Head wind.
10-04-18, 10:18 AM
#27
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Your motion creates an illusion of a headwind most of the time. If you have a weak tailwind, you will feel a headwind. If you have a strong tailwind, it will feel like the air is totally still. Crosswinds also feel like headwinds unless they are very strong.
If you are not in the US, here is a world wind map. Sometimes it's useful to head out into the wind so you have a tailwind coming back.
I commute to work by bike every day. I ride along the edge of the Hudson River in New York City. The river is over a mile wide so it's very windy almost all the time. And both sides have cliffs, so there are lots of eddies: there are a few places where the wind direction is opposite everywhere else. The general weather pattern gives me a strong headwind in the mornings and a mild HEADWIND in the evenings! I'd rather have hills than winds, but that's life.
If you are not in the US, here is a world wind map. Sometimes it's useful to head out into the wind so you have a tailwind coming back.
I commute to work by bike every day. I ride along the edge of the Hudson River in New York City. The river is over a mile wide so it's very windy almost all the time. And both sides have cliffs, so there are lots of eddies: there are a few places where the wind direction is opposite everywhere else. The general weather pattern gives me a strong headwind in the mornings and a mild HEADWIND in the evenings! I'd rather have hills than winds, but that's life.
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Tom Reingold, tom@noglider.com
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“When man invented the bicycle he reached the peak of his attainments.” — Elizabeth West, US author
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10-04-18, 01:17 PM
#28
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True ... except one typically feels particularly strong in this case and picks up the pace ... until there's the perception of a slight headwind. Until I get a wind to my back stronger than my spinout speed in top gear, I'll consider tailwinds in the same category as unicorns and Sasquatch.
10-04-18, 03:57 PM
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10-04-18, 04:43 PM
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Your motion creates an illusion of a headwind most of the time. If you have a weak tailwind, you will feel a headwind. If you have a strong tailwind, it will feel like the air is totally still. Crosswinds also feel like headwinds unless they are very strong.
If you are not in the US, here is a world wind map. Sometimes it's useful to head out into the wind so you have a tailwind coming back...
If you are not in the US, here is a world wind map. Sometimes it's useful to head out into the wind so you have a tailwind coming back...
That’s an interesting observation about a seemingly subjective assessment. I don’t / can’t pick my ride directions but I certainly notice wind speed and direction.
On my Excell spreadsheet I track:…
- Average speed: Not so much to consciously increase, but to use as a measurement of fitness; ridden over pretty standard routes…
- Wind speed and direction: Either as recorded on a weather station, or on a personal 1 to 6 scale (headwind / tailwind) based on flying flags; to explain variations in average speed...
Last edited by Jim from Boston; 10-04-18 at 04:48 PM.
10-07-18, 05:16 PM
#31
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10-09-18, 10:54 AM
#32
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I learned how to sail a boat in summer camp when I was a kid. I'm still very sensitive to wind speed and direction. I can feel where the wind is coming from by comparing the sensations on both of my cheeks or ears. I learned that in sailing, there is a difference between true wind and apparent wind. Our boats had things called telltales hanging on the shrouds. (Shrouds are steel cables holding the mast up.) Telltales are pieces of yarn about two or three inches long. The wind holds them horizontal so they indicate the wind direction. But they lie because the direction of the boat exerts force upon the telltales. So when sailing you have to estimate the difference between apparent wind direction and true wind direction.
How to Read the Wind When Sailing
.
How to Read the Wind When Sailing
.
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Tom Reingold, tom@noglider.com
New York City and High Falls, NY
Blogs: The Experienced Cyclist; noglider's ride blog
“When man invented the bicycle he reached the peak of his attainments.” — Elizabeth West, US author
Please email me rather than PM'ing me. Thanks.
Tom Reingold, tom@noglider.com
New York City and High Falls, NY
Blogs: The Experienced Cyclist; noglider's ride blog
“When man invented the bicycle he reached the peak of his attainments.” — Elizabeth West, US author
Please email me rather than PM'ing me. Thanks.
10-10-18, 02:30 PM
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-it.
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10-14-18, 05:12 PM
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One thing people don't understand is that a cross wind, even something from just "abaft of beam", results in increased drag. The math involves the fact that with air resistance is proportional to velocity times velocity at the velocities we ride at. So it's possible to be bucking a head wind over more than 180 degrees of direction.
10-20-18, 06:33 AM
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It's because we ride so fast that the draft behind us is just catching up when we head back, and is that draft is now our head wind!
11-05-18, 07:49 PM
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I distinctly remember an out-and-back where I fought a brutal head wind for n distance and thought "no problem - enjoy 25+mph on the way back". When I returned to that point, the wind had shifted 180 degrees and was again directly in my face 
Maybe if I had left an hour earlier (or later), I would have caught a tail wind both times
Maybe if I had left an hour earlier (or later), I would have caught a tail wind both times
Seriously, I know what that’s like. At a certain point of the day the winds shift. Also, when riding a route with a tall hill or embankment it can funnel and shift wind direction. And usually when on the way back from a tough ride.
11-05-18, 08:02 PM
#37
Non omnino gravis
Did someone say "wind from every direction all at once?" Yeah, we got that. The Pacific Ocean to the west, mountains on three sides, too many mountain passes to count, and the high desert behind those mountains means I can ride for 4 hours and have a legitimate tailwind for less than 15 minutes. The wind blows from everywhere, all at once. I did it last Thursday-- I rode directly into the wind for so long, when I stopped for a donut break my throat had gone hoarse. We also don't know what 5mph wind means. It's either dead calm, or it's uprooting trees.
We of the Inland Empire never expect a tailwind. Oh, I live right about where the blue dot is on the map.
We of the Inland Empire never expect a tailwind. Oh, I live right about where the blue dot is on the map.
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