Cycling on windy days

Funnily enough I noticed that only today. Again

I think this is worthy of a PhD theses.

It would also need to take into account the related phenomenon that when you are cycling with a tailwind the lights are always red, but when you've got a headwind they are always green… just, if you sprint for 'em and you always do.

surely you should be able to go much faster when the wind is behind you? but I have never actually experienced this. anybody?

ah but when the wind is behind you you get to the lights too soon and you have to stop… obviously not everyone actually does. Not sure what happens to them

Wind comes directly down from above and blows in all directions at once. I thought everyone knew that.

I was asking myself the same question only the other day 'Why is it, i do a circular route but am always riding into wind...?'

Surely it's related to the famous Greg Lemond quote along the lines of cycling "never getting any easier; you just get faster."

Put another way, if you're always going as fast as you can you are quite literally riding into an ever-increasing headwind as air resistance increases on that logarithmic scale thingie.

The trick is to slow down. I will try to convince myself of this as I'm struggling in this morning.

Couldn't we build a large windshield around the whole of the island of Britain? Thus preventing any strong winds from the Atlantic from ruining cycle commutes and leisure rides.

Is it getting more windy in this country. Cycling in NE england, it seems to be windy every day.

No, actually I'm so extremely very fast that the wind never catches me and so I create a headwind even if I'm in a 100mph tailwind. Honest.
P.R.

So what if you had two cyclists cycling in opposite directions along the same road. Do they both have headwinds?

That's, like, Zeno's paradox. Wow. Heavy stuff.

My wind comes from the bottom.

Lose the spacers and invert your stem if its pointing up. Stick it in the big ring and once you pass 30mph, you'll be more concerned with air resistance and drag so the wind is irrelevant.***wakes up***

I always think a strong wind is like an extra 2% on a gradient.

Nature did that for us: its called "Ireland"

The older you get the stronger the wind gets... and it's always in your face.
- Jack Nicklaus

Anyone remember earlier in the year, in the three months after Easter when it was tres windy for no seasonally apparent reason? I witnessed a cyclist travelling in the opposite direction (along Kennington Lane) experiencing the same head wind as me.

I thought it was odd at the time but now I realise I was part of a ZENO? experiment.

I truly hate Zeno's paradox. IT'S NOT A PARADOX. WTF MAKES IT PARADOXICAL?
Oh look, you never arrive.

0f course you never arrive (Imagine I'm John Cleese at this point), you've set the conditions of the whole thing such that you'll never arrive.

Nnnnnnnnnn-waaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAGH!

Ooooh, look at me - motion is impossible.

and relax

I'm sorry, there's supposed to be some cycling content? Er, don't forget to take the lockring out of the Tracon hub if you're truing your R-SYS wheel. There you go.

I'm sure it's been a windy year in general

I actually got blown off my bike for the first time ever this year! Cycling home from work on a particularly exposed stretch of road between Eastbourne and Seaford I decided it might be safer to cycle on the grass verge rather than the road as I have hybrid tyres on.
I tried to get up onto the verge at a point where there was a drop down to get onto the grass and at the exact moment I made the jump.. GUST! FACK!

I've noticed that it always seems to blow harder when it's my turn to take the front in a group. Several mates have confirmed this suspicion. Some sort of conspiracy?

Really windy now in Cambridgeshire+no hills.

Aero position is the only way I get through it and think of all the great training you will get!

Best thing to do: accept the British weather is rubbish, no more moaning and get on enjoying the riding and no malaria.

Any excuse to roll out this video won't be missed

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1kNkV2a-bs8

Agree with Fish_n_Chips

Where I cycle in South Wales it's a choice between lots of hills where you at least get the "weeeeeeeeee" factor going down or a flat wind tunnel along the Severn Estuary. The scenery is beautiful though and the wind thing, well it's character building, apparently

Never known it happen this way round before but -:tailwind commute this morning
:winds changed direction to give me a tailwind home
:winds going to change direction overnight to give me a tailwind in the morning

what have I done to deserve this

If you can't get your bike to stay on the ground so you can actually get on the thing then you know it's windy!

http://www.cyclingbrussels.be/?p=387

Geeky stats for y'all:

http://road.cc/sites/default/files/weather stats.JPG

I think these measurements are from Gatwick, so slightly Londoncentric, sorry.

First eleven months of both years BTW. Trying to be as consistent as possible.

So: warmer, drier and windier.

Also, wind direction was much more focussed this year:

2010
Most frequent wind direction: SW (11%)
2nd most frequent: WSW (10%)

2011
Most frequent wind direction: SW (18%)
2nd most frequent: SSW (14%)

Fascinating stuff, I'm sure you'll agree!

Huge mistake, took the fixie to work. Head wind for five miles both ways. At one stage the gusts were so strong I was down to 2mph. Llegs are still burning

@giff77, think of it as good training

I've a theory for this thesis. You are far less aerodynamic on a bike at going into the wind i.e. the position of the torso, head and arms effectively 'scoop' the air and slow you down. But look at a cyclist from behind and its a far more sleeker position (even if I say so myself). Therefore a tailwind just blows over you and doesn't give you that added assistance we all crave.

The answer is to create a sail (which the UCI ban under the 'fairing' rule) or to sit on the bike backwards like a rower would. I can just see Cancellara and Martin's revised TT positions.

