Road Cycling - Gees...the WIND!

I just got back from a windy ride. Today was my only day off this week so I wanted to take advantage of the time and get a nice ride in. It was not easy at all with steady 15 mph winds and gusts up to 29 mph, according to the weather guy. I headed out against the breeze and took advantage of the tailwind on the ride home, but it feels like that was the hardest 25 miles I've ever ridden! Do any of you more experienced riders have any tips for riding in the wind? (other than pedal harder!)

Stay aero and alert. We had 45 MPH gusts yesterday, I love it!

Living In Bowling Green, the absence of hills is more than made up for in the winds. Constant 20 mph, and 40 mph gusts are typical. On my SS road, I usually power through the wind by getting as low and as narrow as possible, head down, punching a nice, streamlined hole through the wind. Another thing I have learned is to ride farther away from the edge of the road, because cross winds can push you off the road.

Stay aero and alert. We had 45 MPH gusts yesterday, I love it!

I don't actually love 45mph winds, nor am I enamored of 25mph ones, either. I used to really hate any head wind, but, after getting a little more experience - read building up my leg muscles - I can curse the wind as I power into it.

What I hate is the bernoulli effect, I think its called, where the wind is channeled between buildings, increasing its velocity. With all the new houses going up in my area, it seems as if I am always in a head wind. Today, in the first half of my ride, I was into the wind and thought I'd have a tailwind on the way home. Yeah, right! While it wasn't a headwind, it was a quartering wind, hitting me from the left of dead ahead.

While I curse it and power into it, I find myself automatically using the drops, but, it is difficult for a 6'3", 240lb'er to get "aero!" I call it getting less blimp-like!

I just got back from a windy ride. Today was my only day off this week so I wanted to take advantage of the time and get a nice ride in. It was not easy at all with steady 15 mph winds and gusts up to 29 mph, according to the weather guy. I headed out against the breeze and took advantage of the tailwind on the ride home, but it feels like that was the hardest 25 miles I've ever ridden! Do any of you more experienced riders have any tips for riding in the wind? (other than pedal harder!)
lol....i just registered w/the forum and then i came across this thread. let's see,i can't stand head wind's bec/they kick my butt and i can't stand it when it seem's mother nature is against u where ever u turn!but i do have good day's though and i love riding my modified gt aggressor even if the wind(s) follow me where ever i turn.....keep riding,it's good for ya...david

Here in the flatlands, where the biggest hills are highway overpasses, "The winds come sweep'n down the plains."

There's technique and skill and strength, but with the wind it's more a matter of philosophy. You have to fight it, but you are not fighting to win. You just fight to stay alive and to achieve your puny goals. The wind will keep going and you will never beat it.

With skill and wise planning, you can predict and take advantage of wind shifts. This website helps for planning rides on the prairie Wind Forecast (http://intellicast.com/Local/USLocalStd.asp?loc=usilct15426&seg=LocalWeather&prodgrp=Forecasts&product=WINDcast&prodnav=d1_00).

Never think you have the wind in your control. Never curse the wind. The winds will teach humility.

Yup, yesterday and sunday the wind was quite fun. I cursed the grit and I cursed the construction, but I was actually happy that the wind kept me cool and happy while I struggled through the unseasonably warm, sunny and gusty weather.

Patience.
Whenever I'm feeling weak, or there is a strong wind, for me its all about patience. I try to put it into an easy gear (which, on a ride last Sunday, was a 30-21 or so!) and take my sweet time. They key is to keep morale up.

At least you don't have to worry about the stupid bugs/nats flying in your mouth/nose when the wind's blowing 40mph. :D

At least you don't have to worry about the stupid bugs/nats flying in your mouth/nose when the wind's blowing 40mph. :D

yeah, I want to know how to keep the bugs out of the wind
wind is insult enough to the effort (though the advice of getting down physically and staying up mentally is good)
let alone inhaling, chewing on, or getting pelted by gnats, beetles, bees (you know, those hurt when you're going 30mph+ and they're going whatever their speed is)
nasty

You know, it's funny. Sunday was the first day in a while that I found myself talking in my head. The morale boosting, pep talk kinda thing. Funny. Especially the part when I acknowledged that while it was tough, the ride home would be a breeze because of the tailwind. Course there was no tailwind, ever...



Patience.
Whenever I'm feeling weak, or there is a strong wind, for me its all about patience. I try to put it into an easy gear (which, on a ride last Sunday, was a 30-21 or so!) and take my sweet time. They key is to keep morale up.

Yesterday, I had a strong headwind on the return trip, and I felt pretty strong, so today, I went out again. I started with the headwind this time, but figured I'd be ok for the ride home. By the time I turned around, I was pooped- so the ride back was longer than necessary too. Then I got home and pretty much slept the day away due to being so tired!

Tips- spin your way through the wind in lower gears. I at least was able to maintain some decent speed by switching to much lower gears and keeping my speed as high as possible by spinning as fast as I could. I saw other cyclists spinning much faster than me too.

Koffee

This past Sunday in Ohio was about 30mph but high 70's! at last! On the way out I was with a tail wind, yes! was having a blast,, was on a long flat 4 lane bridge that has 30mph limit, I was passing cars up like it was nothing; nice, was even using the high speed lane. On the ride home, well you all know that scene. down in the drops......and working hard.

Thanks for all the replies. I think keeping the morale up may be the key. I felt like I was sort of cheating to be spinning so fast in low gears just to maintain 10-11 mph on a flat road! I did notice that getting into the drops was good for a couple more mph without any more effort. The real killer was riding an uphill against the wind. Ugh. The crosswinds are a challenge in you're not used to them. Sometimes when a truck would pass by, the trailing gust/disturbance was enough to move me farther out into the lane (or onto the berm) than I intended to be! I found myself looking forward rioding past a house or barn because I knew I'd get a short break from the crosswind. I suppose I should be grateful for the opportunity for such a good workout!

