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Re: How much wind does it take to cancel your cycling workout plans? [Striker213] [ In reply to ]
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I rode in 40mph crosswinds on a descent holding on for my life once. Never again.

Anything above 30 and I'm doing rollers.
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Re: How much wind does it take to cancel your cycling workout plans? [Ai_1] [ In reply to ]
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I've never encountered that much wind when it wasn't rainy/stormy. probably 40-50mph gusts are my limit. I've ridden with 30-40mph gusts and it get a little annoying around traffic. Its not really windy until a cross wind sucks the air out of your nose due to the venturi effect. That takes a steady wind of about 20+mph.

Strongest wind I was riding on my tri bike but with winter clothes, training wheels and helmet, I rode 300+ watts averaging 10mph for over 15 miles. I think it equated to something like an long 8% grade that gained almost 8000' vertical. Or probably about like riding up Pikes peak without the low air density.


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Re: How much wind does it take to cancel your cycling workout plans? [motoguy128] [ In reply to ]
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motoguy128 wrote:
I've never encountered that much wind when it wasn't rainy/stormy. probably 40-50mph gusts are my limit. I've ridden with 30-40mph gusts and it get a little annoying around traffic. Its not really windy until a cross wind sucks the air out of your nose due to the venturi effect. That takes a steady wind of about 20+mph.

Strongest wind I was riding on my tri bike but with winter clothes, training wheels and helmet, I rode 300+ watts averaging 10mph for over 15 miles. I think it equated to something like an long 8% grade that gained almost 8000' vertical. Or probably about like riding up Pikes peak without the low air density.
But sometimes there is that much wind when it's rainy/stormy. Are you saying you don't go out in those conditions anyway? Wimp ;)

The worst ride I can remember was when I went for a weekend away which included some casual cycling with friends (most were runners not cyclists). Basically, we were driving most of the way there, leaving our cars and cycling about 50km on a coastal cycle trail to our accommodation. The trip out was easy. There was a little tailwind, it was sunny but cold. Everyone enjoyed it. The following day was a bit horrible, strong winds, rain and some hail. Everyone else went for a 20km run. I decided to try riding up the nearby hill which had a 25% ramp on it. I'd never tried anything that steep before. As I reached the top it was starting to snow and the wind had really picked up. Most of the snow was blowing up one side of the hill, over the top, and down the other without landing! I got off the bike for a minute to look around and when I went to remount I discovered a problem. I couldn't remount the bike. It was impossible to stand on one leg and keep the bike under me while I swung my leg over. I ended up walking the bike back down the hill about 500m until I found a rocky outcropping I could hide behind and remount. It was dicey riding back down but I managed it without incident.

The next morning we were all riding back to our cars and the wind which was still blowing strong (70-80km/h IIRC) was directly in our faces the whole way. As I was the strongest cyclist I ended up leading out the group for the whole ride. Most couldn't ride at all without someone to draft. I was struggling to maintain better than 10km/h and if I remember correctly it took us over 4hrs to do under 50km! It was kinda fun though!!!
Thankfully it was a cycle trail, had it been a road shared with cars it would have been too dangerous to proceed.
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Re: How much wind does it take to cancel your cycling workout plans? [Striker213] [ In reply to ]
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Well, we had the remnants of a hurricane come through a couple of years ago. The ride was cancelled, but a lot of us were already there, so we rode anyway. 25mph winds, maybe?

I brought a batch of Hurricanes for post ride libations!
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Re: How much wind does it take to cancel your cycling workout plans? [Striker213] [ In reply to ]
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If I started to see a funnel forming I'd probably call it a day.
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Re: How much wind does it take to cancel your cycling workout plans? [Striker213] [ In reply to ]
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Anything over 18 knots and i'll be windsurfing so that's prob my limit:)
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Re: How much wind does it take to cancel your cycling workout plans? [Striker213] [ In reply to ]
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Any wind that will cause a yaw angle of more than 10 degrees. My bike and wheels are optimized for shallow yaw angles.
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Re: How much wind does it take to cancel your cycling workout plans? [kdw] [ In reply to ]
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kdw wrote:
If I started to see a funnel forming I'd probably call it a day.