I feel the need to resurrect this posting. Just cycled home from work; I feel like I have been assaulted by an industrial hairdryer. Thats without mentioning the lightning, rain, sleet and hail. I actually quite enjoyed it! No such thing as bad weather; just the wrong clothes! If I say it enough I might believe it myself.

Strong winds in London terrify me. Feel like I'm going to be swept under a lorry all the time - guess the big rucksack makes me all the more blowable.

I just came up with a theory about winds in your face all the time. Tall buildings funnel the strong winds straight down from above, and when they hit the ground they'll spread out in all directions. So that's why the big gusts come from front, back and sides.

I eagerly await someone to tell me I'm talking nonsense.

Wherever I ride I feel like there's a 30 kph headwind.

Went to get my bike to go to work - gone bar two skewers flat mates thought that in light of the 'stronger' winds it was a 'good' idea to hide the bike. They also hid the wheels. The single speed was there though, minus wheels as well I should add.

Raleigh mentioned this thread on another forum; so thought I would resurrect it...again! Somewhat appropriate especially round here; more gale force wind and heavy rain tonight..... Will either get to work in 5 mins or 5 hours!

OHMIGOD

S'been soo windy in Suffolk this entire week.

I normally work hard in headers and recover in tails, but THERE HAVE ONLY BEEN HEADWINDS

Amazed that this thread has been resurrected. We need a similar discussion about rain.

Hell yeah. Took a ride out to Moreton last year, got there in super quick time. When it took twice as long to get home straight into a headwind, I realised why

went out round the north of Bath yesterday in 'mixed' conditions. got hit by a big shower and associated wind as we were heading east on an exposed flat stretch, got blown along at 50km/h+ for about four miles. it was *ace*

it was quite a lot less ace when we turned for home though

The wurrst thing is when you are enjoying an almost tailwind, you're quite close to home and you feel like you've done your work for the day, and then the road you're on turns 90˚. For me its normally quite a shock, as you normally forget about the wind...

Crosswind got me this morning when on a roundabout. Was pretty hairy. After that a block headwind for 7 miles. Had to resort to the granny ring it was that bad that and sideways rain. Tough morning but the next few days are to be good if accu weather is to be believed.

Just got home The powers that be could not resist giving me a quick drenching But even though the route is straight (ish) I never have a head or tail wind all the way there or back I get half way and the wind changes I think it is because of the wind chaneling down the valleys Anyway tonight the second (hilly) half was assisted I am pretty chuffed with myself because I have cycled to and from work every day this run of shifts And got wet every day.... Will I see in the new year?

Rules 9 & 5!

Has been as windy as I can remember this winter...not to do with sprouts either...

Throw in some of the cloud bursts we have been having and despite the milder temperatures it hasn't been the best of riding conditions.

Brutal winds in Glasgow today...brought my bike in for the 52k ride home. Wind gusting around 55mph. No chance I'm riding in that.

I'm not crazy?!

Actually, yesterday in the shop I heard two very seasoned cyclists discussing a ride, and caught mention that "for once the wind wasn't against us the whole time."

Truth be told, I've always attributed it to the fact that I'm cycling North and South, and over here wind generally blows West to East, so I just figured I was always somehow angled into it..

Really windy the last few days. Stopped in my tracks a few times by the force of the wind.

spent the last few weeks riding the 16miles to work into a head wind and getting blown home, last week the wind has flipped round, so now i am with the wind to work and head wind home.

When i say headwind i mean gale!

Be nice to just have a few days with no wind!

One of the joys of commuting across the vale of evesham is no shelter!!

I was trackstanding at a roundabout yesterday when a particularly big blast of wind started pushing me backwards. I tried to hold it out but I had a brief moment of feeling like my front end was starting to lift and didn't fancy landing arsewards on the car bonnet behind me so I unclipped and got my feet down.

I did notice a fella the other week riding southbound down the A6 in Longsight really struggling against the wind, we both shook our heads at each other in disbelief as I fought against equally vile winds going northbound.

I was doing the best part of 50kmh (assisted) on Sunday when I had to smile at a girl in racing kit fighting in the opposite direction. Her expression said it all - something like "if I keep this up, can I have a tailwind too?!"

However, I reckon the wind goes something like this. 14mph headwind + 14mph bike speed = effective 28mph wind in your face. (Yes, I have heard of Einstein and relativity, stop nitpicking.) Contrast that with 14mph tailwind and 14mph bike speed = minimal wind force on your back. It might allow easier displacement of the air directly in front of you though, so like me on Sunday, you don't feel a tangible push on your back, but the Strava results say you were flying.

Look on the bright side, I learned much about bike handling in crosswinds recently. I'm off to buy some 80mm deep rims!

I am glad the wind has swapped around. It might still be blowy one way but at least it is warm. If the wind is from behind and pushing you down a slight incline and you start picking up speed with no wind resistance, going faster and faster; I call this 'Vitesse,' effortless speed. Sadly it is a rare feeling.

ya big jessie. cycled home via Inchinnan and Glasgow Airport to get home. A few hairy moments but I made it. 10 miles of a block headwind on 80 inch fixed and I made it - just. Thighs still burning. I reckon rule #9 applies in this case

Just done 32 mile today in northumberland, v windy, and a result to stay on bike n get round in one piece

I used to get properly worked up commuting home into a headwind, which it invariably was, until I realised that mother nature ain't gonna change so I just have to get my head down (pun intended) and grind it out.

Now I prefer headwinds to crosswinds, they're worse, especially when you're north of 20mph and you go past a gateway to an open field!