Riding in the gales.

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  • thegreatdivide
    thegreatdivide Posts: 5,807
    Gusts up to 87mph in Dundee now and in the wrong direction for my commute home. I might have to walk it...
  • cougie
    cougie Posts: 22,512
    I do remember riding a sportif in just about the windiest conditions I'd been out in. It was out past Bala in Wales and there was a 90 degree turn onto a clapper bridge - into the wind I recall. Hardest and slowest corner I ever made. I had to use all my strength to actually turn the bars.

    My mate got there and fell off. Aaah the larks.

    87mph ? Ay caraaamba.
  • thegreatdivide
    thegreatdivide Posts: 5,807
    cougie wrote:
    87mph ? Ay caraaamba.

    Tay Bridge closed, bins blwoing up the street and there's a constant low rumble like a jumbo jet taking off. I'm on the 6th floor of my office. What I should do is get the Mrs to put my Foil in the back of the car and drive me out to Perth so I can rip back into town stealing KOM's...
  • tangled_metal
    tangled_metal Posts: 4,021
    Monday I cycled in and no matter which way I turned the wind was horrendous. I set off thinking it wasn;t as bad as as month or so ago when it was very windy. That timeI took about 44 minutes to do a 34 minutes route (worst time ever was 36 minutes when I was in the grips of a nasty cold and nearly passing out just walking up stairs). On Monday I took 49 minutes to get in. I was shattered a third of the way. It got better once I got to the edges of town but in the country and small village/town sections I really struggled. On one section I was working at my limit on the second or third lowest gearing just to move the bike. I was trying to present as small a target for the wind by tucking in on my hybrid. I still got thrown around like a piece of paper. At one bad section I was getting 180 degree change in direction from left to right across my path on a straight road. That sent me into traffic then into the gutter. horrendous!
  • chris_bass
    chris_bass Posts: 4,913
    thegreatdivide wrote:
    Gusts up to 87mph in Dundee now and in the wrong direction for my commute home. I might have to walk it...

    have you considered moving house? maybe somewhere in the other direction?
    www.conjunctivitis.com - a site for sore eyes
  • thegreatdivide
    thegreatdivide Posts: 5,807
    Chris Bass wrote:
    thegreatdivide wrote:
    Gusts up to 87mph in Dundee now and in the wrong direction for my commute home. I might have to walk it...

    have you considered moving house? maybe somewhere in the other direction?

    I can get to work in under 10 mins = more time in bed.
  • rolf_f
    rolf_f Posts: 16,015
    cougie wrote:
    Rolf F wrote:
    I commute whatever the weather. I have a pretty steep hill at the start of my ride which gets exposed near the top to crosswinds. Riding slowly uphill and with gaps in the trees can make the first five minutes pretty unnerving but it is generally fine after that. If things were really bad I could take a lower route into town. Once in town I'm likely to get the worst of it though because big buildings are far worse than gaps in hedges. I've been riding along with a nice tailwind at 30mph only to have the front wheel lifted off the ground and moved to the right a foot or two thanks to one of the random architectural messes in central Leeds.Going home there are certain places which tend to be a bit brutal but usually these are proper headwinds so less likely to be blown sideways.
    Jeez !Where was it that a woman was killed by a van on a windy day ? The wind was funneled round a block of flats and picked up a van driving by and 'dropped' it on the poor woman ? I'm sure it was Glasgow or Leeds. Really scary.

    You aren't far out! That building is Bridgewater Place in Leeds and it is a stones throw from the one I mentioned. It was a bloke got killed and it wasn't a van that got blown over but a full size articulated lorry (see link below). It's a disaster area that building. I tend to walk past it on the opposite side of the road even in fairly calm conditions because it seems to generate its own wind. The owners are going to, after many years of shameful legal battles to avoid it, put a series of baffles and aerofoils over both the building and the surrounding roads in an attempt to make it less of a nightmare - it's all a bit shambolic. Right now the road is being closed for the second time in two weeks due to high winds. I left home early whilst the gusts were still in the low 40s. Much more palatable than low 50s!

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leeds-16986600
    wishitwasallflat wrote:
    Rolf F wrote:
    I've been riding along with a nice tailwind at 30mph only to have the front wheel lifted off the ground and moved to the right a foot or two
    Fork me does that not scare you? Presumably you are riding amongst some traffic if its between buildings?

    It's on the edge of a patch of urban office sprawl. As it happens, most of the traffic on that street pulls out of a side turn 50 yards further back so if the wind is strong enough to bother me, I'm going as fast as the speed limit allows. Also, I'm in primary at that point moving out to pass parked cars so it's not too much of a problem as long as nothing is coming the other way! It was a bit scary but of course one of those things that is over before you have a chance to think about it. Now I'm ready for it but it is still a bit of a shock when it happens - effectively you go from 30mph tailwind to 30mph cross wind instantly!
    Faster than a tent.......

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