Unnatural wind?

mattward1979

No not the bean induced kind...

For the last 2 and a half years of cycling, Summers have been warm, and virtually windless, making for a great riding experience!!

This year, a constant 10-15 MPH wind has been present every day for months now.. and thats on the best days!!

Have I just been lucky for 2 years and now its just back to normal? If so, im looking to move country... I hate it here!!

desweller

Weather changes from year to year. I'm afraid you'll just have to take it on the chin. Look on it as character building.

lochindaal

Hi Matt. I agree this year has been crap. i don't think I've had one day out this year in Scotland heading out in SS Top thinking this is a really nice day. There has been a westerly wind since April. Prevailing wind here is normally from the East

pilot_pete

Prevailing wind here is normally from the East

Are you sure?

LeicesterLad

Couldn't agree more, its been absolute shite! Its actually getting me down, Windy non stop for two months, its not nice to just stroll around in, let alone ride the bike in. Unbelievably the nights start drawing in just over a week, and so far i don't think i can say ive had a day in t-shirt and shorts other than one weekend in april, i had the central heating on yesterday FFS. The wind has wrecked the garden beyond recovery also. Im going down to cornwall in 11 days time, and if the weather doesn't change, i just might not bother going. Really Really dismal. :evil:

rubertoe

Its always a headwind as well! - never a tail!

lochindaal

Quote:
Prevailing wind here is normally from the East



Are you sure?

Yes. I surf as well so watch the wind a lot

mattward1979

lochindaal wrote:

Quote:
Prevailing wind here is normally from the East



Are you sure?

Yes. I surf as well so watch the wind a lot

So at least you have one sport that you can embrace the wind with!! Strap a sail to your board and off you go!!

In an effort to try and muster some enthusiasm for the L2B this Sunday, just bought some things from Wiggle... Unfortunately they were out of stock of weather changing devices, so had to console myself with some new brake blocks and gloves..

night_porter

A surfer in Scotland, now that's what you call a real man!

I bet he rides a fixie with a 52-11 too

bearfraser

It's the bloody jetstream moving arround again apparantly.

StillGoing

It's annoying. My routes tend to be head out south to avoid going through the city and gongested roads, trouble is the route back is always wind in the face. I keep trying deperately to find a route that takes me north for the first part of the ride so I can come back with a tail wind rather than the other way around. If this is going to be the norm now, will folks have to start LEJOG the other way around too to avoid a head wind all the way to JoG?

bompington

This is something like the normal distribution of wind in the UK - Coltishall simply because that's what came up first in a search, I can only guess it's on the met office climate site because it's fairly typical.

This doesn't look very different from where I live, on the east coast of scotland:

but there are different ones, for instance Dyce (Aberdeen airport) which is affected by the Cairngorms being slap in the path of the usual south-westerlies

As you can see, posters who are experiencing prevailing winds from the north and east are highly unusual compared to all these - not only is the wind coming from south round to west for a much higher proportion of the time, a higher proportion of those are stronger winds (bigger blue bit compared to yellow).

But anyway, let's be honest - I can't count how many times I've been moaning to myself about the headwind as I ride along, only to go past some body of water that doesn't have a ripple on it....

night_porter

OMG if that is your spokes no wonder you are having problems....

synseal

Just done 45 miles round benemedena ,mijas costa and alurin al grande ,very hilly great veiws but 32 degress ,oh well cant have everything.

MountainMonster

Headwind just makes you stronger, yeah it may not be that fun to ride in, but its not too bad!

I often get some decent wind, including get caught out in 60kmh wind gusts while out in the mountains once. That was scary!

bennyandrew

i did 12 miles on the Solway coast last week with a headwind at the end i wanted to throw my bike in the sea.I have never known a year like it.

Buckled_Rims

Strangely, I actually thought about that yesterday morning. After about 50 miles, of a gentle breeze, I picked up a headwind for the last 15 miles back home. I wont repeat what I said to myself but it was a few choice words as I struggled at 16mph on a section I normally do well over 20mph on.

I was also on the Richmond sportive 2 weeks ago and I think there was a headwind for almost 50 miles!

prb007

JOGLE'd in early May and we had a headwind for 988 miles -
I think you 'll find that my cat is somewhat blacker than yours

danowat

The way I see it is this.....

You cannot control the weather, so you have two options.

1) MTFU and get on with it
2) Get annoyed everytime the conditions aren't perfect, and let the weather continually mind-f**k you.

night_porter

+1

Also always choose to go with the tail wind on your outward journey because if you choose to head into it it almost definitely will have reversed by the time you are coming home.

Take the help while it is there! You never know it may reverse and help you home too!

JohnBoyUK

Matt, know you are local to me so I know exactly how I feel.

Our club does a fitness loop on the North Cray Road every Tuesday evening and for the last 3 months, heading up it towards the Ruxley Roundabout has been into a 20mph headwind. I'm averaging 16mph on the way down to the roundabout and then 25mph on the way back to Bexley Village.

