QUESTION: How much wind is too much for cycling? It’s very windy where I live, and I am a little bit afraid of the gusts. Any tips? —Debbie F.
RBR’S STAN PURDUM REPLIES: One of the first things that new riders learn from experience is that cycling into the wind or dealing with a strong crosswind requires much more effort than having the wind behind you or riding on a calm day. More experienced riders will tell you that given the choice between pedaling up hills or into a strong wind, they’d rather have the hills — because with hills, you eventually reach the top and get some relief, whereas wind usually keeps blowing, offering no relief.
This chart from the National Weather Service is helpful in judging the risk from winds.
Winds with sustained speeds of 40-57 mph bring a high-wind warning from forecasters. (At sea, sustained wind of that speed is called a gale.) Although some pro-cyclists may continue to ride if they are already on the road when high-wind conditions arise, most of us who are mere mortals wisely choose to stay off the roads in winds that powerful. And that’s not just because of the intensive labor required to make any progress pedaling; it’s also because of the significant risk from airborne objects and of getting blown out of your lane or even off your bike. The weather service says the risk to life and property at these wind speeds is “high.”
Winds with sustained speeds of 26 to 39 mph, or frequent gusts of 35 to 57 mph, merit a high-wind advisory from forecasters and an assertion that risk to life and property is “moderate.” Most cyclists will still find riding quite difficult in these conditions.
Sustained wind speeds of 21 to 25 mph, or frequent wind gusts of 30 to 35 mph still makes for tough riding, but the weather service says the threat to life and property is “low” in these conditions.
Most healthy riders can pedal in wind blowing up to 20 mph, even with frequent gusts of 25 to 30 mph, which the weather service brands as “breezy” and with a “very low” threat to life and property. But if your route puts you into the wind, either directly or quartering, the ride may not be much fun.
However, if you can somehow work it out to have most of the ride with the wind at your back, the ride can be thrilling. I was visiting a friend in Florida one time, and he lived near the sound end of the Suncoast Trail, a 42-mile paved path that parallels the Suncoast Parkway, a four-lane, high-speed superslab. A chain-link fence separates the trail from the road, but that offers little shelter from the wind.
When riding together we often started at the south end and rode north. But one day, when the breeze was gusting strongly from the north and was forecast to continue that direction all day, my friend’s wife offered to drive us to the north end. We gladly accepted, and once on our bikes, we fairly flew the 42 miles down the trail.
For most rides, however, keeping the wind at your back the whole time is not feasible, but on days with brisk winds, many riders purposely ride into the wind while outbound and their energy is high, and thus have the wind behind them on the way home, when they are tiring.
Most of us probably don’t know exactly where we’d draw the line because we may have handled unexpected strong gusts while out riding, but not having a wind gauge with us, we didn’t know how powerful the winds were. Nonetheless, many riders set wind speeds of about 20 mph as the limit for their rides.
A word of warning: Wind at almost any speed is not a friend to aero and time-trial wheels, but with strong crosswinds, the risk can be significant. Although the most recent designs in aero wheels handle crosswinds somewhat better than the earlier versions did, you still need to be aware that the wheels can be blown off course by strong winds, and that especially a front aero wheel in wind can make your steering twitchy.
So if you expect high winds, put on your non aero wheels. If you’re riding aero wheels when wind speed increases or starts to gust unexpectedly, slow down and keep your hands on the bars. For info on the physics of aero wheels, see this RBR article.
To learn more about cycling in the wind in general, see this RBR article from Coach Fred Matheny.
Stan Purdum has ridden several long-distance bike trips, including an across-America ride recounted in his book Roll Around Heaven All Day, and a trek on U.S. 62, from Niagara Falls, New York, to El Paso, Texas, the subject of his book Playing in Traffic. Stan, a freelance writer and editor, lives in Ohio. See more at www.StanPurdum.com.
Perhaps I’ve just gotten wimpy in my old age, but when the winds get above 15 mph, I switch to the gravel bike or MTB and head for the woods. This is particularly true in cold weather, as the woods provides some degree of shelter from icy gusts.
These options didn’t exist when I started riding, but I’m happy to take advantage of them now!
It might just be me, but I notice my road bike with disc brakes affected more by cross winds than my rim brake bikes. The rim depth on the wheels along with riding positions are the same on all the bikes so I attribute it to the discs.
Riding west to east doing a XC trip across the US I encountered all types of wind. For a good number of days it seemed the wind direction followed the sun…..it would start blowing from the east but gradually change direction over the day. The worst winds on that trip were in Nebraska. I attempted to ride a time trial bike starting in Nebraska since the terrain was so flat but I couldn’t keep the bike stable even riding on the tops of the bars.
