How to read a day’s forecast
Updated
A day opens with its rating and the average headwind or tailwind along the route, then the start and finish times. Below are the Head, Cross and Tail shares, boxes for wind, temperature and rain with hour-by-hour charts, and a breakdown stretch by stretch.
The headline
At the top you’ll see the rating and a one-word summary of the wind, from “Tailwind day” through “Neutral wind” to “Headwind day”. The big number is the average headwind (or tailwind) along the route in km/h, with a line such as “headwind along the route, from a 23 km/h wind, mostly in your face”.
Under it are the start and estimated finish, for example “06:00 → 12:03”, and the time on the road at the planned speed. If the day is Fair or Tough, the reasons are listed. A calm, dry, mild day reads “No strong headwind, side gusts, rain, heat or cold.”
On a phone the forecast sits in a panel over the map. Swipe it up for everything.
Head, cross and tail
A bar shows how much of the ride is headwind, crosswind, tailwind and calm. See how they’re worked out.
Wind, temperature and rain
- WIND: the average wind and “gusts to …”. The gust figure turns red when gusts reach the Fair limits.
- TEMP: the lowest and highest along the ride. On a cold day it adds how cold it feels on the bike, for example “feels like 6° at riding speed”. That’s the wind chill from your own speed plus the wind, and it shows when it’s at least a degree colder than the air.
- RAIN: the total you’ll ride through, “dry ride”, or the kilometre where it starts.
Tap a box for an hour-by-hour chart. Slide along it to follow your position on the map.
The kilometre (or mile) breakdown
It’s called the mile breakdown if you use miles. One row per stretch: the kilometre or mile at the middle of it, the time you’ll be there, the wind (direction, speed and gusts) and its effect, such as “Headwind 14”, “Tailwind 9”, “Crosswind” or “Calm”.
The footer
It shows when the forecast was last updated and the speed and stops the times are based on.