Why is the wind always blowing the wrong way on the MVT?
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- This topic has 25 replies, 18 voices, and was last updated 12 years, 7 months ago by
Dickie.
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June 27, 2012 at 5:20 pm #944296
baiskeli
ParticipantThis is why God invented drafting, btw.
June 27, 2012 at 6:39 pm #944316pfunkallstar
Participant@baiskeli 23629 wrote:
This is why God invented drafting, btw.
Felt bad for the guy drafting behind me this morning – beer and pizza last night.
June 27, 2012 at 7:24 pm #944327Certifried
Participant@pfunkallstar 23652 wrote:
Felt bad for the guy drafting behind me this morning – beer and pizza last night.
was he constantly lighting a match?
June 27, 2012 at 8:36 pm #944343consularrider
Participant@baiskeli 23628 wrote:
I saw a guy with a tiny thunderstorm over his head today – must have been you.
Don’t ride anywhere near him, that’s Joe Btfsplk!
June 28, 2012 at 1:14 pm #944373Terpfan
ParticipantObservationally the wind usually seems worse in the mornings (I head north/west on it toward DC from Old Town) and the trend of it’s in your face in the morning so it should be on your back in the evening rarely holds. I’m not meterologist, but I suspect the wind issue is more related to the MVT having so many wide open spaces for wind to flow freely. I mean riding through Gravelly Point with a backpack on is like attempting to parasail with a bike. But what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger, right?
What I do wonder about sometimes is the kids I see flying kitesat GP. I feel like it’s probably not wise, alas it seems to occur frequently.
June 28, 2012 at 1:20 pm #944376Amalitza
GuestIt’s because the wind is sentient, and malevolent, and it follows you. I ride mvt for fun rather than transportation, which means I generally ride both directions within the same hour, and I’m pretty sure there’s no such thing as a tailwind on that trail.
Actually, (and this is totally non-scientific anecdata) I do think the river tunnels the wind and sends it towards the banks in a way that there’s always a crosswind coming off the river no matter what the primary wind direction actually is. I live not too far from Belle Haven Marina, so a very common ride for me is from my house to the trail to Mt. Vernon and back, which makes a nice 17-18 mile ride for me. There is a section about 2 miles from the end of the trail that runs right along the river out in the open (where much of the rest of southern section of the trail is protected by trees). On windy days I struggle with the wind in that spot going *both* directions, even though it’s no more than 15 minutes later. Most often, it is harder going south, it feels like a genuine headwind that feels like swimming upstream, but then I turn around and head back north and get a crosswind in that section that still is harder work than the tree-protected sections of the trail. It is never *easier* riding that stretch than under the trees.
June 28, 2012 at 1:33 pm #944381Tim Kelley
ParticipantSo what’s worse?
A steady head wind that slows you down but still provides some cooling effect, or riding up a long steep hill with no wind or shade to cool you off.
June 28, 2012 at 2:21 pm #944398creadinger
Participant@Tim Kelley 23720 wrote:
So what’s worse?
A steady head wind that slows you down but still provides some cooling effect, or riding up a long steep hill with no wind or shade to cool you off.
B! Definitely B.
Although there was that day in Nova Scotia I rode 55 miles with fully loaded panniers against a 20+mph headwind straight off the ocean.
June 28, 2012 at 4:47 pm #944431Terpfan
Participant@Tim Kelley 23720 wrote:
So what’s worse?
A steady head wind that slows you down but still provides some cooling effect, or riding up a long steep hill with no wind or shade to cool you off.
Wind, definitely. I can see the end of the hill, but the wind torments me the whole way. Not to mention what happens in the cooler months…
July 9, 2012 at 1:18 pm #945176Amalitza
GuestAt about noon yesterday (per weather.com, 101F felt like 108F) there was no wind anywhere *except* that one spot on the trail I mentioned in the earlier post. Just a slight breeze, but enough I could feel it and even saw some leaves moving. I officially retract anything I ever said about the wind on the MVT that might in any way be viewed as derogatory. The wind is lovely and good and kind and more of it would only make the world better.
(and I will totally deny ever saying this somewhere around November)
Fyi, as of yesterday at least, there’s still a tree down on the trail in the last mile towards Mt. Vernon. Trail’s not blocked but narrowed; southbound lane was open, northbound had the tree in it.
July 10, 2012 at 12:30 pm #945260Dickie
ParticipantI posted this a while back, but it is a pretty awesome site for current wind patterns:
But as my old cycling buddy always said “welcome to the cycling law of wind shift”.
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