You've seen out-of-shape bicyclists get off their bikes and walk up steep hills on weekend bike tour events. But have you ever seen riders dismount because of a headwind?
Bike riders on the Jalapeno 100 through the Rio Grande Valley around Harlingen, Texas, were doing just that Saturday as wind gusts of 52 mph swept across the route.
Dust Bowl
Tailwinds above 40 mph are a good thing; but headwind or sidewinds are not. Sag wagons filled up during the day. The blogger at Texbiker.net gives this vivid account, which reads at times like it's a dispatch from the Dust Bowl era:
“After going about 2.5 miles there were times when I was standing up on the pedals just to go 6 or 7 mph. The gusts were making it almost impossible to stay upright. I stopped on the side of the road and started to walk but I was having trouble just holding my bike on the ground. …
“We walked for a while and then stopped when the wind and grit from the freshly plowed fields got the best of us. Waiting for a sag wagon looked like the best option but after three past with full loads we started walking again.”
Hold tight
Sandra Musgrave of Austin told the local newspaper that she saw bicyclists walking alongside their bicycles into the wind and at times she could only proceed at 4 mph. The winds sandblasted the cyclists and made it difficult to control their bikes.
Letty Zavala, president of Team McAllen Cycling, told the Valley Morning Star:
“You just need to really have control of your bicycle because you can get blown off. I myself, I don’t weigh a lot, so I had to just hold on really tight to the handlebars.”
The ride, in its 18th year, features five options. The century is the longest, and most of the cyclists were out on the course when the winds picked up in the afternoon.
The National Weather Service clocked the winds at 20 mph with gusts to 25 in the morning, but that increased to sustained winds of 44 mph in the afternoon with gusts to 52 mph.
Congratulations to all those who finished the ride.
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