noimagination

Personally, when it's windy I'm more worried about being hit by flying debris, particularly tree branches (or, entire trees). It's pretty wooded around where I live, so, maybe, gusts > 35 mph or so?
When I'm visiting Rhode Island, there are far fewer trees so it is a bit safer feeling.
As to wind being demoralizing - it is just a question of mindset. Yes, you'll go more slowly and cover less ground. But, (a) you can work on your form (getting aero; pedaling circles, relaxing face and neck, etc.); and (b) you ARE going more slowly, so there's more time to look around and observe the scenery along your route.
I had quite an interesting ride in RI on a very windy day. I was riding directly into a stiff headwind, chewing on my stem, going about 10 mph on flat ground, and it was quite fun. Not from speed, but from battling the wind and seeing things I had not noticed before along the roads.

livedarklions

I try to do this, but over a long ride, the wind direction often shifts. When it works out, it's great, but when the wind ends up in your face in both directions, it really is awful.

livedarklions

Like tunnels? Geography is what it is.

GhostRider62

My bike generally has a rear disc wheel and 60mm front wheel. 30 mph is about where I cut it but it depends if the wind is gusting. I have never crashed from wind.

The most demoralizing wind I ever encountered was about a 600 mile stretch from Dubois, Wyoming to Pueblo, Colorado where the headwind ranged from 20-50 mph with one whole day at 45+. A tourist coming the other way stopped and said, "Sucks to be you, I'm going 38 mph and not even pedaling" while I was on the aero bars at 7-8 mph consuming 200-220 watts.....hour after hour after hour all day long

It is all a mindset.

Hypno Toad

That YouTube clip I posted ... on that ride, I watched a couple riders just crash on flat & straight roads. We had the added challenge of fresh soft gravel on the roads. Riders are fighting with the balance of added weight on the front wheel so the wind wouldn't sweep the wheel away from you and lifting weight on the front wheel so you don't sink into the soft gravel. I was riding my drop-bar Pugsley and still found the soft gravel difficult and 4" tires catch a crosswind like a deep section aero wheel, so crosswinds really sucked! That was my first DNF, the headwinds slowed everyone to a crawl and temps quickly got up to 90F ... I ran outta water with many miles to the first water stop (we checked farms without luck). That was the day I bought my first CamelBak!

jrg1244

Spoken like a true New Englander! On windy days here on the coast of Maine, it seems like no matter which way I turn, the wind is always head-on. Someone up above used the word "demoralizing." I could not agree more.

prj71

That's why I won't ride on a windy day. Have tried it numerous times and only found it to be frustrating.

Hypno Toad

For me, windy days are training days. I race gravel, and I'm not the fair-weather racer ... so if it's windy on race day, I race! I'm all about training in all conditions so I'm prepared for racing.

It's been said in this thread, before I started racing, I was a daily bike-commuter. This got me started with the mindset to ride in all conditions ... and learn what I need to be successful in the conditions on the day.

Now if your not a daily commuter or a racer, feel free to stay off the bike on windy days. Frau Toad is that rider too, she will skip riding windy days and I totally get it!

Not exactly on topic, but I will not race on 90F plus days (note this is 90F AND high humidity, MN doesn't do dry heat). No matter how much training I do, my body can't handle endurance races in the heat. So I do have limits, just not the wind.

indyfabz

Same is true when one is touring unless one has no schedule to keep.

I changed my route for the first day of my two-week starting in northern VT back in September. Headwind was steady around 20 mph with higher gusts. Had plans to meet a friend that afternoon for some sailing. My planned route started out with a fair number of miles along the shore of Lake Champlain. Thought better of it. Stayed inland and took a U.S. Highway to get to my destination more quickly.

livedarklions

I do a 2-way ride where the turn around point is Hampton Beach, NH, exactly 50 miles east of my home. I vividly remember two times where the winds shifted from being from the ocean to being from land right as I turned around. It's almost comically ironic when it occurs, but it definitely is not funny at the time. OTOH, on those rare days where the tailwind turns around just as you do, you end up feeling like Superman. That almost never happens to me, though, as I intentionally will do the in-your-face part on the front end of the ride and the shift is way too unpredictable to deliberately time it that way if you start with the wind at your back.

