epnnf

I was planning on riding today but bailed cuz too windy. They say 15mph w/gusts to 30. I took a walk instead, and yea, tis windy. Decided Im too old (66) to risk a ride.
@ what point do you cancel a ride cuz of the wind? Ever crash cuz of wind (I havent)?

livedarklions

Never crashed, but I might bail with those numbers, kind of borderline. I did bail on a ride this year when they predicted 45 mph gusts. I honestly don't know whether that's super-risky, but it certainly sounded unpleasant.

prj71

15 with gusts to 30....I'd bail also. Fun factor becomes reduced to zero unless the wind is at your back.

Inusuit

Sorta depends on weather and location. If it's sunny and I can ride on MUPs in town, I can tolerate 12-15. On the open prairie around my house, I'm reluctant to go out if it hits double digits. Unfortunately, that means a fair amount of no ride days in Wyoming./

spelger

in other news...farts stink.

MNebiker

You can always depend on BF for quality input, wisdom, and advice.

Hypno Toad

I haven't found winds conditions that will make me bail on a ride ... but I'll reroute to avoid busy roads. I'll also find a Strava segment or two to get some PRs or hopefully a KOM


Edit: per Weather Underground winds during the YouTube edit at MSP were 25 mph with gusts over 40 mph ... MSP is 50 miles from the course, with the course in the rural farm fields, I'm gonna say we were riding stronger winds than reported at the airport.

ofajen

Steady winds of 25+ mph will give me pause to consider the route. It’s about 300 watts for me to hold 10 mph into a 25 mph headwind. With my bikes being SS, that means a cadence of about 50 rpm.

mstateglfr 

Hills are tough, but wind is demoralizing.

I have never fallen due to wind, but 4 years ago I was behind a guy in a gravel race that was blown over due to wind. It was late October with temp in the 40s and wind was a steady 25mph with gusts to 40. He went down a hill into a little valley and at the bottom just went flying directly right off his bike into the grassy ditch alongside the road. Some gust must have hit him in that valley all of a sudden. He was a bit bloody and shocked. I had to tell him what happened because he had no idea how he fell(he was looking at his bike and the road to see what he hit).
Even bloody, he then beat me by a bunch of miles.

BJack312

Up to about 10 to 12 mph, I won't change my route. Up to about 20 mph I will ride a route that is mostly crosswind. Over 20 mph and I will bail. Add in cold temps and those numbers will decrease substantially, and I'll probably just stay in and ride the trainer.

CAT7RDR

Made the mistake of being caught on the Santa Ana River Trail during a moderate Santa Ana wind event.
Pancake flat but demoralizing, exhausting and dangerously dehydrating in 90F heat.
Maybe 20-30 mph gusts but damn! Unrelenting and a grueling 5-6 miles until I could change directions and get off the MUP.

GlennR

I'm 66 at the end of the month and regularly ride with 15mph wind. I've ridden in 30+mph gusts at times.

shmily_dana

I'd do a short ride and change direction frequently around my neighborhood. The houses block some of the wind and I am only fighting head winds for short intervals. Or I might do about a half hour into the wind, so I have a very easy return with a tail wind.

50PlusCycling

Wind gives you a better workout. On windy days I plan my ride so as to ride against the wind, and then ride home with the wind, which helps to push me along.

Steve B.

Hate wind, if it's 17-18 or over, will skip or go mt. biking. I did a commute back to work once, 27 miles, winds in my face at 30+. Going over the Marine Parkway bridge in Brooklyn had me walking a bit in 40 gusts as I was getting blown sideways into the railing. No choice on this as my car was at work overnight.

50PlusCycling

Been there, done that. I remember riding around the Disneyland parking lot in the Santa Ana winds. Yes, there was a time when that was possible, and when Disneyland used to be closed on Mondays. I used to live in Huntington beach, and ride the Santa Ana River trail to Yorba Regional park, sometimes to Featherly Park. In those days once you left Orange (city-of), you left civilization, and it was empty hills and countryside, nowadays everything is developed. In the summer of 1985 temps reached 117 degrees in Orange County during the Santa Anas.

tflt

I used to live in Brooklyn, and ride the bike path next to the belt out and over, either the Marine Pky or the Cross Bay bridge, then head to points East. There would without fail, be a killer headwind heading out, but that was OK, because it would be a tailwind coming home I thought, every time, literally thousands of miles back and forth through the years. Somehow the Atlantic Ocean conspired against me to know exactly when I turned around, and adjust the winds accordingly to assure me a head wind all the way home also. I imagine wherever you are out there on the Island you've had a similar experience riding next to the ocean.

BobbyG

When I was bike commuting I'd bail on days where high-winds were expected, because while I've never had wind blow me down, I have had winds blow me a few feet to the side, and in traffic, that can be deadly.

But sometimes the wind would unexpectedly kick up for the ride home. I'd just take alternate routes to keep me away from traffic.

The last few years before I converted to drop bars, my MTB-commuter had aero bars and that helped with headwinds. Still not fun, though.

Flip Flop Rider

depends on a few factors. If I have not ridden in a day or 3 and I get the chance I'm going. If I'm on a roll with many days ridden consecutively I might pass. Don't like to go too many days without riding

rumrunn6

wind + what? precip? cold? both? guess I have no limits. but prefer to keep those to a minimum. it can be fun, until it isn't

on a cold windy days I'll ride in the forest instead of out in the open

Troul 

Usually if the numbers match, it's not a riding day.
just not any fun, so why lie to yourself saying otherwise?

jaxgtr

In florida, my limit is about 25, if I gave up at 15 mph, I would rarely be able to ride out side.

Korina

Back in the Before Times, when I commuted, my cutoff was around 20mph; since my commute was right on Humboldt Bay, it was usually windy, cross-to-headwind. I wasn't really concerned about being blown into the ditch next to the highway; I was concerned about inattentive drivers being blown into me. On those days I whipped out my bus pass and put the Princess on the rack.

These days, 15mph is my limit, because I can.

jon c. 

Depends on the weather. 20 - 25 mph on the right route can be fun if it's warm. I hate cold wind so I won't ride in 10 mph winds if it's already chilly.

I always try to finish downwind.

Jedneck

I commute so not riding in wind isn’t an option. Do take longer sheltered way if headwindis strong. Most times i just push into wind. That that don’t kill us makes stronger