I rode my bike to work yesterday. I kind of knew I was in trouble when I left the house. I dropped into the Santa Ana River wash, heading north into Hghland and noticed a bit of a breeze. Ordinarily, a breeze wouldn't bother me, but where I work is in Rialto, in what is commonly referred to as the wind tunnel. When the Santa Anas get to blowing, it will be worst at the foothills to the mountains, right where we are. So, I can't say I was terribly surprised at the gale force winds as I neared work.

I hadn't actually planned to commute this week, family obligations got in the way for the most-part. Yesterday, however, I got a break in the action. I don't normally carry clothes and stuff on the bike, instead preferring to drop off and pick up on the days I drive, typically Monday and Friday. For this occasion, I decided to carry my change of clothes in a messenger bag and it worked pretty well. I got blown about pretty good as I neared work, but as I said, that came as no major shock.

Coming home was another story. There is one particular place where I drop out of Rialto on Baseline avenue and go across another wash into San Bernaghetto. I'm going west to east and the wind always blows north to south. The dropoff from Rialto is fairly steep and I can easily hit 30 mph. I got into trouble as I dropped down into the wash. Just as soon as I cleared all wind breaks, the messenger bag, which was haning on my left side, caught the wind full on. Good Lord! My sphincter went into a reflexive puckering mode and I thought for sure I would either run off the road, swerve into traffic, or just blow over. At one point, I just stopped in an attempt to regain my composure. Tempted to walk across the wash, I finally decided just to take it easy and go. I switched the bag over to the downwind side, which was uncomfortable on one hand, but made all the difference in the world in regard to the wind. I started off and the gusts were doable with the bag on the other side, so I got back up to speed immediately.

The rest of the ride was pretty uneventful. North to south runs were fun and incredibly fast, while west to east streets were gusty. As I neared home, the wind died down and became a non-factor altogether. The highlight, for me, was my return across the Santa Ana wash. I was nearing the climb back into Redlands and caught sight of a roadie in my mirror, working hard to catch me. I dropped him on the climb and never saw him again.

Mark

Ran into a bunch of wind yesterday on my ride. 20 mph steady state with gusts to 35. Seemed like I was fighting a headwind most of the time but there was one 4 mile section where it was dead on my back. Average speed of 25 mph for 4 miles, except for the traffic lights. That may not sound like much to some but it was flying for me, my usual averages are 12 - 13 mph.

Yep... When you find yourself having to brake HARD for corners, you've got you a tailwind!

Mark

Hi Mark,

I just found this forum through Recumbent Trike Rider forum and saw your post on a windy commute. I see you live in the wonderful San Bernardino area too. So do I. I'm restarting my commute as soon as I get my new Sun Recumbent trike. I ride from North Rialto (north of the 210 and Riverside Ave) to Lena Road & Rialto Ave area in San Bernardino. I go down Riverside to Rialto Ave then ride all the way across on Rialto Ave. It sounds like you go the opposite way each day.

And I can sympathize with you on that wind. But I also rode my bike when I lived in Cathedral city, CA and that wind coming over the pass was brutal at times. I felt I could have walked faster!

There are times when the wind is so bad that I'll ride north for a few blocks then west for a few more, then north then west, zig-zagging my way home.

Nice to meet a someone who rides in my area. If you see someone on a blue recumbent trike, that is probably is me.

Christy

I've taken the route you suggested many times. I'll also do Willow down to Rialto.

Let me know when the SoCal bent group is going again. I'd love to go.