🚴 DIY RideWeather — Tom's Weather Tool (VeloWeather.app) — GPX Route & Cycling Weather Forecast
VeloWeather.app is a free, physiology-aware weather and wind forecasting web application designed specifically for cyclists, road riders, bikepackers, and gravel riders.
✨ The 4 Pillars of 4D Route Weather
- 🏔️ VAM Physiology Engine vs. Inaccurate Average Speeds: On mountain rides, cyclists spend ~70% of ride time climbing at 8–12 km/h. A static 25 km/h average predicts pass arrival hours too early. VeloWeather calculates true passage times using Flat Speed (Vflat in km/h) and Climbing Rate (VAM in vertical meters per hour).
- 🌐 Multi-Model Weather Ensemble: Directly compares ultra-high resolution regional models (MeteoSwiss / DWD ICON-D2 with 2.2 km resolution) against global models (ECMWF IFS 9 km, NOAA GFS 13 km) to visualize forecast uncertainty.
- ☕ Dynamic Break Modeling: Enter coffee stops or rest pauses at specific kilometers. All subsequent arrival times and weather forecasts shift forward dynamically to the minute.
- 📡 Live GPS Sync & RainViewer Radar: Track your current position on the ride, observe past radar reflectivity frames, and forecast rain cell nowcasts over your remaining kilometers.
💨 Additional Key Features
- True 360° Wind Vector Trigonometry: Precise effective headwind (+), tailwind (-), and crosswind calculations for every 3 km route segment.
- Alpine Cloud Base & Fog Warning: Compares mountain elevation to real-time cloud base altitude to warn against zero-visibility and freezing fog on high passes.
- Solar State & UV Curve: Visualizes daylight, twilight, darkness bands, and UV index directly within the route elevation profile.
- 100% Privacy-First: Zero tracking cookies, runs offline as a PWA, no account required.
❓ Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Why does average speed fail in cycling weather forecasting?
Average speed assumes constant progress. However, on passes like the Stelvio or Furkajoch, a cyclist takes hours to climb and minutes to descend. An average-speed forecast calculates arrival times at the peak hours too early, resulting in completely wrong weather predictions.
How does VeloWeather calculate headwind and tailwind?
Effective Headwind is calculated using trigonometric vector projection: Vwind × cos(θwind_dir - θbearing). Headwind is highlighted in red, tailwind in green.