East Coast -South

[taotom]

Has anyone biked South on the East Coast route? I am thinking of Va-Fl. I want to head south for logistical reasons.

 What are the prevailing winds in May?

I am also riding a custom 1 speed free wheel bike...pulling a Bob Yak. Its a 23inch a little big...but fits nicely. I can average 12-14 on flats.

Tom

[Westinghouse]

On May 1, 1990 I started north from east coastal Florida. Twenty-two days later I was eating lobster in Bangor, Maine. Two days were spent completely off the road because of torrential downpours. I remember having quite a few tail winds that time of year.

On April 23, 2007 I started north from east coastal Florida to get to hwy. 100 to hwy 90 to I-10 to El Paso. Other routes too. I happen to have a journal right here.  Here is wind for the N-S, S-N parts. Here I am going due north.

4-23-07---Mostly sidewinds east to west.

4-24-07---Morning tailwinds, afternoon headwinds.

4-25-07---No mention.

Here I am going Northwest on hwy. 100.

4-26-07---Testy headwind part of the day.

4-27-07---headwind.

On hwy. 90 going west.

4-28-07---Early stiff side wind out of north. Beginning 2:15 p.m. mild headwind. Sidewinds often parried by trees on 90.

And so on and so forth. The wind is there. There is no getting around it. There were quite a few following winds going north along the east coast in 1990. Often there were no winds to be concerned about.

[litespeed]

I have gone up the east coast four times - twice up the coast and twice inland. The only time I had any problems with the wind was in rainy 2004. Rainy fronts tend to bring north winds. They tell me that you are usually better off going south on the Outer Banks but I had no real problem with headwinds either time I went up there. In the east here I don't even worry about the wind. It's too unpredictable.

A single speed bike should be all right along the coast but would be useless more than 50-70 miles inland. You'd never make the climbs.

[taotom]

Thanks for info....I hear the winds are more south in the summer, but north the rest of the time. Hopefully May is more like spring than summer winds.

The bike is great on the flats...but on hills where I live its out of the seat pedaling. Great workout.

[taotom]

Westinghouse ..thanks for the wind notes from your Journal. Does anyone think a 23inch frame..single freel wheel crank would be a burden on my arms and wrist? I am 5 8.

[staehpj1]

Thanks for info....I hear the winds are more south in the summer, but north the rest of the time. Hopefully May is more like spring than summer winds.

On the east coast I wouldn't sweat the wind direction so much.  It isn't as big of a deal as it is on the west coast.

Time of day can be a big factor, so observe what the patterns are at the time and use them to your advantage.

[Westinghouse]

I, myself, would not tour that distance on a one-speed bike. Multi speed bikes were made to use appropriate gearing for the various pedaling conditions. Gear down for going up hill; gear up for pedaling down hills and on flat or rolling roads with a tailwind. Gear down for head winds.
You can do it. You will have problems with forward progress that are dealt with more efficiently with a multi-speed bike. One guy cycled east to west or vice versa on a unicycle. It can be done.