There is perhaps no aspect of weather that can affect the effort of a ride more than wind. Making a simple left turn can transform your average ride into a grueling suffer-fest, legs burning and only the force of sheer will moving the bike forward at a fraction of its previous pace. We’ve all experienced this ride - so it should come as no surprise that wind direction forecasts are the most requested feature from Epic Ride Weather users.

Epic Ride Weather app

I’m happy to announce that the latest release of Epic Ride Weather shows wind speed and direction forecasts on a map.

Of all of the forecast data used by Epic Ride Weather, I was the most skeptical of forecasted wind speed and direction. Knowing how variable wind can be, I had a hard time wrapping my head around how Dark Sky could possibly predict the wind well enough to reflect what would actually happen on a ride.

I have to say that I’ve been very pleasantly surprised. In practice, wind speed and direction forecasts have felt spot-on. There are definitely cases where wind on the ground isn’t exactly the same as at the treetops - for example, a well-placed 10-story building can easily cause the wind to buffet me in the opposite direction. That said, on the whole wind predictions have been remarkably good. And knowing beforehand about a headwind in the last 30km of a 100km+ ride can make a difference when deciding how hard to push on the front half of the ride.

Enjoy!