General Cycling Discussion - Awesome ride until...

This week I decided to do 4 20 mile rides. Yesterday was my 2nd and I felt really rested. After work I took off and was surprised to notice that I completed the first 10 miles in 32 minutes. Keep in mind this is a giant cypress st. A few minutes into my return trip some storms were moving in so I was getting blasted with wind for the remainder of the ride. I could barely keep a 13 mph pace. Is this the same for everyone else against the wind? I'd rather pedal up hills all day then wind. I guess it doesn't help that I have more of an upright bike model.

I'd rather push into a wind then climb a hill. I have a theory about wind. If you can still move at 18 km/h (11 mph), there really is no wind, a light breeze maybe, but nothing significant. If you can still move at 15 km/h (9 mph), you've got a fairly heavy wind out there, but nothing unmanagable. If you're struggling to maintain 8 km/h (5 mph) and are having a tough time keeping the bicycle upright in the gusts ... you've definitely got a strong wind, and you might be starting to entertain the idea of heading for home.

I've been in the 8 km/h situation ... unfortunately I was heading for home, so there was nothing I could do but ride. But I still prefer that to a steep hill.

When you're traveling at a decent speed on a flat road, most of your energy is being used to cut through the wind. Yeah, I'm like you - I much prefer going up hills than into a strong headwind.

This past weekend, I had a chance to ride at Lagoon Drive, which is a completely flat section of road that almost always has a very strong headwind as you travel in the northern direction. I hated it! And even though I ride a bike that puts me in a low, aerodynamic position, it still bugged me to be going so slow. I think in many ways, it's psychological. When I'm riding up hills, I accept the fact that I'm going to ride slow. But on the flats, I rarely ride below 15mph, so when headwinds slow me to 12mph or less, I sometimes try to fight the winds too much, which ultimately is a losing battle. I probably need to spend more time riding into strong headwinds so I can get past this.

I'd also MUCH rather go up a steep hill than face a stiff wind. With the hill, you know when it'll end. The wind might never stop.

You don't always get to CHOOSE, either! Two days last week, I had a 15mph headwind while going up a hill on my homeward commute -- miserable, but whattaya gonna do.... Yesterday, I hit that same hill with a small tailwind, and rolled up a gear higher.

Hills, you can see your enemy and you know when it ends. What REALLY sucks is having to pedal to go downhill because of the wind.

I'd also MUCH rather go up a steep hill than face a stiff wind. With the hill, you know when it'll end. The wind might never stop.

I'm just the opposite. My bike cheats the wind so well that a 20-25 mph headwind is only a small inconvenience; and in fact I view it as giving me an extra advantage over my buddies. On the other hand, if I wanted to do hills well, I'd have to lose 20 pounds.

Heavy wind is just so demoralizing. One day you're zipping along at 20 mph, the next day you're struggling to maintain 11 mph. Am I tired? Did I not eat enough? Is my tire getting low on air? NO, IT'S JUST THE WIND. grr....

It's also worse than hills in that it rarely reverses direction. You may have to climb up a huge hill, but at some point you're going to go back down. How often does a headwind change into a tailwind? Not nearly often enough.


(And I still haven't figured out how you can be pedaling into the wind, then make a 90 degree turn, and you're still pedaling into the wind. . .)

Hills > wind
That and hills don't tend to knock me over.

What's that phrase?

"Hills build strength, winds build character."

man. you guys get to choose which one you want? There's always hills and wind for me!

Why do I have a mental-image of the Three Stooges making their get-away on bicycles with sails....?

...

There is very little I hate more then riding into the wind with no curves or anything to give me an idea that my torment might end soon. Climbing steep hills in the pouring rain (been there, done that) still beats riding into the wind (not by much).

I did a tour in Wyoming a few years ago. Days 1, 3, 5 and 7 we were climbing in the mountains, where the road twists so much that whatever wind there is was rarely felt. Days 2, 4, and 6 were dead-flat days across the valleys into the most unceasing wind imaginable. I can climb all day, but 10 miles into that wind and I'd just be praying to all that is holy for some kind of divine intervention that would end the wind.

I hate headwinds. Every once in a while I will be riding along at 25 mph and suddenly the thought will pop into my head - "wait a minute... there is absolutely no relative wind right now. Sh*t, I'm in for a 25mph headwind on the way home! Arghh!"

Working out is about working out, not about covering ground with the greatest of ease. The wind made you work harder. That is all.

I specifically chose my regular route because of the prevailing winds. Headwinds on the way out, glorious tailwind on the way home :thumb:

I *hate* hills. I have to struggle up several commuting to-and-from work. I also loathe a strong headwind but prefer that to fracking hills.