Riding with a crosswind

Derek said:

Does anybody have any tips for riding in a crosswind? I managed to fall
off my bike yesterday after a truck went past and some swirly/strong
wind made me lose control. Luckily I went up the kerb rather than into
traffic. I was riding at the right side of the bike lane (where the
wind was coming from) so that I would have room to move around before
hitting the kerb. Obviously not enough room.

Any other ideas for riding with a crosswind?

Derek

Dave strongly recommends not starting with an early (twitchy) TCR.

"Kathy" wrote in message ...

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Dave strongly recommends not starting with an early (twitchy) TCR.

and/or with bladed spokes..

cheers,
GPL

Derek said:

Does anybody have any tips for riding in a crosswind? I managed to fall
off my bike yesterday after a truck went past and some swirly/strong
wind made me lose control. Luckily I went up the kerb rather than into
traffic. I was riding at the right side of the bike lane (where the
wind was coming from) so that I would have room to move around before
hitting the kerb. Obviously not enough room.

Any other ideas for riding with a crosswind?

Aside from making sure you have the room, (eg taking the whole lane if
you need to) some days it may be better to just not ride. Gusting
crosswinds can make it very tricky if they are strong enough. If they
are strong enough to make staying upright difficult, you also have to
worry about flying debris and being temporarily blinded by dust etc.

--
..dt
1996 Diamond Back 'Expert Tg' Roadie (7spd DT shifters, favourite bike!)
2004 Trek 2300 Roadie (9spd Ultegra)
2003 DiamondBack 'Criterium' Roadie (8spd Sora, rain bike)

Derek said:

Does anybody have any tips for riding in a crosswind? I managed to fall
off my bike yesterday after a truck went past and some swirly/strong
wind made me lose control. Luckily I went up the kerb rather than into
traffic. I was riding at the right side of the bike lane (where the
wind was coming from) so that I would have room to move around before
hitting the kerb. Obviously not enough room.

Any other ideas for riding with a crosswind?

Derek

yesterday leaving CBD, riding north along Spring St approx 4pm (hey, Im the boss!) the wind was so strong (and a headwind.grrrr) i actually came to a complete STOP and had to put foot down so i didnt fall over!!!
Never had it that bad before.

riding in wind?
get aero - ie as low as practical. lean forward to put more weight on front wheel to get more control of your direction

or just pull into nearest Pub and invest in Guiness :-)))
THAT fixes everything
🙄

quote='dtmeister'Derek said:

Any other ideas for riding with a crosswind?

Aside from making sure you have the room, (eg taking the whole lane if you need to) some days it may be better to just not ride.
[/QUOTE]
Yep. Rain I can handle, moderate winds while sucky I can handle. Winds threatening to throw me under the wheels of a passing truck I can't handle. Trained it yesterday for that very reason.

Bike rack's very empty today, must still be a bit too windy for some folks.

Way home last night I was almost 'track-standing' leaning at a 10degree angle on the corner of La Trobe & Footscray rd Docklands hard up against some mean blowing wind from the north.

Coasting @ 25km/hr the full length of the Crown Promanard on that tail wind was fun but.

"Derek" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Does anybody have any tips for riding in a crosswind? I managed to fall
off my bike yesterday after a truck went past and some swirly/strong
wind made me lose control. Luckily I went up the kerb rather than into
traffic. I was riding at the right side of the bike lane (where the
wind was coming from) so that I would have room to move around before
hitting the kerb. Obviously not enough room.

Any other ideas for riding with a crosswind?

Derek

Well I was out on the fixie yesterday and today. A bit nasty at times, but
generally entertaining. I don't know why, but my brain tells me that a
higher cadence coiuld make you more steady. If it's consistantly from one
direction, don't be afraid to lean into the wind. If it's unpredictable,
leave enough room that it can kick you around a bit and go with it.

flyingdutch said:

yesterday leaving CBD, riding north along Spring St approx 4pm (hey, Im the boss!) the wind was so strong (and a headwind.grrrr) i actually came to a complete STOP and had to put foot down so i didnt fall over!!!
Never had it that bad before.

riding in wind?
get aero - ie as low as practical. lean forward to put more weight on front wheel to get more control of your direction

or just pull into nearest Pub and invest in Guiness :-)))
THAT fixes everything
🙄

ok im going to be REALLY picky here!!

but the question was riding with a crosswind, getting low and aero might not actually be the best for cross winds, you actually want to leave as many holes as possible for the wind to actually get through, when I am riding with bad cross winds, happens quite often on beach rd, I tend to sit very up right... and I actually feel a lot more stable.

bladed spokes do make a huge difference I have found as pointed out by GP.... and I have just got some new toys for some up coming races I am doing, and I am NOT so keen to try them out on beach rd, they are deep rim wheels, and I dread to think how much crosswind they are going to catch!

yeah, I did find I felt more stable when sitting up.

The pub idea sounds even better though!

Derek said:

yeah, I did find I felt more stable when sitting up.

The pub idea sounds even better though!

yeah, so nyaahhhh!!! 😄

Goat Brewery next Friday for some WoJ/PubBug 'stability' lessons then?

Derek said:

Does anybody have any tips for riding in a crosswind? I managed to fall
off my bike yesterday after a truck went past and some swirly/strong
wind made me lose control. Luckily I went up the kerb rather than into
traffic. I was riding at the right side of the bike lane (where the
wind was coming from) so that I would have room to move around before
hitting the kerb. Obviously not enough room.

Any other ideas for riding with a crosswind?

As a general rule, ride faster for more stability.
Don't use disk wheels. Deep section rims can also be more
prone to being blown around, if on the front, mostly irrelevant
on the back though. Same goes for bladed spokes etc.

If it's really windy - gusts over 30kn for example, maybe
take the train instead.

Bleve said:

Derek said:

Does anybody have any tips for riding in a crosswind? I managed to fall
off my bike yesterday after a truck went past and some swirly/strong
wind made me lose control. Luckily I went up the kerb rather than into
traffic. I was riding at the right side of the bike lane (where the
wind was coming from) so that I would have room to move around before
hitting the kerb. Obviously not enough room.

Any other ideas for riding with a crosswind?

As a general rule, ride faster for more stability.
Don't use disk wheels. Deep section rims can also be more
prone to being blown around, if on the front, mostly irrelevant
on the back though. Same goes for bladed spokes etc.

If it's really windy - gusts over 30kn for example, maybe
take the train instead.

and just on getting blown about by passing trucks when riding into a
crosswind, the phenonenom is pretty much experienced as a buffetting as
the wheels pass, so you are pushed away, then a vacuum after, so you are
pulled in. A vacuum may be okay unless there is another set of wheels
following behind, the truck's or a car behind that doesn't see you, you
don't want to find yourself closer to the next set of wheels or even in
their path.
So strong crosswind plus lots of traffic means stick very close to the
edge of the road or find a less trafficked route.