Break that wind!

No doubt, wind can rough up a ride. Which is good for building endurance. And as long as the wind gusts don’t get too high! For me, 20-25 mph headwinds or crosswinds are barely worth fighting. But some riders, like the guy in the video you'll see below, are game for even windier rides.

Just to keep the wind surprises from being nasty, check out the wind conditions for your ride area on Weather Channel the day before you go, and you’ll get a good idea of what you’re up against, if anything. It really is best not to be surprised, by being suddenly blown off the road. Or, finding out too late that you’ll be pedaling for hours into a steady, brutal headwind, just to make it back to your starting point. Ugh! How did this happen?

Some of the scariest seconds on a bike for me have been when I’ve been descending at fairly high speed and BAM! hit suddenly with a surprise, seemingly out of nowhere cross wind. The bike jumps away from the gust and you do all you can to keep control. Hopefully you’re holding rigidly enough to make it through without getting blown over.

After that, the toughest condition other than a steep, long climb is riding straight into a headwind, either on a flat stretch, a gradual climb, or oomph, as a bonus challenge to a long, steep climb.

Mountain passes often have whistling gusty winds that will try to knock you off your bike, so when starting a descent down a mountain, remember that, and brace yourself with a strong two handed grip on the bars.

Two riding buddies and myself rode down Monitor Pass to Highway 395 in Northern California last January. The beginning of the downward fly required plenty of bracing against some really nasty cross gusts. It was getting so bad, we were thinking about turning around about a quarter of the way down. Then, after turning through a few switchbacks, we were suddenly out of the wind. The ride got enjoyably faster and we could relax while flying down to the desert and 395.

In mountain biking, speed is your friend to get through tough, technical parts of a trail. But I’m not sure if going fast, or slowing down is the best policy when road cycling through crosswinds. Speed might be the best way to get through a gust, but, this is a call your instincts have to make for each situation. But here’s a great video done last year in which a rider out of Austin gives some great safety tips on coping with windwhipped riding:

Good stuff to remember.
Just a few days ago, my ride buddies and myself rode out of Markleeville, CA. up Monitor Pass, and down its backside in calm, sunny conditions. Then we headed north to ride 19 miles on 395 to Gardnerville, and immediately hit a tough headwind coming into our grills. It was relatively flat, but this was just as tough as a major grind climb!

We weren’t worn down too badly from the miles we’d already put in, but the headwind along with rolling climbs that slowly gained altitude over the miles, dogged us! It felt like we were losing about 5 to 10 mph in our pace from the headwind while climbing. Not to mention the major side gusts from huge semi-trailer trucks regularly bellowing by.

By the time we got to Gardnerville we were more than happy to turn toward the mountains and off 395. Apparently the winds regularly whistle through the area. We ran into a pair of local riders who said the police close the two lane 395 every few weeks or so, when the winds get up to 60-70 mph. They don't want any trucks -- and possibly cyclists -- getting blown over!

So even though we felt overly buffeted on our ride, it actually turned out to  be one of the calmer days in that desert wind-tunnel! We hit some more headwinds heading back to Markleeville through a twisting back road, although they weren't as rough as the 395 blows. When we finally got back to the truck, the wind felt like it had added another 10 to 20 miles to the 63 miles we’d logged. OK, no problem, bonus miles!

Til next time, remember to always put on a helmet before getting on the bike. And then, do your very best to keep the rubber side down!

-- Mark Eric Larson

Mark Eric Larson has written two books of essays, "The NERVE...of Some People's Kids," and "Don't Force it, Get a Bigger Hammer. To read, visit: 
http://www.scribd.com/Mark%20Eric%20Larson/shelf