Rootman

Thanksgiving day here in the USA the weather was cool with overcast skies but man was the wind fierce and directly head on to my southern route. These old bones were really creaking heading largely uphill AND into the wind.

At one point I looked at the speedo and it said I was doing 1.8 MPH! I was wobbling around fighting for every revolution, I nearly hung it up and turned back. Wind was gusting 25-30 MPH. I hunkered down as low as I could go an pressed on. 1:50 for a 15 mile trip - I had planned on 1 hour or 1:20 at most. I did manage to hit 20mph+ on a few short stretches as the wind died down briefly and I was on a downhill.

I know being a noob my experience was probably a walk in the park for most. So what's the worst wind you have ever faced?

fietsbob

Peak Gusts of 100mph in 2007, right here .Days power down over the whole County.

26 & 30 blocked by downed Timber.

Retro Grouch 

I honestly can't remember the greatest wind that I have ever ridden into.

One of the owners at my LBS, however, once had his wife drive him 100 miles so that he could bicycle all the way home with a 25 MPH or so tailwind. That's one way of telling how much your wife loves you.

Louis

Back in the '80's, on a late August ride in western Ohio, the wind was breaking off cornstalks. They were flying across the road barely missing us as we leaned into a heavy west wind. Not sure of the wind speed that day...but every time I tell this story, it gets stronger.

mprelaw

I have no idea. I live along the coast, and winds are a fact of life for me. I know that there are days when it's kicking up dirt devils of sand along the shoulder, and I'm bucking it using my 34/21 or even 34/23 combo on the flats. I'd say that's probably 30-35 mph winds.

During Sandy it was blowing 50 sustained out of the east. I didn't test those. There's a point where stupid begins, and it's probably 10 mph below that. You get caught out there in changing conditions, that's one thing. You adapt as best you can. Staring out in a full gale? Idiotic, IMO.

Headwinds suck the life out of you, but crosswinds can be dangerous. You can hear higher gusts coming before they hit you. I move left. I've seen other riders get blown right off the road. Sometimes they stay upright and recover. Sometimes there's a 6-8" drop from the pavement. The crash isn't too bad, unless they fall onto rocks. That has to suck.

apollored

There was a pretty fierce wind the other day that was threatening to blow me over into traffic on a fairly major main road.#

Had to slow right down and fight to keep my bike upright in the cycle lane.

NOS88

I'm not sure of the MPH, and it was a cross wind, but it literally knocked me and the bike over. It blew us right off the side of the road. That particular gust also took down a tree about 30 yards further off the road.

Dudelsack 

A few years ago I got caught out in the boonies with a ferocious cold front moving through. The gusts were up to 45 MPH. It was so unnerving I walked my bike DOWN hills and tried to make the time up when I went uphill.

Fortunately I made it to my car before the rains came. That would have been rubbing salt in the wound.

ChrisM2097

I haven't ridden in very windy conditions, and never paid much attention to wind speed. But about 5-6 months ago, on my commute home, I was really struggling to maintain about 7-8mph on a flat section that I normally do about 16-18mph.

stapfam

2000 and a metric in the New Forest. It rained-and we had a strong wind. Circular route and the wins always seemed to be in our face. The wind gor stronger and the last 5 miles saw us going across a high moor with absolutely no shelter from the horizontal rain in our faces. Pace line and as you got to the front you got off it. 70mph was recorded up on that moor at the time we were struggling across it.

2006 and a 100 mile offroad ride on the Tandem. The wind gradually went from our right to a near headwind and 60 miles in we passed some Radio masts and the sound of the wind whistling through them made us think about stopping at the 65 mile mark. 50 mile winds and the news decided for us. Riders were being blown off the bikes further on and it was expected to get to gale force 7 and rain. We stopped.

howsteepisit

25 with gusts up to 40. That was about 5 years ago, I have since given up riding in heavy winds. They were so bad that I was down to 3 mph, and welcomed hills because they provided some brief shelter from the wind. I was in Montana then and the wind was southerly, brining in a nice spring day warm up though.

cccorlew

I rode the Solvang Double Century this year. Not much wind on the first 100 miles, which took 6 hours rolling time. Then the wind preceding a storm came up. It was brutal. I found weather stations reporting mid twenties, but we were near the coast and I'm sure they were 30 at times. It took 10 hours rolling time for the second hundred miles.

I thought I was going to die. Imagine a pack of cyclists in a tight group struggling to maintain 12 mph. It was so demoralizing.

