Clydesdales/Athenas (200+ lb / 91+ kg) - Windy Ride today!

Man, I detest a headwind! We have winds gusting up around 40 MPH today. I'm a lot stronger this year, though, and even into the wind I could push the bike for spurts up over 25 MPH against that nasty wind!

Just a shortie that was supposed to be a recovery ride, but pushing into that wind, I could not hold the HR in my target zone, so I opted for a short, high intensity sprint and spin routine. What that is, is this; I sprint into the wind and run the HR up into the upper end of Z3, around 180, and then spin easy to let the heart rev down and then did it again. outbound was against the wind.

Coming back, I had a tailwind and for 7 1/.2 miles, held a pace of 32 MPH! (That was with the tailwind though........:p

15 miles, at a 23 MPH average. All in all, not a bad day.

Outbound: 14 MPH average, 526 watts generated at peak, and 969 calories burned
return: 32 MPH, 90 watts, 73 calories :p


Man, a tailwind do make a difference :p



One strange thing: I kept noticing this high pitched whistle/squeal sound and actually thought there was a bearing galled, but it turned out to be the wind whistling in my spokes. :D

Tom... I feel your pain.

I was pushing 70 gear inches into some nasty and ever changing winds yesterday and after over 10 miles of riding straight into it I was feeling pretty fragged.

Tailwinds on the other hand...pure sweetness

75 miles Thursday with 4 sections of the ride into a 33 mph headwind. Almost decided to walk twice. Shifted to a high gear and stood up to pedal. Worked good for me and lost 1 lb for the day. Down to 206 lbs.

Nice to hear you are riding outside finally. 23 MPH average is smoking, even without a head wind!

7.5 miles @ 32 mph is HAULIN'!! I don't think I've even hit 32 mph on a downhill yet. Alas, Black Beauty is way faster than my hybrid.

Nice job.

A 35-40 MPH tailwind didn't hurt, either ;)


7.5 miles @ 32 mph is HAULIN'!! I don't think I've even hit 32 mph on a downhill yet. Alas, Black Beauty is way faster than my hybrid.

Nice job.

I feel your pain. ALL WEEK LONG I've been fighting headwinds, and they haven't beaten me, but I'm definitely not finding excuses/ways to ride home after work then ride back and pick up the car tonight. Rather, I'm going to "opt out" of the ride home and drive the bike home. Granted, my bike definitely needs a little maintenance (one crankarm keeps coming loose, needs some loctite) but were it nicer out I'd find excuses to ride it.

I think, for me, the worst was Wednesday and Thursday. Both days I had constant headwinds, as the wind kept shifting. This morning I had a brutal crosswind (22-32mph I'm told) on the commute in coupled with rain (not a drizzle, not a downpour) and 30 degree temps. Suffice to say this morning's commute was pretty miserable :).

Next week apparently I'm in for more of the same. Can spring be over already? Someone remind me of all this, by the way, when the 100 degree temps of summer hit...

A 35-40 MPH tailwind didn't hurt, either ;)

I had one of those... Tuesday I think? Oh man it was awesome, I spun out on the MTB at like 30MPH. Just simply "ran out of gear". Best 5 miles ever.

The crosswind section, though, STUNK. :)

It was windy as hell down here too. Doing my first big climb of the season with a strong headwind was most certainly not a good idea. But the upside is that I can tell myself that the climb really drained me because of the headwind; not because I'm just getting going again this season and lost some strength over the winter. :p

It was windy as hell down here too. Doing my first big climb of the season with a strong headwind was most certainly not a good idea. But the upside is that I can tell myself that the climb really drained me because of the headwind; not because I'm just getting going again this season and lost some strength over the winter. :p

Even though the winter was 6 months :eek::cry: my one ride is about 15km (about 9 miles) and last year my best time on it was 0:44:53 , yesterday I did it in 0:48:02 so not bad, sometimes you lose less then you think.... The season hasn't even officially started yet, and I am only about 10 rides in. Hope to crack the 100 miles for the year barrier tomorrow with a 30km ride.....

Springtime is windy, no doubting that!

At least the ride back gave you time to catch your breath and sing along with the spokes.

RD