Tuesday, April 15, 2008

Everything Counts

Each time I ride I learn something new about my abilities and the bike. This past weekend I learned about wind. Not the headwind that crushes you on the straightaway, but the gusting crosswind that kills your line.

I was in a long curve—not unlike a cloverleaf—heading uphill on a steep incline. I could feel the wind hitting me hard on the inside. The bike remained stable, and I never felt out of control, but the wind was pushing me into the outer passing lane. As I continued to accelerate through the curve the crosswind seemed to have less of an effect, and my line corrected itself.

Little things like this remind me that everything in the riding environment is a factor, and that I ride at my own risk.

3 comments:

Steve Williams said...

Wind can be hard to deal with. Dan Bateman at Musings of an Intrepid Commuter posted a great post on strong wind riding.

He has a lot of other good stuff too. You can see the wind riding < HERE.

Steve Williams
Theoretical Agriculture

Anonymous said...

No kidding. I was biking (new racing bike!) out in the open the other day in 30mph minds - that will really mess with your front end, especially since my new ride is only 18.5lbs! The faster you go the more stable you are :)

Fireproofing Reno said...

Heello mate nice blog