Riding in the wind

[Pommie Boy]

Okay, so it looks like winter is upon us again in Wellington, and after three weeks of riding a bike in beautiful weather with no wind (after about 8 or so years of not riding at all) I had the joy of riding down SH1 into Welington into a howling southerly and pouring rain. After getting blown all over the place, I got to the point of thinking "So, when is it too windy to ride?"

Basically, I'm pretty skinny and don't have a huge amount of weight to hold the bike down with, so it's pretty weird going past a truck and thinking "If I get blown 2 metres to the left, I'm under his wheels."

So, any tips on either how to ride in the wind, or when not to ride in the wind (and "move out of Wellington" doesn't count :innocent: )? And everyone in Auckland can now start their abuse of Wellington, and all the Wellingtonians will start the jokes right back :rockon:

[White trash]

Well I'll tell you what NOT to do in Wellington wind...........

[Steam]

OOh, you didn't do a search did you. Naughty. Here's some KIwibiker threads to start you off...


Riding in the wind (http://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/showthread.php?t=45580)

Blardy wind (http://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/showthread.php?t=39675)

Darn wind is driving me crazy !! (http://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/showthread.php?t=38495)

Wind plus 100kg bike equals concern (http://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/showthread.php?t=22664)

[Pommie Boy]

Yep, you're right there. I'm still new to this KB thing so I didn't even know there was a search function:stupid: I'm gonna try and find it now though

[Balrog]

Relax your grip on the handle bars
If you're holding on tight, then the wind hitting you affects the steering of the bike.
Allow your body to be buffered around a bit without transferring that movement to the steering.

Accept that the bike is going to move around a bit but most of the time it
will correct itself if you are relaxed.

Try to anticipate wind gusts and be ready to correct.
Good anticipation points are things like
- coming out from the shadow of a big vehicle
- going past a big truck coming the other way
- just driven past a warning sign that says "wind gusts"

Practice riding in the wind, don't shy away from it. Eventually you'll be able to
ride in high winds without even thinking about it.

There will always be the odd gust that catches you,
but it should be extremely rare that you ever get blown out of your lane.
If you do, you'll usually find that you had a death grip on the bars and your muscles where so tense
that you were unable to make fine steering adjustments.

Your bike will naturally want to track a straight line, in order for it to turn
the bike must lean. If you're not putting any steering input to the handle bars
then the wind will have to physically move the whole bike in order for it
to start turning.

Big gusts when you are fully leaned over are the hardest to deal with as they
usually give you a big fright and make you tense up.
- which affects the steering
- which causes problems

:)

[NighthawkNZ]

Try to anticipate wind gusts and be ready to correct.
Good anticipation points are things like
- coming out from the shadow of a big vehicle
- going past a big truck coming the other way
- just driven past a warning sign that says "wind gusts"


Look for wind breakers (hedges, row of trees) coming from behind these expect the guts

[James Deuce]

Umm, it wasn't windy today.

That was pretty mild.

As busajim says, just relax, be prepared to let the bike move around. Do not fight it.

Big Northerlies are worse than big Southerlies because the wind swirls through the hills, picks up velocity and seems to come from eight directions at once.

[riffer]

Eat pies.

Drink beer.

Buy a heavier bike.

And avoid wheelies on the Hutt Motorway.

Not many Welly winds knock the RF around.

[sedge]

If you are shit scared of riding in the wind just keep repeating to yourself "It's not wind, it's just knackered head bearings and a flat rear tyre" and you'll feel much better.

My tip for high winds is to do it more often, sheesh, I rode that day the 140k winds were hurling through, t'aint been nuthin but little breezy since then. Oh, and close your eyes.

Sedge.

[SPman]

Well I'll tell you what NOT to do in Wellington wind...........

..............:whistle:....................

[FROSTY]

wellington aint windy dude--itsjust the politicians creating hot air
invergiddle--now THAT is windy

[apteryx_haasti]

My wind mantra - "A grip, but not a DEATH grip.

Riding in the wind scared the pants off me when I first started about a year ago, but I actually secretly like it now (don't tell anyone...)

Once you know the places you need to watch for gusts on your commute it's not so bad...

There's also another good thread here:

http://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/showthread.php?t=30616

A_H

[Pwalo]

Bit windy again today, so it looks as though you'll be getting a bit more practice. We regulary get 100k + winds.

I've never not ridden because of the wind in Wellywood. As the others say, relax your grip on the bars, stay loose, and practice.

I'm afraid you'll just have to get used to it. You can always look at those BRAVE chappies on their GN 250s when it's blowing. Now that's hard!

[Ms Piggy]

My sympathies to ya. I haven't done a lot of riding apart from commuting in the last year and I rode out to Upper Hutt on Wednesday, talk about a few scary moments.

