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Did the person who stole your Strava KOM have a massive tailwind?

myWindsock is a weather forecasting app for Strava segments and routes

mywindsock cycling weather

Okay, so maybe you don’t have all that many KOM or QOMs to keep track off on Strava but have you ever wondered if that blistering fast time up your local hill was set when there was a massive tailwind? MyWindsock is a free weather app for cyclists which can tell you the weather conditions for riders efforts on Strava segments, on past rides and can give you the forecast along a route you’ve mapped out.

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The service’s slogan is “know thy enemy. See the wind.” Strava users can use myWindsock by linking their account to the website or uploading a GPS file (GPX or TCX). The service can be used to see the Strava leaderboard on segments with the weather conditions, analyze past rides to see how the wind worked for or against you, predict future performances, and help map out a route depending on the day’s weather.

Maybe you had a sneaking suspicion a segment was taken from you because of the wind or you are simply curious to see how significant the impact is of the wind on times on a particular road. If your ride felt particularly tough you can go back and see how the wind conditions would have affected your efforts.

mywindsock cycling weather

If you are mapping out a ride you can plan accordingly to avoid sections where you will encounter a block headwind and take advantage of roads where you’ll have more favourable wind so you can finally snag that KOM you have been eyeing. The site uses colourful lines to know whether you will have a head, tail or crosswind on different sections of road.

Knowing the wind on course can also help you plan come race day with wheel selection and what other gear to run. You might just get the insight needed to better gauge your effort or plan with your team beforehand to know what section to try and form echelons on.

Users simply need to copy and paste the link of a segment or ride into the website to see the wind conditions. GPX and TCX files can also be uploaded. Then users can see weather conditions such as wind direction, precipitation, and temperature. To better understand wind dynamics users can look at yaw, air penalty, the balance between head and tailwind, and crosswind. If you use a power meter the website calculates resistance taking into account the wind.

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“Knowing in advanced how the wind will likely effect your target time is a good way to keep morale up. Especially when staring at your average speed half way through the race,” explain myWindsock.

The website has posted predicted weather information for professional races and large events in the past.