Riding in Crosswinds

I'm sure the peanut gallery will respond with all manner of tips for maintaining control in a crosswind. In reality there is not much that can be done other than having your bike and gear in prime condition.

I live in a place where we get gusts of over 100 mph. Park your bike wrong and the wind can blow the bike over. How do I know this?

 

Whew, that gets me tired just reading what you went through. wow. yea I have had some WTH! moments with gusts, but nothing like what you went through and for so long, here its a quick blast then its over, with that being said glad there where no cars around as the other lane was calling my name, but leaning back into to it is all I could do happened so fast. Not sure it would be any better if one was to go slower, other than that I'm not sure if there is anything but avoidance, as in don't ride in it if you know. Kinda the pilot in me saying if you know there's trouble ahead, don't go looking for it.

 

Yeah, crosswinds can be tiring and terrifying sometimes.

The bike will keep itself upright (gyroscopic effect of the spinning wheels). I try to keep a loose grip and arms, and slightly offset my weight to the side of the bike that the wind is hitting. When possible, I try and take detours / routes that will minimize my exposure when winds are up like this - whether it's picking valleys, trees, or a route that puts the wind more at my front / back.

Just take plenty of brakes when you can as riding in these winds can and will fatigue you faster than normal.

 

I get a bit of a rush out of riding on gusty days which are not really that frequent here. I have also ridden a full day on the I-5 in central to northern California ending near Weeds Ca. I was kinda tired by then and after a few hours of that, was ready to give it up. Except I was on my way home and just powered on. I think all you can really to is try to prepare yourself whatever way you can and loosen up the grip a bit and go somewhat with the flow. Anticipate sudden changes when overtaking larger vehicles.

 

Yeah, what they said, here its pretty much always windy, I can handle the burst of wind tryin to change my lane, what scares the crap out of me is all the trash and debri that cross my path, had a hefty trash bag fly right pass my head just last year....could you just imagine....holy hell

 

You made all the right moves. In a sidewind full faired bikes might as well be sails. Gusting doesn't add much to it. Nearly as much fun are rear engine cars in a crosswind.

 

crosswinds and baggy rain gear. There's some fun. I saw my highyway MPG drop to around 30 with that combo.

 

I have ridden in heavy cross-winds quite e few times and found out there than other than parking the bike, there is not much I can do about it.
Two days of back-to-back cross-winds in southwestern Utah really beat me up.
In another ride, I was coming back from Tucson AZ, went through a sand storm south of Phoenix, monsoon just after Phoenix and sustained 80mph winds from Quartzsite to Banning. Regardless of what I did, I found myself riding from shoulder to shoulder on I-10. I thought I was going to die that night.

 

Kansas, that reminds of the plains like I have never seen in my life. I was in my car with the backrest at 45 degrees and could take a nice nap. Cruise control was on and I did not have to move my steering wheel once for 60 miles at one point. I was on I-70 BTW. Now that I live in Pittsburgh, I have never seen a straight road, it either goes up and down or keeps twisting.

 

Pics or it didn't happen!

 

Haha. I enjoy riding in rain actually - ever since I got good rain gear.

I live in the Canadian Prairies, so I know how flat some of the roads can be down there and how exposed you are to the wind.

I found that my daily exercise regimen has really increased my endurance, but also made me far more confident in high crosswinds ... not sure why it makes me /the bike feel more stable, but it does.

 

As you wish.

http://chrisleavins.typepad.com/chrisleavins/images/2007/05/27/ctat.jpg

 

Obviously, Kansas blows....

 

Wow, didn't need that...
My eyes!