The wind is my friend and for me, an ex New England cyclist, has become my hill.

We have plenty of mountains in addition to the wind. I stopped cycling when I moved here in the mid-eighties and I now remember why. I won't stop again but the wind is really driving me crazy.

Yeah, I'll admit I can't remember fighting a strong headwind uphill.

That must really suck.

I don't think I would have any problem with a 40 m.p.h. tailwind.

here in AZ the headwind is welcome, you douse your arms with water and enjoy; I actually hate the tail wind that matches your speed, you suddenly are exercising in a greenhouse and quickly melting. This morning at 9:30 the temp on the Edge 500 said 104.4F, so I personally love headwind.