It's quite tricky to relax but I reckon that's 1 of the keys and I think someone has already mentioned this but, anticipating (where possible) when a gust will be coming. Be aware of what's happening in front of you, i.e. how the wind is blowing the trees and bushes around and then you'll know that any area not lined with trees etc is gonna be gusty...I hope I've explained myself properly.

[cbr guy]

i was driving in 140km/h winds yesterday and eventually i just figured out that if i enjoyed getting blown around then i could lean against the wind etc which was quite fun compared to the usual driving in a straight line. might be just me though!
also i was getting blown to the right, so droe close to the left side of the road to have a bigger margin of error, makes sense

[Matt]

Didn't notice the wind this morning, although you can hardly feel the Southerlies coming down the Hutt as they're head on.

Best advice I would give isn't about riding but just to park your bike in well sheltered spot in town - so many get blown over and last week 3 bikes were down in my usual spot on The Terrace (luckily just missing mine!)

[Disco Dan]

Dont pee into the wind.


....or wear a skirt.... unless its your pillion... and you have big mirrors....

[limbimtimwim]

While you get used to it; avoid the raised section of the motorway and the rimutaka hill.

[Kinje]

+1 try and relax. Let your elbows drop so they can absorb any buffeting of your body. Concentrate on being smooth and commited to the manouver- throttle input, steering input, weight transfer, lean angle. Agreed to watch the takas, there can be some very strong gusts on certain corners- it helps to know which corners to expect this on- this is when anticipation and concentrating can really help.

[Winter]

Well I went for a big blat today (see http://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/showthread.php?p=1012852#post1012795) but failed to see the severe wind warning issues for the upper northisland. So we were riding along ridgelines in fairly hefty winds.. for hours.

At the start i was screaming 'im going to dieeeeeeeaaargh' but after a while I got pretty comfy with it.
Keep ya throttle on and work with it, just watch it on the corners.

[Will]

Stick your knee out on the wind-side. I have found that works very well, sorta stabilizes you. This works best for the more continuous winds.

[gijoe1313]

Well I went for a big blat today (see http://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/showthread.php?p=1012852#post1012795) but failed to see the severe wind warning issues for the upper northisland. So we were riding along ridgelines in fairly hefty winds.. for hours.

At the start i was screaming 'im going to dieeeeeeeaaargh' but after a while I got pretty comfy with it.
Keep ya throttle on and work with it, just watch it on the corners.

I wasn't going to mention the wind! :whistle: By the end of that ride, you were happy as a pig in an apple barrel! The lighter gusts didn't even faze you (I guess compared to the other stuff we had, it was a walk in the breeze? :innocent:)

[Pommie Boy]

Thanks for all the tips guys, esp yours BusaJim - that was really helpful, and I'll take it all on board next time the wind is up.
Funny how most of the comments about wind come form people in Wellington - anyone would think it was windier here than other parts of the country who woulda thought eh :innocent:

[James Deuce]

I made a serious point Pommie. Thursday and Friday were not especially windy.

[Str8 Jacket]

I made a serious point Pommie. Thursday and Friday were not especially windy.




Jim is right. We havent had anywhere near the gusts that we are gonna get. When we do you'll find it extra exciting. Believe me, I know!

[James Deuce]

Believe me, I know!

She spends so much time flying, she should wear a cape and her undies on the outside.

[Str8 Jacket]

You make it sound fun!!

[Pommie Boy]

Not especially windy?:gob: Oh crap. Well, at least I have something to look forward to over winter - getting used to riding in this beautiful city of ours:laugh:

[Hawkeye]

She spends so much time flying, she should wear a cape and her undies on the outside.

I thought she already did :rofl: (ok Str8, I know! :kick: )

[purplearchitect]

Thanks for all the tips guys, esp yours BusaJim - that was really helpful, and I'll take it all on board next time the wind is up.
Funny how most of the comments about wind come form people in Wellington - anyone would think it was windier here than other parts of the country who woulda thought eh :innocent:

Ha! They've never experienced the 'jy' of riding along the Takapau Plains in a howling nor-easterly....nor for that matter tried going over the Napier Taupo road when the wind's trying to blow you over the edge of the summit...

But seriously, the advice of sticking your knee out intot he wind is a good one. My partner (Buell Lighting) swears by this. Personally I just lean my bike into the wind. But do look ahead and be mindful of gaps in buildings, hedge-rows, etc, etc, and if you in Wgtn city - watch out at the intersections! The wind gets channelled down between them increasing the gusts.

When it comes to trucks passing you, hunker down over your handle-bars (keeping your head up of course!) that way bufferting from the wind gusts go over the top of you instead of blasting straight into you.

[yungatart]

Laugh like a demented headless chicken into your helmet....well, it worked for me yesterday....must have something to do with being relaxed, I think