Darth Lefty 

Try not to be draggy. It'll help.

79pmooney

I don't believe this is true. Lets take two cases. 10 mph wind. Case1) You are not moving. You are being push sideways by a 10 mph wind. Cast 2) You are going 10 mph. Now you are seeing a wind from 45 degrees from head on with an apparent speed of 14.1 mph. (Vector addition, freshman math.)

Aerodynamics tells us that the force we see is proportional to the square of the wind velocity. Case 1) has a force of 100 units. Case 2) has a force of 14.14 squared = 2oo units. Now, we are only interested in the side portion of this 200 unit force which will be the cosine of 45 degrees X 200 units = 141 units.

So, going the same speed as the crosswind means seeing 41% more side force than moving very slowly. (Going half the crosswind speed will result in 12% more side force. Twice the wind speed, 124%)

Now the plus to going faster is getting far more results for your steering input. Ie, when you turn the handlebars to adjust to a wind strength change, with speed, far more happens. I once took this to the limit. I rode my loop on a day of storm winds gusting to probably 45 mph. Didn't see a true headwind (trees and hills) but saw the full crosswind. There was no traffic so I rode almost the middle of the road and needed all that was on my right. I knew I should stop and wait out the next wind cycle as it was building but I didn't dare come to a stop with the crosswind knowing I was a sitting duck if the strength changed while I was riding slow. So I gutted out the next (wild) 1/2 mile then turned at speed into a driveway and made the easy stop with the wind at my back.

Ben

Daniel4

On paper, going off-course is less if your forward velocity is high.

In practice, you'll need reaction time to avoid collisions. Not only that, we all know damage and injury in a collision is lower going slow.

So if you're out in the open with no obstacles anywhere, go for it. If you're in traffic, go slow and pay attention.

Bandera

Wind, rain and lousy surfaces: Welcome to commuting by bike.
If you don't want to be late for work and you have a cross-headwind put some extra effort in and/or leave early.
Get on with it in current conditions is not a theory and "I'm late (again) because it's windy" doesn't cut it as an "excuse".

PS: "Echelon" is not a fancy French restaurant downtown.

-Bandera

rhm

In theory, I don't think it matters. In practice, I think you have to figure it out for yourself.

I think this is one of those situations where: if you feel safer, you [i]are[/] safer. Go the speed that feels safest, and you'll be okay.

That said, I don't think your particular bridge looks that dangerous, but I would probably slow down a bit when the wind is particularly gusty, especially if the wind direction was threatening to push me off the sidewalk into traffic.

Korina

Draggy?

Korina

Thanks. The wind threatens to push me off into the bay; correcting threatens to push me into traffic, or at least that's how it feels. Guess I'll just have to suck it up.

Only four more years, and the Humboldt Bay Trail will be complete and I'll never ever have to ride that stupid highway again. Ever.

CliffordK

I think this would depend a bit on the gusty nature of the winds.

Touring at Crater Lake a year and a half ago, at every hilltop I'd get slammed with a hard cross-wind. I thought my panniers acted like sails and just about knocked me off the bike

I can't say if speed made a difference, but what did make a difference was getting down off of those hilltops as quickly as possible.

Abe_Froman

I think it's an interesting question. I'm sure it's been answered somewhere.

You're exerting force against the wind...to an opposite force has to be exerted somewhere. Is it just lateral pressure on the tires? This shouldn't really have an effect on speed...but who knows. It's possible it does..even if it is just increased rolling resistance.

And there's a lot of data on wheels with and of the wind...I'm inclined to think a crosswind slows you down. But I just dont know

Darth Lefty 

Baggy sweaters, extra large panniers, deep section wheels, trench coats, parachute pants, ball gowns.

Korina

The question isn't how does the wind affect your speed; the question is, what's the best way to ride in a crosswind so you don't get blown off the road?

79pmooney

You lean into the wind to counteract the tipping force. Your tires resist all that force just like they do when you go around corners. So (in steady-stated winds anyway) side winds are very much like taking corners except that your handlebars stay (almost) straight. And yes, this does slow you down. You pay a real price in rolling resistance for that side force. You are not likely to notice simply because the added wind resistance penalty is so high. (See my post above.)

Ben

caloso

Get low, stay loose, ride steady. Just like you would on any sketchy pavement.

Abe_Froman

Eat more, obviously.

Being serious though...I must be a ******. I've never encountered any significant steering issues that were wind caused. Could be I've got fairly shallow rims though.

wphamilton

When it's gusty, I feel like I have to react much more quickly and "emphatically". Similar to "flicking" the bike, more forceful counter-steering to correct.

Korina

Try it with 36" of pavement.

52telecaster

a strong crosswind slows me down big time. do you ever actually bicycle in the wind?

fietsbob

any of those red flags with the black square flying, How many?


1 flag storm/whole gale
warning 55-73 mph

2 flags hurricane
warning 74+ mph

Darth Lefty 

The steering problems are more obvious on a motorcycle than a bicycle because on a bicycle you are correcting them constantly in a rhythm and on a motorcycle you must hold the correction steady. The bike wants to make a coordinated turn so you can't simply shove it into the wind like a car. Even though the bike is turning your balance point isn't turning with it like it normally would, so you wind up with the bike tilted over into the wind just a little but your body still upright.

CliffordK

That comment was from 11 1/2 years ago, with poster not posting in the last 5 years.

But, yes, it is a common feeling that if the wind isn't with a person, then it is against a person.

According to Sheldon Brown, somewhere around a 10 degree tailwind is the break-even point between a positive effect and negative effect.

Headwinds, Crosswinds and Tailwinds by Jobst Brandt

So, according to that, a direct side-wind is a hindrance, not huge, but some.

Reynolds 

If the crosswind is really strong, I would walk.

DVC45

Slower. You can't beat the wind.

DVC45

That!