So blooming annoying but its just a matter of getting the head down, work hard and hope Summer finally gets here sooner rather than later!

mattward1979

Well if the weather could stay like it is right now for the next 3 months, Ill be a happy camper

Just did my 30 mile loop down through Otford/Kemsing then back up the A20 to Dartford in record time and loved every second of it!!

Might do it again later!

keef66

I do try to choose a route that takes me into the headwind on the way out, so I can pretend I'm Mark Cavendish on the way home. Apart from the speed obviously. And the thighs.

briantrumpet

I too had a nice ride in just a gentle breeze this morning - I'd quite forgotten the pleasure. Back to normality this afternoon though, and a strong headwind on the way home from work.

holker

mattward1979 wrote:

No not the bean induced kind...

For the last 2 and a half years of cycling, Summers have been warm, and virtually windless, making for a great riding experience!!

Which country do you live in? Obviously not the sae one as me, England, where the last few summers have been wash outs

Thebigbee

Think it just depends when and where your ride.

Have had some excellent rides with no wind either way this year.

However on recent rides looks completely flat, no breeze on trees etc - then I get down the beach and am doing really well.

Turn round and my speed halves!

I have to get off the exposure when it is like that.

I can do 13mph - 15 in the drops.

I just don't enjoy it at all after about 4 miles so just try and find somewhere a bit more protected.

Wind is my biggest enemy. I can manage a headwind for a while but if it forces me to get into the drops to average 14-16mph - I find nothing about it fun.

Maybe I am just a pussy...

pilot_pete

Remember that prevailing wind is the predominant direction from which the wind comes, discounting local effects (such as Anabatic/ Catabatic winds).

The prevailing wind in Western Scotland is the same as the prevailing wind in the rest of the UK; from a Southwest to Westerly direction. This is due to the Azores High Pressure System and the consequent Gulf Stream effect, which brings warm, moist air (don't we know it!) across the UK. You may think that the UK is not the warmest place around, but the Gulf Stream currents keep the UK much warmer than it should be at this latitude. Have a little read of the first few lines here http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/climate/uk/ws/

The whole of the UK weather is largely dictated by this Gulf Stream flow combined with travelling Atlantic low pressure systems, which if you watch the weather forecast on TV you will see nearly ALWAYS come from either the south west or west (hence their name!).

Air flows from HIGH PRESSURE systems (Anti-cyclones) to LOW PRESSURE systems (Depressions) (the air tries to equalise out the pressure, like a full balloon being released in a lower pressure room). The spin of the earth causes the flow of air to curve as it tries to get from high to low. For this reason a circulatory pattern is set up. High pressure systems in the Northern Hemisphere have a clockwise (and outwards) flow of air and low pressure systems (remember the ones which dominate the UK weather) have an anti-clockwise (and inwards) flow of air. The wind flows parallel to the ISOBARS shown on a weather chart (the black concentric rings).

So imagine a low pressure system just about to coast in over western Scotland. The prevailing wind will become overpowered by the local wind associated with the low pressure system. If you are at the same latitude as the low pressure system centre, the first direction you will experience will be a southerly flow. Once it passes the wind will steadily keep changing direction until you eventually feel a northly flow in the tail of the low.

Low pressure systems are also characterised by FRONTAL SYSTEMS that they carry. On a weather chart a typical low system has a warm front (the black line with the little semi-circles on it) which is followed by a cold front (the line with triangles on it). The warm front typically travels slower than the cold front, so the cold front catches up, hich is when you get an occluded front. The 'fronts' are just a plot of the points where two air masses of differing temperature meet. Various cloud formations are associated with the frontal areas and hence rainfall patterns. For instance, the bit between the warm and cold fronts is VERY moist air and leads to low level overcast grey cloud and lots of drizzle.

The Met Office has some explainations here http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/education/teachers/indepth_understanding.html#p05

So as you can see, all this can overpower the PREVAILING wind direction, but the prevailing wind is just that and in the UK it is West or South West...

PP

Pilot and very basic Aviation Meteorologist [/i]

Thebigbee

I am sure what you said PP is very pertinent.

I was down the beach watching what must have been a pro - he didn't come off once - a guy windsurfing and flipping and surfing the waves.

He must of been going at least 25mph.

I had to cycle back into that wind.

It wasn't enjoyable in the slightest!!

briantrumpet

And so it goes on.... the forecast winds down here for the next four days: daytime gusting up to 29, 36, 24, and 28mph.

StillGoing

So hacked off with it the turbo has come out. If it isn't the wind it's the uncertainty whether it's going to stay dry or rain. One or the other I can stand but taking wet weather gear only to boil in the bag because the sun comes out, or dress for warm weather only for the heavens to open is a pain. I hate carting anything more than a rain top with me extra clothing wise. I'll carry on doing reversed intervals until the weather gods sort their argument out.

mattward1979

I was actually considering skipping the L2B this weekend as its a 20mph side wind and potential rain for the entire day...

But we have a Hotel booked now so have to just man up and ride it!!

I cant believe I am digging out my waterproof socks and jacket for a ride in June...