Wind. When does Epic become foolhardy?

Bobbinogs

So, long day in the saddle planned for tomorrow and have been looking forward to it. All packed and l cannot wait for the 5.30 alarm call (not). However, latest Met forecast says 30 mph winds gusting to 55mph for most of the day. I am beginning to wonder if that kind of wind is unsafe for cycling ??? Went out today and just the 20mph winds seemed blinking windy, I cannot imagine trying to ride in 55mph...

sloppyschleckonds

25mph+ IMHO is foolhardy

temitchell1987

Doing the LVIS by any chance?

I'm still in two minds about whether to go out tomorrow!

crikey

When did going out in the wind become 'Epic'?

Bobbinogs

Yepp, LVIS on the cards. 220k in strong wind and torrential rain counts as epic in my humble world, blown into the gutter...not quite so epic :-( Decisions decisions...

crikey

Oh, 'strong' wind and 'torrential' rain, so windy and rainy then...

You be careful out there in that 'weather'.

Grahamsjz

The light rain with several hours of heavy rain would have been a challenge on their own, the wind makes it beyond my bike skills.

domhnall_dearg

Wind speed in itself just makes the work harder. A gusty side wind makes things dangerous.
I've been blown sideways dangerously by gusts of about 50mph (checked on the nearest Met Office weather station). Luckily I just missed a rather deep ditch on a very quiet road. Going downwind was fun though!

awavey

I wouldnt have thought it was safe on a bike in winds gusting that high,if you are on the roads with other traffic, youve got to remember no-one is giving you any extra leeway for it being windy, and if you are off road, that kind of speed wind is going to be bringing down branches off trees.

I think it was only 20mph with 35mph gusts todays and I was having to lean into side winds, and then also got caught by classic hedge gap cross wind gust that i dont know if it was just an inch,6 inches or a foot it pushed me completely sideways,I know it scared the <insert expletive> out of me.

Moonbiker

How else would anyone get KOM's theese days?

I decided to give it a name. Climaphobia. Fear of the weather. Not extreme weather like destructive hurricanes, but just the normal weather.

We have developed into climaphobes.

^

http://www.copenhagenize.com/2015/01/cl ... ities.html

ForumNewbie

awavey wrote:

I wouldnt have thought it was safe on a bike in winds gusting that high,if you are on the roads with other traffic, youve got to remember no-one is giving you any extra leeway for it being windy, and if you are off road, that kind of speed wind is going to be bringing down branches off trees.

I think it was only 20mph with 35mph gusts todays and I was having to lean into side winds, and then also got caught by classic hedge gap cross wind gust that i dont know if it was just an inch,6 inches or a foot it pushed me completely sideways,I know it scared the <insert expletive> out of me.

Some of the worst side winds I have seen on a cycle race was today watching the Gwent Weglegen classic in Belgium on Eurosport. The riders were getting blown all over the road and on to the grass verges. With constant rain as well, the riders looked as if they really wanted to give up and get in their team cars and some did. Geraint Thomas was thrown right off his bike by a strong gust but luckily he landed on the grass and was okay as he was quickly back on the bike and by really going some he managed to catch up with the leaders again.

Bobbinogs

Yepp, that was amazing to watch. Fortunately, the pros had closed roads.

cougie

I think its Epic if you survive intact.

Foolhardy if you fall off or get squished.

drummer_boy

I was aiming to doa 50miler on Sat, as I couldn't make the Sunday club ride.

Headed for home after 15miles after nearly being blown under trucks & busses several times!

darkhairedlord

sttrrrraaaaaaavvvaaaaaaaa!
Lots of PB's to bag, whats not to like?

kajjal

You soon get a feel for winds speed that are dangerous to ride in. Especially if the wind is gusting rather than constant anything over about mid twenties means I swap the road bike for the mountain bike.

Strong gusty winds and ice mean it is best not to go out. Rain doesn't bother me that much.

wishitwasallflat

I used to always set 30 mph gusts as my upper limit but recently felt a bit of a wimp so commuted to work when 35-40 was forecast. End result was I have now gone back to 30 as my limit as if a side on gust above that hits its just dangerous as cars don't give you any leeway!

slowbike

Did a 50mile group ride yesterday - 25-30mph winds + gusts was "interesting" .. fortunately the rain wasn't heavy.

