You've surely found yourself suddenly caught in a storm. During everyday life, it's normal to not always be updated on the weather, because there are so many things to do between commitments, appointments, and deadlines.

When traveling, however, the situation changes and you will find yourself more frequently checking the weather conditions, in order to avoid turning your vacation into a flight from the universal deluge. Well, this becomes even more important when it's about a bike trip, because let's be clear: it's true that pedaling in the rain can sometimes be an experience, but no one likes to do it for more than a few hours. For this reason, it's very important to know how to interpret the weather during a bike or walking trip: so you can start light-hearted and without an endless supply of k-ways and spare clothes.

How to interpret weather maps

If you are not traveling with a meteorologist who knows how to interpret the weather in real time, the first thing you need to learn to do in preparation for a bike trip is interpreting weather maps. There are some elements, in fact, that allow you to understand how the weather will be during the day and in the following ones. One of the first signals to pay attention to is air pressure: the advice is to always check its variation (whether it has risen or dropped) and the speed at which it is happening. This allows you to understand if the weather will improve, worsen and how fast this change will occur.

However, this alone is not enough to know how to interpret the weather during a trip. There are other elements to be aware of, in particular: the type of clouds and dominant winds. Understanding where the prevailing winds come from (often just ask the locals) is essential in knowing in advance where disturbances will come from, even if the sky is still clear.

Observe the clouds to understand weather developments

However, a weather map cannot always be consulted and so, if you are on a bike without any kind of help, how do you interpret the weather? You can observe the clouds. We all know that there are different types of clouds and they do not all bring rain. To interpret them at their best, it is necessary to know them. First of all, you need to know that there are 4 types: high, medium, low and those of vertical development. High ones develop between 6000 and 12 thousand meters of altitude and usually do not bring precipitation. These are Cirrus, Cirrocumulus and Cirrostratus. The medium ones form between 2000 and 4000 meters of altitude and are all those composed of the prefix "alto-", like altostratus and altocumulus.

Last but not least, there are the low ones, that is, formed below 2000 meters and these usually bring rain or snow: we are talking about stratus and nimbostratus. Vertical development clouds are created following the ascending and descending movements of the air and there are various types. Those that usually bring rain are cumulonimbus clouds, Cumulonimbus Calvus and Pileus. Finally, there are the winds that determine the movement of the currents and therefore also the formation of clouds.

In particular, the Bora, also called Grecale in the center-south, can bring large amounts of precipitation and a cold climate. Along with this, there are also the Scirocco and the Libeccio, which can bring temperature increases, but also showers.

In general, it's always a good idea to travel with an app that allows you to check weather maps or alternatively, you can inform yourself every morning before getting on your bike, to understand what you are getting into. Today there are so many websites and apps that allow you to check the weather situation, but not all of them are reliable.

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