Worst Weather to commute in

tailwindhome

Hailstones

Ben6899

Rolf F wrote:

Ben6899 wrote:

Rick Chasey wrote:

Rolf F wrote:

Rick Chasey wrote:

They're like invisible hills.

No - wind is not like invisible hills! Hills are generally done after less than 15 minutes and are often fun and satisfying. 50 miles into a strong headwind on the flat is a totally different proposition!

S'a big hill then eh?

You'd have a different attitude if the only hill in the area where you grew up could be done in 5 or 6 revs. Yorkshire is great for riding.

I'm from Yorkshire and, yes, it is great for riding. But from my parents' house, there is also the option to head east where it's just about pan-flat. That brings headwinds and on some days it is so tough, you arrive back absolutely shattered.

That's pretty much precisely the circumstance I was referring to in my original quoted post! The only difference was that I was remembering a ride from Leeds to Lincoln; the headwind arriving as soon as I turned South just after Goole.......

Yep well the ride of which I speak does head to Goole. The way out is fine, but you just know the minute you turn to make the return journey... already 30/40 hard miles in the legs and then a headwind.

Love it.

Paulie W

Once cycled home in a white out snowstorm accompanied by thunder and lightning (and wearing very much the wrong clothes) - it was ride or sleep in the office. It was kind of fun but it was a case of wondering what was going to get me first - a passing car, a bolt of lightning, a faceplant on the ever-slippier tarmac or hypothermia.

rhext

Anything plus a strong tailwind is good.

Anything plus a strong headwind is bad: but there are degrees of badness. Heavy sleet is the absolute pits, for example. Snow can be tolerable (if you have eye protection) or torture (if you don't).

And then on very rare occasions, the weather just gets so bad that all you can do is laugh and enjoy it or curl up in a little ball and wimper.

optimisticbiker

TailWindHome wrote:

Hailstones

+lots.... I cycled from London to Maastricht on an early spring holiday one March a few years back (took 8 days). One day, just outside Sint-Truiden, it hailed so hard we had to take shelter in a bus stop, it was physically impossible to ride. The hailstones were pea- to golf-ball sized and covered the road to about 2" depth; it was worse than riding on loose gravel and it hurt too!

That day the weather threw everything it had at us... it was definitely the worst day (weather wise anyway) ever I have had on a bike...

Jay dubbleU

Black ice - don't mind if I can see and avoid it - worst weather experience stuck on a glacier in a thunderstorm with guess what - steel axe in one hand and steel crampons connecting me to the ice

itboffin

+1 on the ICE, just not going there ever again by choice.

Soooo WTF is my front garden covered in snow when no one else in the road is? It's one of you barstewards isnt it!!!! :evil:

Jay dubbleU

Yup - woke up and thought 'What'll really annoy ITB ?' cycled over from Swindon with a snow machine on the bike - are we going to have another Ridgeway ride when the snow gets serious ?

deptfordmarmoset

Night-time sleet in a gusting headwind weakens my desire to live by several credit ratings. You can't see where you're trying to go and the wind makes you not see where you're going for far longer. There's something about strong headwinds that always leaves me exhausted for at least half a day afterwards. I think a lot of this is from the noise which turns something that is already hard work into something genuinely oppressive.

prawny

Gusting wind is the worst. If it's constant you can deal with it however depressingly hard it is, gusts are just cack.
Any kind of precipitation is fine as long as I'm dressed for it, I love riding in really heavy rain, although it's better on the way home when you know you haven't got to put wet gear on again at the end of the day.

antlaff

Cold,snow,hailstones,sleet,ice I can deal with, with the use of cyclewear/tyres/bike but strong winds are a killer. Unfortunately, there is nothing out there to help cyclists cope with winds that push you towards the wheels of a 2ton killing machine!!!