I think everyone would agree that riding in any kind of wind except a tailwind sucks big time.

I hate riding in the wind, but I love riding more. Plus, I learned all these really cool words during my 22 years in the Navy, so riding in the wind lets me exercise my legs and my vocabulary at the same time!

Bottom line, riding is so much better than anything else - well, everything but sex* - and a little wind will not keep a cyclist off his bike. How's that go, "Through wind, breeze, and 50 mph gusts in the dark of night......."

Now if I could figure a way to combine these two........

That's the way I view wind- a good workout. Since we don't have hills in Chicago, the wind will more than suffice.

I always tell people that Lance Armstrong is a fool to pay for training in wind tunnels. He can get the same wind training by riding in Chicago every day for free! :D

Koffee

I check this web site before each ride so I can start into the wind. Then let it push me home. It's a great workout. :D
http://www.weatherunderground.com/US/Region/US/2xWindSpeed.html

It shows wind in real time.

Tips to defeat a headwind :

> get a good aerodynamic position( half tuck ) ( put arms together,if you keep your arms wide, your body acts like a parachute and you'll slow down)
> select a good cadence around 90-100 rpm
> stay relaxed and hydrated ( energy here takes a good downward spiral, when facing a headwind.

The wind is nearly constant here on the front range of the rocky mountains. Not only that, but they are normally very gusty. I agree with keep your self as aero as possible. Take a lower gear and work on your spin rather then mashing a higher gear. Windy conditions are also a good time to work on your mental thoughts. You know, the internal voices that keep you going or, tell you to quit. The mental effect of the wind can be much greater than the physical ones.

You know, it's funny. Sunday was the first day in a while that I found myself talking in my head. The morale boosting, pep talk kinda thing. Funny. Especially the part when I acknowledged that while it was tough, the ride home would be a breeze because of the tailwind. Course there was no tailwind, ever...

yeah, on my last ride, I was thinking "I feel a slight headwind. This is going to be easier going back towards home", and once I turned around, I immediately faced a much stronger headwind

I'd say cadence and mental toughness. I look at it like a hill. Here in North Texas wind is nearly constant. I've had plenty of instances when going up a grade with the wind at my back was easier than going down one with wind in your face. That can be mentally exhausting. Stay tucked and pedal brother. Kinda like losing weight, "eat right and exercise" no mysteries here.

I just got back from a windy ride. Today was my only day off this week so I wanted to take advantage of the time and get a nice ride in. It was not easy at all with steady 15 mph winds and gusts up to 29 mph, according to the weather guy. I headed out against the breeze and took advantage of the tailwind on the ride home, but it feels like that was the hardest 25 miles I've ever ridden! Do any of you more experienced riders have any tips for riding in the wind? (other than pedal harder!)
If possible ride behind another rider for a while, head down ass up and pick a point on the horrizon and ride to it.

I was doing intervals last week...25mph wind and I was punching a 25mph hole into it - thats 50mph of wind whistling around my ears for 3 whole minutes! nasty! That was on the drops...wonder what I could do with the aerobars in that wind? :D

Brendon

Similar to Chevy Chases' advice in Caddyshack, "be the wind."

Dave

I'm in it all week and its a b$tch. I'm lucky to keep it at 15mph and a 90 cadence.

All of the pain and frustration of a ferocious headwind is more than made up for by the tailwind home, IMHO. I absolutely love it when you are cruising along at the same speed as a tailwind coming directly from behind - there is no wind in your ears so all you hear are the tires humming on the pavement and you look down at your computer and see you are doing 28 mph up a hill with almost no effort. That is about the time when I start considering which team I'll join - hmmm, CSC or Postal? :D

The worst is when the wind changes on you. Yesterday, I had the headwind coming from the southwest, but then suddenly towards my halfway point, the winds changed to the northwest. So when I turned around, I was struggling just as much as when I went out there.

Bummer.

Koffee

Had that happen afew times. Sometimes i put so much into fighting the wind i dont have much left to enjoy the tailwind.

The spring wind here often blows in the 15-25 mph range. Yesterday was one of those days. You just spin and stay tuff. In the summer here we often have west wind in the evenings. It can have you outsmarting yourself, if you go out in the evening against the wind it will often die down twards dusk leaving you with all the work home! :eek:

The best advice I could ever give is this. If you have routes that have tree lined two lanes, take these routes. The trees break up the wind enough to keep you from killing yourself! ;) Also stay off big 4 lane devided highways if at all possible. These are just wind traps and have nothing to break up the constant preasure.

Draft an SUV, they're everywhere :)

Todays ride was in 27MPH average with gusts of 37 MPH. There is no doubt, it makes the ride harder and slower. Then again, if I needed to really go faster, I could take the car.

TrekRider, I think the Venturi Effect is what you were looking for. The Bernoulli Effect is how aircraft are able to fly. I think.

The fixie makes wind rides very different. Last spring (windy season here, like most of you are talking about with some neat gustier canyon winds here and there) I didn't ride much at all. I had all sorts of gears to use but was a big *****. This year with 1x1 action, I'm all about turning the pedals over slow into the wind.

Advice? Keep your eye on stuff blowing in front of you to judge sudden changes in direction that can mess you up. There's little out here but dust and shrubs, so it's easy to do. When I was still in Oklahoma and Dallas, I'd keep an eye on trees to anticipate such things. Mentally, don't let the wind beat you before you get on the bike. Mentality does a lot when the wind's howling.