joejack951

This post is more to talk about my ride on Friday (May 27th) than about comparing rides with headwinds but I couldn't think of a better thread title. The ride was this:



The reason: Pig roast at my friend's parents' house and I felt like making it into a bike ride. I started at 7am from Wilmington, DE and finished at 7:30pm in Mount Holly Springs, PA. If anyone is familair with the area my route was Route 82 north, to 926 West, to 10 South, to 896 North, to 372 West, to 851 West, to 216 West to 116 West, to 34 North.

Some ride stats:

Bike with gear (not including bottles): 40 lbs.
100 oz. Camelbak on my back: 6 lbs.
Total trip: 143.2 miles
Average temp: 75 degrees
Average speed: 13.6 mph
Average HR: 141 bpm (187 is my max)
Ascent: 8800 feet
Calories burned: 8100
Fluid consumed: 240 oz.
Head wind: 10-20 mph from 7am-6pm (~125 miles)

Knowing I was heading west directly into the wind for most of the trip was quite a mental challenge to overcome. About the only thing I had on my side was that I had all day for the ride, and I used up most of it. The worst part of the ride was miles 60-100 where the road went up and down and the wind was really blowing. I would crest the top of a hill at 6-8 mph and maybe hit 15 going down the other side (too tired to pedal on the way down) before having to go up another. I've never used my 30 tooth ring so much. Occasionally a tractor trailer would pass going to opposite direction and I'd feel like all forward progress stopped. The turning point of the ride was after mile 100 when I reached Codorus State Park and the road flattened out for a while. Right before reaching that point, I had stopped to lay down on the side of the road and really didn't feel like getting back up. At one point, I mounted my bike then got back off and laid down for a while longer. The heat (~85 degrees at that point) plus the wind had taken it's toll on me. About the only thing drivjng me to finish was the fact that only making it 100 of the 143 miles planned would make for a really crappy story

Highlights of the ride: mainly riding through the Susquehanna River valley on 372. you can see the descent into and the climb out of the valley around mile 60. And obviously finishing at my friend's house (after that one last 100 foot hill). All in all, a great ride and something I hope to do again only next time I'll make the return trip too. This time around I "wussed out" and got a ride back to another friend's house and rode the 37 miles home from there today (Monday).

The altitude plots (I forgot to set my starting altitude hence the negative numbers):

Bean Counter

Hey, that's quite a ride. I'd have wussed on the return as well. I did a good portion of that route last fall riding from Gettysburg to Middletown, DE. Being from lower DE, the rolling hills were a treat. I had very little wind. Headwinds + hills make a tough day. Congrats on a good ride.

operator

Sheeyat. That's quite the distance. Pics of your bike!

joejack951

Here's how it looked after the ride home today. If you look close enough you can see the "custom" extenders I made for the mounting brackets for my OMM rack. I've had that rack on my MTB for a while now and just assumed it would be a simple swap to my Sequoia for this ride. I found out at 7pm Thursday that it would not. A trip to the LBS didn't turn up any solutions so it was off to Home Depot. I lucked out and found some 1/8" aluminum that did the job.

joejack951

Cool, somebody who has an idea of what I went through. Any chance you rode on 851? I think I averaged about 10 mph for the first 10 miles I was on that road thanks to grooved pavement and some serious inclines.

skinnyone

I couldnt find a emoticon which would bow down and grovel... Astounding ride...

Mojo GoGo

Hope the bbq was good Thirteen hours of head wind man that's gotta blow (sorry I couldn't resist). BTW not doing the return ride isn't wussing out - I did a long ride this weekend, rode yesterday and then decided to do a local race tonight... The result was tired legs that saw me blown out the back of the pack half way through lap 3 (of 6). Emotionally tramatic but not really all that surprising. Just hope you're not too sore

Portis

Sort of ironic. I just rode my first solo century into a headwind on Friday. Here is my sort of report. I don't have any fancy charts etc., but i can tell you that headwind sucks. I also got a nice dose of rain to go along with my wind.

I think centuries should be broken down and wind and elevations given. I rode 112 miles Friday and a majority of it was into a stiff headwind. On Sunday I rode a quick 55 miles with mainly tailwinds. I felt about like i did Friday, when i was leaving the driveway. (very refreshed, almost like i hadn't even ridden.)

I didn't feel so fresh after the headwind Friday!

The wind was out of the North and West. Basically my entire trip, but it got worse as i went.

cyclwestks

Who'd a thought in Kansas you could ride through Denmark.

bikex10

Ranger:
Are you from Salina ?
I live near Hutchinson/ Buhler area . I have ridden in the Osborne area numerous times . Have some good friends there . Beautiful area to ride !