Originally Posted by shyonelung

I went out today in a very heavy wind and with a head cold. I hadn't been on my bike since Saturday and I was really itching to go for a ride so I put my wind fears in their place and just -- what is it you guys say? -- HTFU. Because I was a bit congested, I wanted to avoid doing too many hills as I wasn't sure I could get enough breath in and out. I did have about a small (500-foot) climb at the beginning that I've done before -- the first half is a pretty gentle slope and then after a flat, there's a brief but steep finish. Today, it was also into a 20-22 mph wind. It totally kicked my ass and the head cold didn't help -- my HR got up to 218 at one point. I had to stop at the top and take a really long breather.

The middle part of the ride is a nice descent but I was "crossing" the wind and it was blowing me all over the place. I tried to follow the advice here, kept my touch light on the hoods and tried to "ride the gusts". For the most part it was fine until I was crossing a one-lane bridge and this dude in a pickup decided he just had to pass me on the bridge. (Jeez, it's like a block long, can't you freaking follow me across instead of trying to knock me into the creek?). After that, I turned for home with a tailwind that was just beautiful. Felt like I was flying. Man, that was a great feeling. And the best part: there was not one single car the last 7 miles or so -- I rode the entire time in the middle of this lovely two-lane that snakes through picturesque wine country and the only vehicles I saw were other cyclists. That was really fun. Weeeeeee.