The most unsafe winds I recall ever riding in were going across Rocky Mountain National Park on Trail Ridge Rd. Wind gusts were 50+ mph at 12,000’. Descents were the worst with the bike being uncontrollable. We were getting blown over from our lane into oncoming traffic. Many riders elected to dismount and walk.
agree! RMNP’s TRR has some sections that are darn right scary. On a calm day it is incredible- I ride it before it’s open to cars on May as well as Old Fall River Road in June. The best. Horsetooth dams are another potential bad place to be in high winds.
Disc brakes as well as a wider wheel profile even flat bladed spokes seem to make a difference to me in crosswinds.. Maybe it’s psychological. Living in Colorado we often have unpredictable weather especially spring and fall.
Joe, I think you are right about the disc brakes and wind. Anything that increases the surface for wind to push against has an effect.
In high winds allow more space between you and other riders….and the edges of the road. Gusts of 30+ mph is about my limit for ‘elective’ group rides. Sudden crosswind gust in that range can blow your bike a foot or more off course without warning.
Agree 100% with Stan that wind riding requires more effort. Beyond energy controlling the bike, it takes more energy riding into the wind than one benefits going downwind. I adjust my route plan accordingly.
How much wind is too much wind to ride in? I think it’s all about the rider rather than the wind. Speed and mass determine force (energy) needed to move an object. And it’s quadratic. So for instance (and this is just a hypothetical off the top of my head) let’s say a rider needs 35 calories to ride one mile at fifteen miles an hour into a 10 mph headwind. If the wind speed is doubled to 20 miles an hour, that rider will need 4 times the caloric input (effort) to travel the same distance, theoretically. So it really is about the rider and not the wind — just how much punishment one is willing to take and still keep a smile.
Another point in this is that reported wind speed is measured in an open area, 30 feet off the ground. Obviously the wind speed at ground level is zero, so the actual wind experienced by a rider is somewhere between zero and the reported speed. In many years of riding weekly time trials in all kinds of wind conditions I have concluded that a rider is actually “seeing” about 1/3 the reported speed. This may sound like wind isn’t that big a thing but if the reported speed is 15 and that means you add 5 mph to your “actual” headwind that is a huge increase in required power.
James Newman has the numbers wrong. The power to overcome aero drag is cubic with wind speed. If you were going 20 mph on the flats in calm conditions and then experience a 5 mph direct headwind, you would need to increase your power by 70%. Using James’ example, power required increases by 80%. And riding 15 mph on the flats into a “real” 10 mph headwind (possibly a reported speed of 30 mph) requires about 45 calories per mile.
15 mph is borderline for me. Often I get caught in higher winds and of course it’s a headwind or crosswind. :-I
Two points I’d like to add:
1. The blast of air from passing oversize vehicles can literally blow you off the road. This has never happened to me but it did to a woman I was riding with. She was in a group behind the bunch I was with and we heard the sirens and later the report at the next rest stop. It turned out that a speeding oversize truck being led by Arizona highway patrol (!), passed her and the vortex behind the truck picked her up and threw her onto the rocky shoulder of the road. She was badly injured through no fault of her own.
2. Beware the wind you don’t know is there. My teammate was riding through a city area with larger buildings. He came to a stretch without buildings not realizing the wind was really blowing and the surprise blast knocked him sideways and off his bike. He wasn’t hurt that badly luckily. A similar thing can happen with gaps between hills.
Never forget that there are different sources of wind that can hit you at any time and even from any direction.
Jim
Ive noticed that riding in the canyons it is often a headwind on a descent as the air heats and rises up in elevation. Also when you go over bridges there can be a crosswind. Nature does her thing!
The size & weight of the rider and the weight of the bike are big factors. Speaking as a woman , 5’1″, 110 pounds, I can tell you I have to avoid wind long before some of my larger companions do. And I am talking about safety, not effort. Once in Costa Rica I reached a hairpin turn on a climb and suddenly found myself 90 degrees off where I’d thought I was going. Can’t figure out how I managed to satay upright. The “Lake Winds” near Markleeville (south of Lake Tahoe) blew us towards traffic, sometimes a foot or two at a time, until we got sensible & headed home. Those big trucks are also pretty scary. When I hear them coming up & they are pretty close, I often stop & put a foot down. Is it really about weight? Yes, because I can safely ride my 35 pound e-bike on a much windier day than my 17 pound road bike can handle.
I have been tossed to the opposite side of the road before and glad there wasn’t a car coming. I’m 140 lbs so not small.
Many years ago I rode a Century that started into the wind. Great, I thought, tailwind on the way back. But a front came through about halfway and we had a strong headwind on the return.
Our flat terrain in SE Texas means we need use the wind to simulate hills,,,but as mentioned, there is no “top” to look forward to.