Road Cycling - ever leave motivated as hell?

then something happens during the ride that just saps you dry??

yesterday I went out looking to do about 15mi worth of hilly terrain to work on climbing (an oxymoron here in the midwest I reckon)... it was windy (15-20mph winds) and about 3 miles in it seemed like the wind was swirling and no matter which direction I was going it seemed like I was in a headwind... I'm just riding along thinkin to myself, "WTH man!!!" :notamused: by the time I get to my first climb and low grade longer run up and I'm about half way up said grade and thinkin "WTF! I just turned east on this road and the wind was in face heading north on the last one!!!" it just soaked any motivation out of me... only ended up with about 9 miles on the ride... :twitchy:

then something happens during the ride that just saps you dry??

Happens every time; I get to the end of the driveway and have to start pedaling.

The headwind is just more hillwork on the flats. In NE, we hardly ever don't have winds and so you just get used to it. And if you ride with a group, make sure you don't stay on the front too long or else you'll be toasted for the next climb.

ya, i hear ya there... it just ruined me yesterday for some reason... I tried climbs in all four directions and it seemed as though I couldn't get a single break on any hill without wind hitting my face... oh well, HTFU, Right??

Oh yeah....happens frequently. I just make the small chainring my friend and take my eyes off the 'puter....for hilly sections I put it on the elevation page to watch what happens. Gives me a strange sense of encouragement.

That pain you feel? It's the sign that weakness is leaving your body.

Welcome to my daily commute. Aside form a tornado, this is the only place I know where wind direction can come from all directions at once and flip 180° in 15 minutes. Last Friday rode 20 miles into a headwind, turned around and rode 25 miles back home into the same.freaking.headwind.

I have tried to turn it into a 'training opportunity', but screw that. Wind pisses me off more than all other cycling nemeses combined.

I always face this problem, in order to conquer that "sapping" of energy I invent a ghost rider. He usually gets the best of me.