Cycling in a Strong Wind

During the Windmill hike from Le Day to Ste Croix one person was looking at the temperature for next week. He said it would be seventeen degrees, and then eighteen, and then nineteen degrees. That’s part of the reason for which I decided to go for a bike ride yesterday. That decision might have been a mistake.

According to Google Gemini the wind was between fourty to sixty-nine kilometres per hour. That’s a strong headwind. That’s a headwind so strong that even riding downhill into the wind requires effort. It’s the type of wind that is strong, and cold. I thought "Maybe I should abort the ride and do a shorter loop. I didn’t for a simple reason. I assumed that the wind would be pushing me home.

Ride Against the Wind

A good rule, when cycling, is to check wind direction before a ride, and if there is a strong wind to ride into it before you turn back and head home with the assistance of the wind. I got quite a few personal records (PRs) on the way home.

Another thing to remember, when riding against the wind is that you’re not unfit. The wind is just giving you that illusion. More than once, when cycling, I have not noticed how huge the effort was, to ride against the wind. I felt that my form had declined. The reason for this is that although the wind is resisting you, you might not perceive that it’s windy.

Good training

Riding against the wind is good. It forces you to make a huge effort. It can be harder to ride against the wind than to ride up a steep gradient. This effort makes the ride you’re on feel lethargic, but on a calm day you will see the gains that you made. Wind is a good coach.

Dangerous Cars and Trucks

During this ride I found that cars and trucks were especially badly behaved. In strong winds we’re pushed sideways. Several times vehicles did not respect European rules. European rules state that when overtaking a cyclist one and a half meters must be between the bike and the car, and the car has to slow down to 20 km/h below the speed limit. Several cars sped by me too fast and too close, including a truck.

In one instance when a truck overtook me the change in wind behaviour was drastic. One second I had to lean left to counteract the wind and suddenly it reversed and pushed me the opposite way. In such conditions cars and trucks must be considerate of cyclists.

A Dangerous Road

The road between Luins and Mont-Sur-Rolle is very dangerous because of how cars behave on that road. It’s narrow and cars drive fast. They don’t respect the rules that are designed to keep cyclists safe. There were twelve incidents of cars misbehaving during yesterday’s ride. That’s three to four times more than usual.

Toxic Drivers

If cars, trucks and tractors treated cyclists with more consideration, and if more roads in Vaud and Geneva were given to cyclists, rather than cars, then cycling, and mobilité douce in general would benefit. Yesterday’s toxic drivers made the ride far more dangerous than it had to be. I would love to see more Voie Verte where cyclists could ride without the danger of cars, tractors and trucks. It’s all well and good to make towns and cities more cyclist friendly but for road cyclists it’s the space between villages that needs to be made safe.

And Finally

If I had noticed that it was windy I would not have gone for such a ride yesterday. I would have stayed local. The weather is sunny, but if it’s windy then it might as well be rainy. A walk could have been safer. During the pandemic I thought that we had moved away from car culture but yesterday reminded me that we have not. If I felt safe I would cycle every day.

On a day like yesterday, with people not considering how windy it was, when overtaking, especially in trucks, they endangered my life. Yesterday also justified why I don’t ride along that route anymore. It’s just too dangerous for cyclists.

I feel it important to comment that as I write this, I have committed to a group bike ride tomorrow. I ride the routes I ride specifically because they feel safer. I try to find secondary roads where there are few cars or where they’re banned. That’s when riding is a pleasure.