Calgary to Canmore... I experienced viscious sidewinds from Calgary to Brooks, but fortunately, I was in a rental car! I remember looking over my right shoulder, seeing down a long, but not very deep valley, and on the other side, I thought I saw the city lights of Lethbridge AND Great Falls...
Joe hit nail on head with bridges down there, but the spots that REALLY get 'ya, especially a bit north of him, are where you're riding down that long tunnel of trees, and THEN cross a bridge. Up here, it is rolling hills and trees, broken by bridges over smaller river valleys. Get north of me an hour, and you're in the 'driftless' region (no glaiciers flattened it) so you're blasting down a long hill, between forests, and then you cross a deep gulley with really strong wind coming up the chasm... and they're ALL pucker-factors. I'm certain that road that goes from Rutledge, TN up into Cumberland Gap is pretty spooky as you cross the top, but never been over it in anything lighter than 9800lbs.
Skiri- Keirin is a really intense sprint-racing format, and it is VERY highly ruled-and-regulated... so much that back when I was track-fodder, aside from the Olympics, the 'original' flavor really only happened in Japan. It's really not considered a 'sport' competition in the world of competetive cycling, because it's more of a gambling format, than a 'race'... but yes, aerodynamics is important, but not nearly as much as solo events. Keiren is kinda like taking a NASCAR race, with a pace-car start, getting up to speed, and only doing 3 laps after. Essentially, everyone lines up behind the pacer, everyone gets up to speed, and they're all in the pacer's draft. Once up to speed, they approach the last pace lap, and from that point, everyone sprints. Because of how it works, the aerodynamic advantage only helps you conserve energy as you speed up. Sprinting makes you aerodynamically VERY messy, and because of the 3 laps being somewhat short, you can't pass someone if you're in their draft. Really, it's about having brutal stamina, and the ability to spin without hitting the next guy, and being able to keep from getting tangled up in guys that do. Keirin has three types of riders: Winners, loosers, and the guys lying in a tangled pile of twisted metal and other cyclists in the infield. It's basically like off-track-betting on horse-racing, but the horses are very crazy guys on very regulated bicycles.
The V-strom... what a great machine... that was my 'other' choice when I was looking at, when my buddy offered me the GL1200... incredibly nimble handling, incredible clearance, great road manners, crazy-easy torque, no 'buzzy' vibes, and docile idle. I would venture that the reason the VSTROM would exhibit less sidewind-reaction is PROBABLY due to the fact that, aside from a little bit of front fender, there's no bodywork, and very little big of front wheel sticking out in front of the point where the front wheel contacts the road.
BTW... here's a bicycle in my south porch that y'all might like to see... it's a Brennan, ridden by Albert Byrd in the 1936 Berlin Olympics.
You'll see it's brother here:
https://classiccycleus.com/home/al-sellingers-brennan/
Note the shape of the head-tube lugwork... Brennan's trademark was the 'bikini-strap' lines around the front.
And no, the wheels aren't rusty. They're WOOD... and the sprockets look funky because skip-tooth is necessary for 'block' type chain designs of that vintage.
The 'faster is better' is DEFINITELY the way to manage 'grate' bridges. This comes from gyroscopic force of the spinning wheel... when you spin a wheel, the faster it's spinning, the MORE it dislikes having it's angle with respect to space changed.
