Atlantic Coast - Direction?
 

Hi all,

My husband's family is renting a house in Emerald Isle, NC, this summer, so we are trying to plan a short bike trip that ends here (maybe 300-400 miles). Is there a rule of thumb here in terms of which direction we should ride (North-South or South-North). I know when we did the Pacific Coast last year, the consensus was to ride North-South because of prevailing winds, scenery, and biking infrastructure.

Any guidance would be appreciated! If anyone has any suggestions on places to start our trip, we would love to hear them!

Thanks!

You're on the Internet, Look up the wind patterns through out the year. Try noaa.gov..

It's where I go to get my 5 day local forecast.

Are you referring to riding ACA's Atlantic Coast route or riding down the east coast in general. If the former, I don't think it matters much, at least not for the part above the D.C. area. That's because the route isn't close to the actual coast in most places. (Don't know about south of D.C.) Now if you are talking somewhere like the S. Jersey shore, most days the wind blows roughly south to north. Yesterday I finished a three day trip by riding north along the coast from Ocean City to Atlantic City to catch the train home. Had the wind at my back the entire way. When I stay down there and ride I typically go inland in the morning, ride south and then head back to the coast to take advantage of the typical tailwind going back north, which tends to pick up as the day goes on.

https://weatherspark.com/averages/30...-United-States

I rode the Atlantic Coast from south to north a while ago. Still like having ocean on my right hand side, though I don't recall consistent wind being an issue until I reached the Canadian Maritimes. Had some headwinds in FL, tailwinds in NC and a lot of areas without too much wind.

Not a real factor on the East Coast like it is on the West Coast or Prairies.

Winds

weatherspark.com has lots of weather averages, along with their weather radar with replay, and years of daily weather graphs.
For instance, Wilmington NC averages
Their wind directions chart. Summer has more southerly winds, but they can come from any direction. And the average speed is only about 8 mph, a light breeze.

https://dbffkv15yp72v.cloudfront.net...ercent_pct.png

Anyway, the east coast isn't north-south, it's more northeast-southwest.

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weatherspark also has precipitation info:
https://dbffkv15yp72v.cloudfront.net...ercent_pct.png

and temperatures encountered during the 24 hour period:
https://dbffkv15yp72v.cloudfront.net...ercent_pct.png

Is this a 300 to 400 mile one-way ride? I would consider something like Roanoke VA to Emerald Isle, about 300 miles. You could add some miles on the Blue Ridge Parkway that passes near Roanoke.

Along the coast a 15-20mph wind can develop on any day.

From the north - New jersey area which would put you about 300 plus miles out, and if you are riding the coast, and i mean as close to the coast as you can get, the prevailing wind come from the south. You will get north or NW wind only for a day or two after a cold front passes.