If the forecast is for winds, though, I usually try to pick a route where it's cross-winds. That did not work well much this year for me, the winds just seemed to be out to get me no matter what I did.

tcs

I'm not trying to N+1 anybody, but...





You (eventually) get to the top of a hill. You can ride for days and never 'get to the top' of a headwind.

CAT7RDR

I had one when I was 4 and gave it up for a Schwinn.

Riveting

I'm sadistic and enjoy riding in somewhat challenging conditions. The hardest part of riding in 25-30+ mph cross winds is when you have to lean/steer heavily into the crosswind to stay upright, and then the wind suddenly stops coming from that direction, or even changes/swirls to the opposite side, and now you're leaning heavily but there's no longer wind resistance, so you quickly swerve in that direction. I had to abort a ride up Mt Evans this year due to fast 25+ mph crosswinds at 13,000' that were blowing me into the car's lane of travel due to this. and I just couldn't counteract the crosswinds effectively enough to hold my line on the shoulder. I like being spanked, but not spanked to death.

Headwinds on the other hand are just extra resistance, like climbing a hill you can't see. And then there's HEADWINDS that can turn a bike into a kite...

livedarklions

Who puts pedals on a tretcher?

I kid, I kid!

'02 nrs

50mph headwinds no prob. if your riding a tank,crosswinds no prob. either.the advantage of winds is a shorter distance for a good workout.Michigan you have to adapt if you want to ride outdoors.

Troul 

I just yell at the clouds. Adapting isn't for everybody.

jnbrown

I would also bail under those conditions.
Another option is to find a hilly area to ride which can effectively block a good amount of wind.

philbob57

IDK ... I started riding again in 2013. For 8 years, I hated wind. Last year, it just didn't bother me as much. I was able to just keep pedaling at a comfortable speed; it was just that 'comfortable speed' was much lower than I had thought it was. My limit was 10 MPH wind until 2020, 15 MPH in 2020, and became 20 MPH in the Spring of 2021. I'll stay home if gusts are predicted to be above 30, though, because the start or end of a gust could throw me into traffic. I turned 77 last year.

cabledawg

I've decided that there is no limit for me any longer. With my car in the shop for over a month, I had no choice but to ride to work any time it wasnt raining. One of my more recent commutes had 20mph sustained winds with gusts over 50mph. I usually ride a big heavy cargo bike and that can help or hinder depending on the wind direction. It was incredibly slow going, but I managed to do it and without getting blown over.

nomadmax 

When it's that windy I go down to Corwin or Loveland, and ride the bike path depending on which way the wind is blowing (I like a tailwind on the return trip). You being from SW Ohio you'll know that section of bikeway is sheltered by trees for the most part.

Clyde1820

My own limit on cycling in the wind: 20mph. Anything more than that, and I feel I'm at some risk of toppling over if the gusts get variable enough. (And on a public street with other vehicles, that could be a very bad day.) I don't mind the extra work, normally, as I do it for fitness and general health, in addition to getting from A to B. The A-to-B aspect can be complicated if it's too windy, as it'll delay arrival at the destination. But other than that I don't much mind. Harder, perhaps, but a better (different type of) workout. It's all good.

Of course, wind can be far too great to make anything enjoyable. Once did a (running) distance race in ~35mph+ winds, which gusted to well over that. Tough run, particularly as the "home stretch" portion was back toward town along a very flat, very unprotected stretch of country road, right into the teeth of the wind. What a nasty-hard day that was. (Wouldn't have ridden a bike on that day, by choice. Too windy by half.)

downtube42

Farting on a windy day is winning

N2deep

That strategy will get you zero rides here. Corpus Christi is flat but our avg wind speed is ~15 mps. Wind is our hills and most everyone rides into the mid 20s if the gusts are reasonable. My everyday route is 12.5 miles into the wind but a fun ride back.

rsbob 

Rode one windy day here with 25-30 sustained with gusts up to 40. Going into it was dicey but manageable but decided to stay away from my gravel route due to large trees potential to lose branches. But with a tailwind I set a PR and a #1 for my age group on a mile and a half segment, so it wasn’t all bad.

rydabent

I didnt read the whole long list of posts, but remember, a low tadpole trike is far safer, and least affected by wind. The safety part is that if the wind is from a riders right hand, it it is trying to blow the rider over in front of traffic coming from behind.