Newb story
 

Well I have not ridden since Friday (3 days off bike) and I really wanted to get back out. So I grab the bike and do a couple block warm up but I notice I am flying 3 mph over what I usually do. Wow I think to myself this is awesome I hammer down and I click it into high gears soon I'm doing 21 mph. I am so proud now, riding hard and fast not feeling a thing. Thinking its the days off that made me more powerful I go an extra 2 miles out on my normal out and back route.

I stop hit the water and take 2 mins to catch my breath it feels great!!!! Now here comes the newb thing not even thinking I start back the way I came and then it hits me the 15 MPH wind!!!! I did not even think about when I was riding with it at my back. I did 4-5 mph under my normal speed on the way back and since I pushed extra hard on the way out I was getting pretty worn out really quick. I made it home slow and steady but now I know to watch that wind hehe.

It happens to us all. The difference between and newb and pro... a pro would have stopped typing after the first paragraph..:D :D :D

CLASSIC!!! :beer: :roflmao: :beer: :roflmao:

lol I will keep that in mind :)

At least you had help half of the way...It always seems like I ride into the wind.

LOL...you wouldn't think it would make that much of a difference.

There is a trail here in St. Louis that goes north along the Mississippi River from downtown for about 14 miles. Inevidably, there is a northerly wind in the 5-10 mile range, allowing for great performance on the way out (I average about 22mph on the way out); however, I typically average about 25-50% less (12-16mph) on the way back, all because of the wind... By the end of the ride, I end up cursing the wind and asking for the tail wind again :-)

And how about wind changing direction while you riding? :mad:

I remember starting the ride with strong head wind and thinking how relaxing last miles would be with tail wind helping me. Imagine - 4 hrs later coming to the same spot from opposite direction only to find out that you have to fight that head wind again!

Anyway - wind is good - it makes our midwestern hills more challenging. :)

It seems like when I ride into work with a headwind, by the end of my 12 hour shift the wind has changed direction and still just as hard. A lot of my ride is next to a lake (no trees to stop the wind.) :(

Next time you have a good headwind, try and get as low as possible with your head and bring your knees and elbows in as close to the bike as possible. It makes a world of difference. You can see why the time trial guys use the aerobars. :D

I have had that happen before too on a couple of occasions.

I have a hospital just down the road from me, and can see the helipad wind sock from the street in front of the house. It's in a more open part of the valley I live in, so I trust it more than what I feel whipping through the development.

I only ride from home once or twice a week. I've gotten more into racking it to bike trails. Nice thing about the local rail trails is that they are usually level, shady, and shielded from the wind due to forested settings.

Karl

The $#@!%&* wind, at least you got help half way, I haven't had a ride since June, where the wind was LESS then 15MPH, and it tends to go with me, if I am heading North, it's out of the North, make a turn to the East, and it swings around to come from the East, make a turn to the south, and it swings to come from the south, etc. Sometimes, like today, it came out of the South West, so if it wasn't a head wind, it was trying to blow me sideways, like in front of a Stupid Ugly Vehicle, with the driver on a cell phone not clued into whats going on outside their cage....

Being in the western 'burb, I ran into this too and used it to my advantage. It was a sonofagun getting 5 miles out in the wind, but the ride home was AWESOME!! 27 mph is my new tops!!! Thank god for hills and serious tailwinds.. Makes me feel like I know what I'm doing

John

I tried* to go on a ride yesterday. I wasn't feeling good in general, and the ride 2 days before had made my whole body ache for some reason.

So I sorely get my bike and decide to at least get on it and go for a nice easy ride. It's windy, with gusts up to 50 mph off the lake (I'm up north), but I don't remember what riding in the wind is like.

I head into the wind for my trip out, and I'm doing OK... I'm on my old 10 speed and in the 3 easiest gears pretty much. Even going downhill I don't need to shift my front gears. Then the lake turns and I realize I wasn't heading straight into the wind before...NOW I'm straight into the wind. I think it literally blew me backwards.

I get down as low as I can and I'm in 2nd gear (or 8th gear... how are they numbered?) and I have my head down. I am barely moving. I see a giant hill in front of me. I'm only 3.5 miles away from home, but I turned back. The wind kicked my butt.

I had a great* ride back. I coasted almost the whole way at 12 mph.

Got home, at 2 yogurts, a chewy bar, and some granola and then went to bed for 5.5 hours.

Headwinds = the "Eternal Hill Climb" and they just make you stronger.;)

Some of us live in flat country and that headwind raises the HR for us just like a hill.:D

Hills are preferable to high winds in my opinion. When you climb a mountain there is at least a sense of accomplishment. Not so when you're dragging your ass into a flat wind on the high plains.

I'm living in North Dakota right now and missing central Pennsylvania. Can you tell?

With my luck I usually get that light breeze at my back right as I start up the hill. Not only gotta climb, but when the wind speed matches my speed, there's zero cooling.

I'm thinking of a small kayak-type sail. Land yachting anyone? A trike bent would be fairly easy, but on two wheels it would be like wind surfing...

You mean like this?

http://www.vsv.cape.com/~harharb/gra...msailbike2.jpg

(I can usually find ANYTHING!;) It was also made by a Fellow Tom!)
http://www.vsv.cape.com/~harharb/windbike.html

Happens to me all the time. I commute into downtown Boston in the AM, and there's often an onshore breeze, which equals headwind when I'm riding in. Riding out in the PM, and now there's an offshore breeze going the other way. Can't win...