Will we remember 2011 as the year of the wind ?

Ezy Rider

I remember February 2011 and thinking roll on spring as i cant wait to get out riding, then early march was bloody freezing ,yet still i was excited about springtime. I was well miffed that the severity of the winter played major havoc with the mileage i clocked up over the winter and i was delighted to hit the roads full on at the end of March

1st ride out into the spring season ............bit windy today ,but ill plough on. :roll: several more rides, is this friggin wind ever gonna let up !! :x get into the summer months and the summer to rival 1978 that was forecast never materialises , its chucking it down and still windy. i head off to lanzarote where its 30 C hot dry and calm down in puerto del carmen, ahhhhhhhh this is bliss. get back home and the wind is howling :evil: enter autumn and no improvement at all, my mileage is way down on last year and every time i go out it is into swirly and gusty weather, is this bloody wind ever going to take a hike !!

enter winter, night dropping like a stone, storms, gales and thumping rain.

in cycling terms for me, 2011 has been an absolute stinker. that damned wind at the start of the year simply never let up. was anybody elses cycling year ruined or severely compromised simply by the amount of wind present in 2011 ?

On another moan, dont think much of how the forum looks now, wish they had left it just the way it was..........if it aint broke............

merak

Wind is your friend. How else are you going to spend half your ride getting some ace training in, and the other half bowling along on the flat at 25mph like a pro? Make friends with the wind, don't resent it or fight it.

briantrumpet

Ezy Rider wrote:

On another moan, dont think much of how the forum looks now, wish they had left it just the way it was..........if it aint broke............

One of the pluses of early onset dementia is that I can't remember how the forum looked before, and anyway, it works, so I don't really care. And though I can remember the wind from after Easter (and moaned at the time), the mildness of the past few weeks is decent compensation. Am looking forward to another pleasant autumnal ride in the sun tomorrow. And it's nearly December. Glass half full.

mattward1979

Yeah the wind pretty much killed my enthusiasm for cycling this year, and my bike went into winter storage 2 months ago.

Hoping next year is better!!

hammerite

We do live in the country with the best wind resource in Europe apparently, I don't think this year is special.

Zoomer37

Definitely year of the whinge

sloppyschleckonds

Zoomer37 wrote:

Definitely year of the whinge

rick_chasey

Stop whining!

cougie

It's always windy. Get used to it.

This is the year of the incredibly mild start to winter - its 14 degrees outside today.

Anyone who put their bike away 2 months ago missed some really nice weather.

essjaydee

Yeah the wind pretty much killed my enthusiasm for cycling this year, and my bike went into winter storage 2 months ago.

WTF :shock:

Bloody fair weather cyclist :roll:

I've suffered with flatulence all my life, even got expelled from a French lesson at school for farting into the microphone on the communication system and disrupting the class :!:

So any wind ain't a problem for me

amaferanga

Just a normal year.

Crimmey

my word!.... just cycled home. That's the worst I've been in.

hammerite

cougie wrote:

This is the year of the incredibly mild start to winter - its 14 degrees outside today.

That's bloody annoying, I was hoping I could break in my new winter boots on tonight's ride following how cold it was yesterday.

gingermagician

I've only been back on a road bike since the middle of August, so this mild autumn and start to winter has been a right result for my point of view.

Have yet have to wear anything more than a SS jersey over a compression base layer yet - even on the Sat morning club run onto the foggy North Downs. The full gloves and roubaix tights have been out the last couple of weekends though.

Looks like Saturday could be a bit chillier mind - hope my Windstopper overshoes arrive from Wiggle in time!

Ezy Rider

I headed out on sunday , windy as usual and freeeeeeeeeeeeeezing cold. Got to one of the main roads I was going to head up and it had a traffic diversion road closed sign. Normally id tut and choose another route, on this occasion I shivered and headed back the 10 miles id already covered and back to the warmth of my house.

Wimp I know, but that bloody wind , the chill and my knocking knees

nhoj

GingerMagician wrote:

Have yet have to wear anything more than a SS jersey over a compression base layer yet - even on the Sat morning club run onto the foggy North Downs. The full gloves and roubaix tights have been out the last couple of weekends though.

Tights and SS jersey? I hope that base layer has long sleeves!

Garz

I think 2011 has generally been milder weather, less sunshine and a tad windier than 2010.

briantrumpet

Garz wrote:

I think 2011 has generally been milder weather, less sunshine and a tad windier than 2010.