LOL! I grew up in Tornado Alley and now live on Long Island. We had an anvil cloud form one spring afternoon a few years ago and I was the only person that hand any clue as to how dangerous the storm system that causes that formation can be.

To answer the question, I don't cancel rides for wind. I did cut a couple short because it got dangerous as I got tired. The side wind was causing the bike to "skip" sideways and the tires would chirp. I was afraid that as I grew tired I would eventually make a mistake and hit the curb or get blown into traffic.

I plan to ride after work tonight and the forecast says 18 mph gusting to 30 mph and 52 degrees. I wouldn't expect it to be a problem.

"...the street finds its own uses for things"
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Re: How much wind does it take to cancel your cycling workout plans? [kcb203] [ In reply to ]
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kcb203 wrote:
Any wind that will cause a yaw angle of more than 10 degrees. My bike and wheels are optimized for shallow yaw angles.

FTW!


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Re: How much wind does it take to cancel your cycling workout plans? [Striker213] [ In reply to ]
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Generally 50-60kph is the cutoff for me. I find the crosswinds when the wind is that strong blows around the truck trailers a lot, it just doesn't feel safe on open roads.

I have ridden in wind gusting to 90kph and it was just stupid, won't do that again.
Last edited by: tom1111: May 5, 16 14:38
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Re: How much wind does it take to cancel your cycling workout plans? [tom1111] [ In reply to ]
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Detest riding in the wind...but I'll do it. A windy ride is better than no ride...as long as you can keep it safe.

"Headwinds don't blow...they suck. If they blew I wouldn't have a problem with them." Forget who said this...someone more clever them me.

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Last edited by: PM City: May 5, 16 14:55
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Re: How much wind does it take to cancel your cycling workout plans? [oldiegoldie] [ In reply to ]
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Before the house landed on her, Almira Gulch crushed the "Cornfield to the Barn" QOM...


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Re: How much wind does it take to cancel your cycling workout plans? [Striker213] [ In reply to ]
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I'd do 25+ on my road bike all day long if the temps were nice. I hate the trainer. I think it's easier to hold watts into the wind.
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Re: How much wind does it take to cancel your cycling workout plans? [3Aims] [ In reply to ]
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3Aims wrote:
I'd do 25+ on my road bike all day long if the temps were nice. I hate the trainer. I think it's easier to hold watts into the wind.
Yep.
I find riding in headwinds a bit unsatisfying but it's more satisfying than going nowhere on a trainer.

Last weekend I rode 170km point to point from home to the location of a half marathon I was doing the following day. There was a headwind the whole way - nothing dramatic. It started very gentle in the morning but picked up to maybe 20km/h for the second half of the ride. It was great training but not great fun. Thing is I'd never spend anywhere near that duration on a trainer - couldn't do it. Of course if it had been a normal ride starting and finishing in the same place, this would just have been a normal ride as I'd have had a nice stint with a tailwind too to balance it out somewhat.
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Re: How much wind does it take to cancel your cycling workout plans? [Striker213] [ In reply to ]
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Striker213 wrote:

I’m just curious how thick everyone’s skin is in terms of cycling in heavy winds, and how often that influences you canceling a cycling workout for that particular day when you look at a weather report.

I assume everyone is comfortable with a 10 mile per hour headwind, and/or a 15 mile per hour crosswind.

If you brave stronger conditions:
1) What are the max headwind/crosswind speeds you ride in?
2) How far does your average speed drop?

For me, it would be a function of the workout intensity and duration. I live in Conejo Valley (Ventura County in Southern California). We get some wicked winds, especially on Santa Ana days. Before that, lived in Penticton, BC which was at least as windy, likely more so.

