Wind wind wind wind wind

raymondo60

If there is a God of Wind then boy have I upset him/her this year.

I'm one of those saddos that keeps a riding diary - a real old-fashioned hand-written journal recording my rides; date, distance, type and, most importantly, conditions, both road and weather in general. It seems that nearly every entry I've made this year makes a particular mention of the wind, especially on my regular commute from Surrey up to Vauxhall. Some examples;

'Jan 22 - 50 miles, Towpath from Kingston to Staines, divert along Wey Navigation & return; at all times wind right in my face, very strong & blustery.'

Sound familiar? How about this.

'Feb 18 - 53 miles -up to Greenwich to watch start of the World Cycle Race. Return via Thames towpath to Kingston bridge, whole way against persistent and sometimes violent headwind.'

The entries go on and on;

'Feb 20 - 28 miles - commute - return into consistent and strengthening SW wind.'
'Mar 29 - 32 miles - commute - wind actually stopped me today - blew me to a standstill on Stonecot hill - mad!'
'Apr 9 - 40 miles- riding into gale force winds along the Thames is harder than climbing the North Downs!'
'May 9 - 28 miles - commute - strong & persistent headwind - newspaper blew into my face, covering my eyes - dangerous!'
'June 17 - 32 miles - Shepperton lock & back - how can it be possible to have headwind on BOTH directions? I'm going crazy!'

Even today my return commute to surrey was in blustery wind that really got up strength at times - and its supposed to be Summer! Is this the windiest year ever for us 2-wheelers, or am i just getting old?????

pangolin

Someone pointed out not long ago (I can't remember who) that it's very likely to feel windy most of the time.

Assume a 10mph wind. If you're going straight into the wind, obviously, that's a headwind. But also anywhere 90 degrees either side of that will be an unhelpful crosswind. So that's 180 degrees that feel windy straight away.

Maybe another 45 degrees either side of that will feel like a strong crosswind too. It won't necessarily be unhelpful, but it won't be pushing you along much either. It will feel windy.

You're left with a small window where the wind might actually feel like it's helping you. Maybe 90 degrees? Maybe less. Even in this window there's problems. If the wind is going at 10mph still, and you are going at 20mph, you will feel like there's a 10mph headwind.

Basically, it's going to be windy. I do agree though, the wind does seem to have been pretty consistently annoying, and strong enough to make itself felt a lot of the time.

EKE_38BPM

Take your parachute off.

veronese68

There is no such thing as a tailwind. There are headwinds, crosswinds and, occasionally, days that you feel really strong.

Koncordski

In a weird way i'm quite enjoying it, finding some space and being the one pushing the air out of the way while you tow a few drafters makes me feel pretty smug about how my fitness has improved.

notsoblue

I kinda enjoyed last night's ride home in a headwind. I just knuckled down on the drops and pressed on. Managed to accumulate and drop drafters on several occasions, that was fun

raymondo60

notsoblue wrote:

I kinda enjoyed last night's ride home in a headwind. I just knuckled down on the drops and pressed on. Managed to accumulate and drop drafters on several occasions, that was fun

I have to agree. One result of riding into the wind is that it ups your effort levels and I must admit to feeling fitter on the bike because of it. I have got home a bit 'wind deaf' on occassions though, but there are also those times, when the wind drops, you feel a surge forward and wonder where all the extra strength has come from! It just proves that, as cyclists, we have a direct and close relationship with the elements, and I am regularly referring to my barometer and the weather channels. Its part of what we do..........