You can find out for sure if you look here: http://www.wunderground.com/history/ - you can choose any airport location and get averages for any time period you want over the past year or three. I haven't done it for my locale lately, but for the period May - July, I think everything was pretty much average, except the wind, which was 2mph more than the same period last year.

gingermagician

nhoj wrote:

GingerMagician wrote:

Have yet have to wear anything more than a SS jersey over a compression base layer yet - even on the Sat morning club run onto the foggy North Downs. The full gloves and roubaix tights have been out the last couple of weekends though.

Tights and SS jersey? I hope that base layer has long sleeves!

Yep, long-sleeved. Padded bibs under the tights too, so not that hardcore

EFCdaveMCR

Crimmey wrote:

my word!.... just cycled home. That's the worst I've been in.

Were you heading West? I was heading East in South Manchester, no wind, and I was AWESOME 8)

Velonutter

Wind is free pain and the more you ride in it the faster you get.

Consider it some extra training!

As for putting your bike away for winter, get real, we haven't even had a frost yet, bit of a wimp aren't you!

I only revert to indoors when it is freezing, snowing or raining, otherwise ride through the year.

mcp73

I was out in the Peaks yesterday and though it was certainly extremely windy and tough going at times, I don't remember many years when it's been this mild in late November. I think we should be thankful for the clement weather, after all, if you're going forwards you'll always have some wind in your face right?

Ezy Rider

EFCdaveMCR wrote:

Crimmey wrote:

my word!.... just cycled home. That's the worst I've been in.

Were you heading West? I was heading East in South Manchester, no wind, and I was AWESOME 8)

and then you headed home which equals west and you got stopped dead in your tracks by a gale ?

Ezy Rider

Velonutter wrote:

Wind is free pain and the more you ride in it the faster you get.

Consider it some extra training!

As for putting your bike away for winter, get real, we haven't even had a frost yet, bit of a wimp aren't you!

I only revert to indoors when it is freezing, snowing or raining, otherwise ride through the year.

free pain is listening to my wife nagging and i gget more than enough of that. i dont shelve the bike for winter at all, i just wish the bloody wind would tone down a bit as its been ever present the entire 2011

EFCdaveMCR

Ezy Rider wrote:

EFCdaveMCR wrote:

Crimmey wrote:

my word!.... just cycled home. That's the worst I've been in.

Were you heading West? I was heading East in South Manchester, no wind, and I was AWESOME 8)

and then you headed home which equals west and you got stopped dead in your tracks by a gale ?

I'd done the westward journey in the morning before the breeze got up too much, just the odd nasty gust at that time. The journey I'm talking about WAS the "heading home" journey.

woodywmb

We've got the tennis bat snowshoes looked out up here in Scotland.

gnashers

I always have wind...

Crimmey

Just found out why Tuesday was my worst windy ride out ever -

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-manchester-15948258

phy2sll2

IMO, 2011 has been warmer, drier and windier than 2010.

If you look at the http://www.wunderground.com data, it seems to back that up (this is from Gatwick, I think, and first 11 months of each year for a fair comparison):



Also, looking at wind speed and directions, I think the wind in my area has been more consistent in it's direction with a higher proportion of 'high wind' days (avg. wind speed > 30km/h).

Velonutter

Ezy Rider wrote:

Velonutter wrote:

Wind is free pain and the more you ride in it the faster you get.

Consider it some extra training!

As for putting your bike away for winter, get real, we haven't even had a frost yet, bit of a wimp aren't you!

I only revert to indoors when it is freezing, snowing or raining, otherwise ride through the year.

free pain is listening to my wife nagging and i gget more than enough of that. i dont shelve the bike for winter at all, i just wish the bloody wind would tone down a bit as its been ever present the entire 2011

I'm only jesting Ezy.

Seriously though, I know we all moan about wind, but after a few years it does get easier, it is still there but it is almost as though you can cut through it better as you build more power.

Yep probably this year has been windy, but if you don't ride in it then you don't get stronger, don't forget everyone else's times tumble in a head wind as well, just some become more fatigue than others!

Just keep riding and soon you'll just shrug your shoulders and move on!

ForumNewbie

I remember April and May this year as being very good weather, April in particular being very hot.

Yesterday, when I was out it was particularly windy as it has been a few times in the last couple of months but over the whole year I've not noticed it worse than other year, and I've clocked up my highest mileage this year.