Was it Epic? No idea - but the after ride lunch was

fudgey

I spent the weekends rides in the woods, getting wet and muddy on the full susser.
I washed the car on sat afternoon in the wind and it was hatefull, it was even stronger winds on Sunday as i was trying to do some stuff outside and got pretty fed up!

fair play if you went out in it Robin, my road bike was not coming out to play!

Anonymous

Did you guys do the LVIS? More finishers than G-W!

We started the epic but canned it after 70 miles, just after lunch. Didn't much fancy leg 3 to Glastonbury into the headwind for 30 miles!

alex222

Was planning on cycling to work tomorrow, but having seen this thread I checked the forecast and 45 mph winds forecast in the morning.
I think commuting in the car may be the more sensible option.

Bobbinogs

coriordan wrote:

Did you guys do the LVIS? More finishers than G-W!

We started the epic but canned it after 70 miles, just after lunch. Didn't much fancy leg 3 to Glastonbury into the headwind for 30 miles!

I didn't make it. I got up at the right time (5.30 BST) but the forecast had failed to improve so I went back to bed in preparation for a long exhausting day watching the cycling on Eurosport

Seems like quite a few folks abandoned the LVIS halfway with tales of cyclists blown off bikes or ending up stationary at the side of the road and unable to pedal forwards.

Some of my local club did a training ride which took in the Severn bridge which was closed to traffic but open to pedestrians and cyclists...although at one point it was so windy that some had to sit on the ground for fear of being blown off. Now that is the kind of ride that I would file under foolhardy

temitchell1987

I didn't ride, a few guys from my club managed 66 miles and said they felt worse after that than the 95 miles with 8000ft of climbing they did in Majorca last week! I think the wind coming across the Somerset levels would have been an accident waiting to happen!

frisbee

45mph head wind on the ride in tomorrow. Should be fun!

vinnymarsden

I always heed the wind when cycling…I also have a thought that it simply wouldn't be morally right for you to make a driver suffer the upset if you were blown under their car…yes, there are other road users out there in the wind…and hitting a cyclist through no fault of theirs would in my opinion be really upsetting for them equally as much as you. If it;s big gusts I don't go… the man cave has to suffice.
I'm very lucky that just outside my study window approx 200 yes away in open fields is a big pine tree, and i gauge my rides on the bending/stillness of that tree!! It's been a great barometer up to now!!

iPete

Only 2 all time top 10s and 2 KOMs today, too many red lights spoiling play. I'll file that under moderately epic.

vinnymarsden

iPete wrote:

Only 2 all time top 10s and 2 KOMs today, too many red lights spoiling play. I'll file that under moderately epic.

In relation to this thread Pete…whats your point mate??

iPete

VinnyMarsden wrote:

iPete wrote:

Only 2 all time top 10s and 2 KOMs today, too many red lights spoiling play. I'll file that under moderately epic.

In relation to this thread Pete…whats your point mate??

It was moderately epic, not particularly foolhardy and good fun.

mlgt

Wasn't that bad to be honest. I felt the last storm we had was worse. As there was hail involved and I felt I was being pebble dashed on my way home.

Should hopefully be quicker on the way home tonight maybe

iron-clover

It gets foolhardy when your bike starts to behave like a kite when you're walking up the road (and it's not a featherweight carbon machine either!).
This happened to me going up Holme Moss last October- it was getting progressively windy towards the top and around the penultimate corner (<0.5mi to go) I had to get off because it was just getting silly. I didn't even manage to walk all the way to the top because it just kept getting worse and it was difficult to keep hold of the bike. I'd reckon it was a steady 40+mph with perhaps 70mph+ gusts just below the summit. Me and my friend went back the way we came through the valleys rather than descend the exposed South face.

I generally don't ride solo when its forecast much over 20mph (it won't be enjoyable) and over 25mph I start considering not riding at all except in sheltered roads- the problem is the gusts get much worse. For short commutes I ride in worse (and on a more stable hybrid) but even then I was defeated when it was 30mph with 50mph gusts- I couldn't ride into the wind for my normal route home and on a different route as more of a crosswind when a car passed I would be 'sucked' into it because of the temporary wind break so I was forced to get off and walk until it was at my tail rather than a crosswind.

Buff40

It was interesting today....to say the least.

40 mph 'base' wind, 50 mph gusts, went sideways a few times and had the brick wall experience whe riding into the wind. Luckily, I have a bit of ballast

To make things worse, the freehub has just gone in my back wheel, luckily just at the top of the hill that leads down to where I live, so that's a new wheel needed I forsee a trip to Halfords tonight when SWMBO gets home, I'll get a cheapy for now.