Could I get blown off a bike?
wishitwasallflat
Posts: 2,927
No sadly not blown off on a bike (this isn't BB you know!!).
I ask cause today we had 20 mph wind with 35 mph gusts and I chickened out of going for a ride. In my defense I had my first major fall on Sat when rear wheel slipped on wet road and I am still nursing my road rash!
Makes me wonder though could the wind ever be strong enough (normal UK wind not multiple hunddereds of mph tropical storm winds! ) blow a 19 stone guy on a 10kg bike off or over - how strong would it have to be?
What wind speed do you consider safe to ride in?
Anyone ever been blown off or over on their bike?
I ask cause today we had 20 mph wind with 35 mph gusts and I chickened out of going for a ride. In my defense I had my first major fall on Sat when rear wheel slipped on wet road and I am still nursing my road rash!
Makes me wonder though could the wind ever be strong enough (normal UK wind not multiple hunddereds of mph tropical storm winds! ) blow a 19 stone guy on a 10kg bike off or over - how strong would it have to be?
What wind speed do you consider safe to ride in?
Anyone ever been blown off or over on their bike?
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Comments
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wishitwasallflat wrote:No sadly not blown off on a bike (this isn't BB you know!!).
I ask cause today we had 20 mph wind with 35 mph gusts and I chickened out of going for a ride. In my defense I had my first major fall on Sat when rear wheel slipped on wet road and I am still nursing my road rash!
Makes me wonder though could the wind ever be strong enough (normal UK wind not multiple hunddereds of mph tropical storm winds! ) blow a 19 stone guy on a 10kg bike off or over - how strong would it have to be?
What wind speed do you consider safe to ride in?
Anyone ever been blown off or over on their bike?
It's just frustrating riding in the wind as it kills you speed - 35mph doesn't sound that bad. You just need to be aware of the wind and cycle to the conditions that are presented to you. No different to if it's wet. And obviously if it's windy and wet, you just need to take a little more care again.
The worse case is the wind will push you to one side as it gusts, no different to when you get overtaken at speed by a car or lorry.Simon0 -
Depends on your bike if you have a filled in back wheel or large spokes this is a larger surface area for the wind to blow. I have a race wheel with 1cm spokes and in 30mph wind the front wheel shakes about. I don't go out in winds over 25mph because it can have effect on your riding as if you cycle into the wind it can be extremely difficult. So basically to stay up right you need to reduce your side surface area which means getting low and streamlined0
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Yes you can. It's happened to a girl I know. I was riding that day too and it was probably about 50mph winds. Not pleasant.0
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Nearly did today, down hill, chickened out and slowed right down!!!!0
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Look up the Argus race in South Africa - Cape Town I think.
Winds so strong that nobody could cycle forwards near the start line as they were having difficulty even standing up - get hit by those sideways when on the coastal road and you're over and gone. I recall there was a massive pile up that year for that exact reason - downhill section comes out from around a bluff to be immediately hit by 40mph side winds without warning and you're out of the saddle and far away.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u8wtnBJOgdM0 -
If you get overtaken by a large vehicle during a strong, blustery sidewind, you have to pre-emp the effect of blocking the wind, or else you are down.
Also beware of blown branches tangling in your wheel.0 -
Anything above 30mph you start having to think about it IME - I was riding along the coast road between St. Just and St. Ives in Cornwall and there was a very strong cross-wind which kept pushing me a couple of feet sideways into the middle of the road - it can be really weird leaning into a side-wind too. I was riding medium section rims which doesn't help. Likewise, during TTs a passing truck can blow you off-line, particularly with aero wheels.Make mine an Italian, with Campagnolo on the side..0
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Reminded me of this training video from Holland:Monty Dog wrote:- it can be really weird leaning into a side-wind too.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H8qgjyqibwY0 -
Sounds like perfect wind speed for strava segment hunting0
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Yes. In a wind storm 2 years ago I had to abandon my motorbike for fear of getting blown off and I was doing about 30mph on the motorway. My wife collected me and drove me home. When we got to the Forth Bridge it was close....... because the wind had blown a motorbike over.
A 10kg bicycle would be worse even with less "sail" area.0 -
Interesting glad I stayed in - off to bed now to be out at 5:30 for hopefully a couple of hours on the bike stretching the scabs on the road rash (ouch!) before work tommorow ( forecast says wind drops at 4:00).0
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Yep, happened to me during the severe winds around christmas time, I got picked up by gust of wind and deposited into some of those big black communal bins. I was riding my heavy hybrid too, got quite a few scratches on the bike now. I was running late and there is a fairly enclosed cycle path about a km away from my flat that takes me almost to work and I stupidly decided to risk it. I didn't get more than 300 metres down the road. Trying to walk (actually hobble, my legs were black and blue that night) the bike back to my flat and a gust of wind picked the bike up off the pavement and pulled me into the road and I nearly got squashed by a van. Was a pretty scary day to be out on foot after I dropped the bike off too.0
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On one of my regular training rides there is a big gap in the hedgerow at the bottom of a long hill on a sweeping bend. Going down the hill at high speed its very sheltered but as soon as you hit the gap, if the prevailing wind is strong at the time it shoots through that gap, it can really sh it you up !Giant XTC Pro-Carbon
Cove Hustler
Planet X Pro-Carbon0 -
You have to be careful, and sometimes it helps to be flexible in your route planning, because you could easily put yourself in dangerous situations, but you can often just as easily take yourself out of them by choosing routes and adjusting speeds accordingly.
As with the lorry example above, you need to be particularly weary of anything that will temporarily shield your from the wind, only to unleash it very suddenly! Lorries, walls, buildings, hills, etc.
Head winds are really hard work (mentally mre than anything else, because you don;t feel like you're getting anywhere) but a little bit of a tailwind is always good for your Strava segments
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Yup, it sure can happen. High crosswinds will do it just fine. If you are touring, with panniers crosswinds can be even trickier to handle as you present a more solid profile for the wind to grab0
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I'd say gusting/swirling winds are more likely than a steady wind to cause problems. I've had a couple of times where a sudden sideways gust has blown me a couple of feet sideways. The valleys around the lakes, particularly the south-west facing ones, can be real wind tunnels.0
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I've seen someone sort of blown off a bike. I was cycling to work one morning with a gusting side wind. I was riding a few feet out from the curb, and there was a cyclist in front of me riding almost in the gutter. We were hit with a gust from the right, pushing us both to the left. I moved closer to the curb, but he was blown into the curb at which point he toppled over onto the pavement. I just about managed to swerve round him and then stopped to check he was ok (which he was).
I'm sure he wouldn't have fallen off if he hadn't hit the curb, but he wouldn't have fallen off at all without the wind. Yet another reason not to ride in the gutter.0 -
It had a good go at knocking me off yesterday my ride started well as the wind was behind me,but on the return leg there was certain stretches of the road the wind was so strong I felt like getting off,on my final decent home a couple of gusts tried to take my front wheel from under me0
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Really interesting and helpful replies thanks to all - PS lovely 28miles at dawn today with virtually no wind perfect only pain was loosing 30 mins or so riding time waiting for it to get light enough to set off! Time to take the plunge on one of those Ultrafire torches they recommend over on MTBs!0
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It can be a problem when riding in mountains as the wind can do funny things as it bounces around. I've seen 180kg motorbikes lifted by the wind so reckon the same could easily happen to a cyclist.0
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Take a look at my most recent post caused by strong side wind! I'm a little lacking in skin on my arm, leg, hip and back as a result!0
