Road Cycling - Crosswinds

Why are crosswinds so hard for me to ride in and is there anything other riders can do to help me?

The other day we were out riding, the winds were around 15mph NNW with gusts up to about 20mph. When I was in a headwind I could keep up with the other riders but when the wind direction changed to a crosswind I was dead. It was all I could do to keep my front wheel under control, there were times I thought I was going to be blown into the cornfields. And to add insult to injury just as I would crest a hill a gust of wind would come along and stop me. I couldn't even gain speed on the downhills because of the wind.

My partner commented how "I really died" and he apparently had no clue what the problem was. The funny part was in a head wind I could catch them even though I was a good distance behind them.

Does anyone have any suggestions for what I can do to avoid getting left behind?

Kathi

Are your wheels deep section (with a large surface area from the side) or std box section.

Just a thought, but maybe you are breaking your cadence when you feel a crosswind, and that is slowing you down.

It just takes experience for riding in a cross wind. It takes more effort to balance yourself, one you get the knack of it, I'm sure you will keep up. I tend to lean a bit into the wind, personally.

lovemyswift: I haven't tried it yet but I recently read where you can make your body work like a sail when it comes to cross winds. The article says to try and position your back towards the direction where the when is blowing. You do this by keeping one hand on the hoods and the other on the drops.

Say for example the wind is blowing right to left. You would put your right hand on the drops and the left on the brakehood. I have no idea if this works or not. Perhaps Sailguy could fill us in :)

Zack

Thanks,
I was also wondering if it has something to do with my size. Being a smaller rider and a woman (125 lbs total, bike and me) I have less upper body weight on the handlebars.

Also, when the wind came one direction I was leaning to balance but then it would shift and I'd have to lean the other way. And I could have been slowing my cadence because it was so much effort to keep the bike balanced. Also, it was seriously affecting my heartrate. At one point I had a 172 heartrate, I was a 90 rpm's and I was going 9 mph!

Yesterday, I was on a mission to beat thunderstorms. I had 35 miles to go. When I hit the crosswinds my speed would drop 2-3 mph. I was pushing as hard as I could and trying not to let it slow me down. When I got a tailwind I was spinning about 110 mph and ended up increasing my average speed by 1.5 mph.

Since I always ride in my drops maybe it doesn't give me the power or strength to control the front wheel (my partner says I have anorexic arms) I was thinking that putting my hands on the handlebars would give me more power but then that puts more body mass in the wind.

Michael, my wheels are Mavic Open Pro's which I assume are the std box kind.

Zack, I will definitely try your suggestion, it makes sense to me, it sounds like one hand in the drops will give me the power to stabilize the wheel and the other hand on the hoods will keep my body mass low.

Thanks,
Kathi

Kathi

Look at some sailing instructions or whatever you should be able to use the cross wind to help. But I understand one time on Asitague (sp?) Island I had to dismount and walk my bike a few yards as it was blowing me sideways.

Joe

Kathi,

I'm afraid I don't have the perfect solution, but lots of cycling, including a tour through Newfoundland gave me lots of experience on the matter...

- With all types of wind, the best is to keep the same cadence at all times. I try to keep 75-85 rpm, whether I ride with a tailwind, a crosswind or a headwind. With regular crosswinds (or headwinds), it's not too bad, just demoralising. With windgusts, I tend to "overspin" when the wind is calm, because I find it easier that way than "underspinning" during a sudden gust.

- Zach suggested something, which I like for a different reason.
I found that on the long run, I'm more comfortable if I remain as upright as possible. This means that I lean the bike more than I. (I tend to do the same in curves, BTW.)
If the wind is on my left, it means I lean the bike more toward the left and I remain upright... whcih means my handlebar is further away on the left side as it is on the right side. Grabbing the left hood and the right drop then becomes the "least uncomfortable" setup.
My creative use of the handlebars may have one drawback: in Mewfoundland, I wore through my rear tire... which was completely worn on the left sidewall!

- Just like you, I like to ride on the drops; I ride on the drops approx. 80-90% of the time. However, my bars are a little closer and much higher than the typical setup. The drops are about 5" lower than the saddle, which means that the tops are either lever or slightly higher than the saddle.

Regards,