Riding in high winds

I was just looking at the weather for tomorrow. 88 degrees and 21 mph winds by the time to drive home from work. How many watch for wind in the weather and what wind speeds do you you limit your ride to ?

 

I watch the weather to know what to wear, but unless there are higher than 50mph gusts I ride anyhow.

Jim

 

haha...I don't worry much about the wind either except with hurricanes but falling trees bother me a bit. I just go slower when the winds are high. I agree with Jim about wearing the right gear and watching the weather reports.

 

Today I was out riding, and there was pretty steady 20 Mph winds coming at me directly on my left hand side. To compensate, I just rode a little leaned into the wind.

As for high speeds, I've found that if I put my feet on the passenger pegs, and get down in a "crotch rocket" position, I'm ALOT less prone to wind gusts. I also have drag bars, so it's pretty comfortable for me to do that.

You just have to be a little more attentive when you ride in the wind, as a good strong gust can make you change directions quicker than you can say crash.

 

Wind is ok once you get used to it.

Countersteer into the wind but have your body leaning opposite the wind to stop the bike cornering. Relax, let the bike find it's balance. Look ahead for sheltered area, be prepared for gusts coming out of shelter and by trucks going the other way.
Knee out on the wind side can help too, think Air Brake!
I have ridden in gale force winds.

 

This is some of the stuff I had to do today. It was tough for me with as little ride time as I've had but once it sunk in it started to become second nature almost.

Thanks to crosswinds I now have a new reason to hate golf courses... :|

Gale force? Really? I think there's a story there you could share... ;-)

 

Silly as it sounds, when the wind is really strong, I stick my knee out into the wind. It breaks up the force of it, and minimizes the effect of the wind.

Jim

 

Yeah, gale force. It was the first time I had ridden the XJ in a high cross wind too, after a few years of not having a bike (you kind of forget these things) and where I re-learnt the technique of riding in the wind.

55 mile round trip, cross wind from the left on the way there and the right on the way back. Yeah I was crazy enough to ride back knowing what was in store for me.

Wind 70 MPH constant with higher gusts.

Have you ever just about cried while riding?

As I say wind don't worry me anymore