If it's a long ride or a hard ride, no amount of wind will force me inside or make me cancel. I've ridden in countless wind advisories. I figure it's good Kona practice. But if it's a very short and easy ride, and it's blowing a gale, I might just hop on the trainer instead. Especially since we get much more head/tail (because of the shape of the valleys) than cross, it's kind of hard to go for an easy ride when you are granny gearing it into the wind at a huge effort and spinning out your biggest gear with the tailwind.

Simply put, if the workout makes it overly challenging to achieve the objective of your ride, then find an alternative. In almost every case, I'd say what that means is if the wind makes it too hard to ride as EASY as you want, do something else. If the wind is going to make the hard part of your workout more challenging? HTFU...

"Non est ad astra mollis e terris via." - Seneca | rappstar.com | FB - Rappstar Racing | IG - @jordanrapp
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Re: How much wind does it take to cancel your cycling workout plans? [motoguy128] [ In reply to ]
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motoguy128 wrote:
I've never encountered that much wind when it wasn't rainy/stormy. probably 40-50mph gusts are my limit. I've ridden with 30-40mph gusts and it get a little annoying around traffic. Its not really windy until a cross wind sucks the air out of your nose due to the venturi effect. That takes a steady wind of about 20+mph.

Strongest wind I was riding on my tri bike but with winter clothes, training wheels and helmet, I rode 300+ watts averaging 10mph for over 15 miles. I think it equated to something like an long 8% grade that gained almost 8000' vertical. Or probably about like riding up Pikes peak without the low air density.

I think in terms of static wind...I'd ride in just about whatever was reasonably safe. 20-30 mph winds aren't really a concern by themselves.

My biggest concern is with gusts. my total mass while riding (bike+me) is 71 kg so strong gusts can really do a number on me. Recently I did a ride with 20 mph wind which was no problem dealing with by itself, the issue was the 35+ mph gusts that made it very difficult for me to keep in control of my bike.
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Re: How much wind does it take to cancel your cycling workout plans? [Striker213] [ In reply to ]
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Striker213 wrote:


I’m just curious how thick everyone’s skin is in terms of cycling in heavy winds, and how often that influences you canceling a cycling workout for that particular day when you look at a weather report.

I assume everyone is comfortable with a 10 mile per hour headwind, and/or a 15 mile per hour crosswind.

If you brave stronger conditions:
1) What are the max headwind/crosswind speeds you ride in?
2) How far does your average speed drop?


With all due respect to most of the replies...I think a lot of people should HTFU.

Uhhh.... what happens when your dream comes through, you make it to Kona, and there are 40mph crosswinds that day? Or, like happened to me in 2014, you travel all the way to Norseman and face howling hailstorm on top of Immingfjell and a gnarly, white-knuckle +10-12K descent down to T2 (Granted, that's to be expected...but you better be ready for it). Or you hit a day at IMoo where it's only 40 degrees and crazy crazy Wisconsin wind (2006, anyone?)? And on and on...

You gotta be prepared for that stuff! And the only way you can prepare is to go out in it.

Personally, I love going out in the shit. Few things make me feel fully alive as when I'm out battling the elements on a bike.
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Re: How much wind does it take to cancel your cycling workout plans? [Striker213] [ In reply to ]
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no idea in numbers but about tropical depression-storm strength. i am pretty sure i've ridden once (just cause) in depression strength and i almost always swim in depression/storm winds (only time the pool is empty) but by the time it hits storm strength you;re getting too much debris out there. for us, (tropics) it isn't so much the wind, it is the wind+rain.

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Re: How much wind does it take to cancel your cycling workout plans? [kdw] [ In reply to ]
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KDW, I bet she could win Kona easy! Wizard of Oz super bike with rear and front basket mount.
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Re: How much wind does it take to cancel your cycling workout plans? [Striker213] [ In reply to ]
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There's a certain tail wind speed where being aero starts to slow you down...
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