Wind in the Morning, Riders Take Warning...

Claremont generally seems to miss out on a lot of the high winds that periodically punish the cities a bit to the east. The big windstorm of a couple weeks ago was an exception, as was this morning. I was getting pushed around the little bit of road I occupied. The winds may be back tomorrow morning as well; if so, be careful out there. Thing about riding into the wind - it will make you a stronger rider - but I am glad we don't have to deal with it all that often.

Back to the wind...

I wonder if anyone has ever made recordings of the sound the wind makes as it blows through different trees. Like those people who study noise, or create sound effects. This could be somewhat useful to a few people; like landscape architects. A recording could let your client hear what it would sound like if they plant one type of tree over another. I was on the mountain bike up in the canyons and on the hillsides of the CHWP this afternoon and stopped by this little grouping of pines and noticed the gentle sighing sound that the wind made. Anyone who has gone camping is probably familiar, and how that gentle sighing can increase to a deep roar when the wind speed increases. At another spot I stopped beside a Sambucus (Elderberry) which made a kind of rustling sound; and a little further along, in a grove of Eucalyptus it seemed like much the same sound, but maybe a little less deep. In the depths of the Cobal Canyon oak grove, there was no sound because there was no wind. I imagine the differences can be attributed to leaf shape, size, the density of the canopy, etc., and I was really only able to notice these differences by riding away from the urban area and its myriad of competing sounds.  That said, i'm sure you can notice differences in the city, but the urban forest is usually so diverse, that it would be more difficult to separate the sounds that individual trees make.

Monkeywrench days...

This week saw one of those rare days when the wind does something unpredictable. Most days it blows the same routine, I expect to ride into a headwind on the way home in the evening; it might be slightly stronger one day from the next, but if is always  there, and I accept that. It is a given. But Monday morning I set out into a headwind that caught me off guard and never let up. That extra bit of pushing in the morning actually had me a little leg-weary in the evening still. I guess our bodies get used to certain conditions, especially when we follow a set routine. My way of dealing with this has always been to mix things up from day to day - road/mountain, long/short, fast/slow. This has usually worked for things I can control. The wind, however, has always been another matter, one beyond my control. At these times the wind becomes the adversary, one to be challenged, and for me the challenge has always been one of those reasons I ride.


Tuesday dawned and gave birth to that morning wind again, thankfully not as strong. And now it is Wednesday, and things are back to normal (whew) and I was able to enjoy and fast and relaxing ride to work. I have visited some truly windy places, so I know that we tend to be pretty fortunate around here (as long as we don't ride too close to the Cajon Pass) but that does not make those monkeywrench days any easier.