Solvang is supposed to be a "easy" double. Ha!

jdon

Generally I start losing interest at the 30 mph mark. I have ridden in stronger but that is to finish a ride, not start one. I find traffic gets a little too erratic and flying debris can be pretty dangerous.

Pamestique 

Living along the CA Coast I can say I've ridden in my share of stiff winds... two times I remember vividly... doing the lighthouse Century; on the way out to the frigging Lighthouse, the wind was so stiff I could not manage more than 3 - 4 mph (the road was flat!!!) even with a draft. I was in tears and wanted to turn back. The man I was riding with, a man I had a big crush on, encouraged me to keep going. I almost killed him a time or two but I was glad to get to the turnaround and turn back... for 10 miles I was pushed back going 30 mph without pedaling! Now talk about cool!

The other time my friend and I planned a trip to Carmel and wanted to ride Carmel By the Sea 17 mile drive. Poor timing; it was raining and bitterly cold and the wind was blowing so hard, you could not pedal into it. We had to get off and try and push. Eventually we found shelter along side some driftwood and a kind motorist offered us a drive away from the Coast. We jumped at the lift. We weren't going anywhere anyway...

Pamestique 

Really? Explains to me why I have no interest in doubles!

Pamestique 

I have alot of stories of dangerous cross winds as well... one of the funniest (cause thankfully it did not include me)... I was riding behind this big pack during a Santa Ana event... they were all in a large group going up this steep hill and whoosh, strong gust; knocked a couple of riders on the left down towards the right and I watched the bowling pin effect take the whole group down. It was awesome to watch... thankfully no one was seriously hurt. I turned around at that point... I ain't no fool (well sometimes).

lhbernhardt

North of the 49th parallel (Canada/USA border), we don't get hurricane-force winds as a general rule, but Vancouver has lots of bridges, and every couple of days each year, you have to be careful crossing with the crosswinds trying to divert the front wheel.

Riding the Borrego Springs Double this year, we were getting high winds the days leading into the event. On the day, the wind blew as hard as ever, but much of it was a tailwind up the initial 20-km climb. And then you'd go around a corner and hit a solid wall of wind that would bring your climbing speed close to zero. I heard one guy got blown over. Yes, this was going up the "Glass Elevator," Montezuma Road.

The best wind I had was at a masters stage race in Mexico City back in the 90's. One of the stages was an individual time trial, but it was point-to-point, and we got a tailwind all the way. I didn't have aero bars, I just used the road bike, but I put it into its biggest gear & just spun it the whole distance. The computer was up around 50 kmh+ all the way. I think I won that stage, as I recall...

Luis

Bikey Mikey

I believe I rode in a wind with 20mph sustained and 35mph+ gusts. I was nearly knocked over when I crossed a short bridge and it was a cross wind.

GFish

Last fall, sustained winds were 30mph+ with gust up to 45mph. I kept reading and hearing from other experienced riders to just HTFU and get out and ride. The idea was to ride into the wind to simulate hill climbs, according to these experts.

So I did just that. Riding with strong cross winds and headwinds was challenging, but what I remember most was the return home. With a strong tail wind, I was able to hit and sustain 35mph on a flat road. Pretty cool feeling moving that fast without the aid of steep decent.

TomD77

Sept of 2011 there was a tropical storm about and the winds were "sporty", gusts past 50. I was trying to get in a ride of whatever length around my house. In one stretch, I was going up a 4% grade at 12 MPH without pedaling. The rest of the ride was mostly sheltered.

B. Carfree

The most annoying wind I ever rode in was the first time I did the "really, easy" double in Davis. The Capay Valley had flooded badly during winter '83, so the route was changed to include an 80 mile southbound stretch down right down the Sacramento Valley to home. Of course it was 105F that day and there was a south wind of around 20 mph all afternoon. I remember being on my 26-tooth granny chain ring when a small paceline went by. A young woman on the back looked at me and with pity in her voice said, "We're really not going very fast if you would like to hop on."

Nearly 2000 riders started that day, but only around 500 finished. People were jumping on the sag bus at the 180 mile mark; they just couldn't take any more wind.

I've ridden in stronger winds, but I've never suffered more in the wind.

steve0257

Not sure what the wind speed was, but a couple of years back I was on a ride where I had to pedal downhill. If I didn't keep pedaling I would stop. This was on a hill where I normally coast at about 25 mph.

overthehillmedi

4% grade, eh? That must be one of the steepest hills in the neighbourhood.

DnvrFox

This one was pretty strong!!

tsl

I tried to get in a ride before this hit.



I wound up at the furthest point from home when it came roaring in, like the proverbial freight train. Rode home into it, down in the drops and in the granny ring.