Vaportrail56

Late yesterday I decided to go for a 20 mile ride at the beach and when I crossed the bay, it was white capping. I knew it was windy, so on my way out I was riding into a strong headwind and I could only go about 12mph. Then on my way back I was at a fast cruise at about 26mph for about 7 miles till a thunderstorm blew up. While I was riding down wind I got to thinking whether it would be better if I was to shift my body more upright, put my hands on the top of the handlebar, to try and catch more wind? Back when I sailed, when you went downwind you would open your sail up to catch as much wind as possible, that sort of thinking hit me,but then again my sailboat never went that fast either. It started getting dark so I didn`t have enough time to test this theory out. I just have to tell ya that, that was the fastest I have been on a flat road for that long. My question is, if you sit up straight more go downwind in a pretty stiff wind (20-30mph), would it help you or hurt you? I am just trying to squeeze a little more speed out. Got to have more speed!

DigitalN

If the wind is blowing faster than you are going, it will help to sit up, but if not then it will just slow you down.

RecceDG

Unless your ground speed is less than the air speed, you always want to be in the most aero position possible (adjusted for comfort)

A 35km/h ground speed with a 20 km/h tailwind is still a 15 km/h "headwind".

DG

KBentley57

^ +1. Think of it as relative motion. The reason you are able to go faster with a tail wind is because the air around you needs to be pushed out of the way *less* for any given speed compared to a calm day.

nhluhr

+1

ahsposo 

With a strong tail wind you are only limited by road conditions (including traffic) and your high gear. You can out-race the wind until you run out of gear then you might as well sit up. I have had my most exhilarating ride in a strong tail wind on an empty smooth flat road. YOWSIR!

ReLLiK75

I had a tail wind gusting up to 20 MPH yesterday. When it was a head wind my speed (on a 3% grade) was around 10MPH. Coming back in, with the wind pushing me, in the drops, with my Reynolds DVK66s on my bike I was cruising at 43MPH!!!!

ahsposo 

Oh, yeah Baby!

surgeonstone

This is correct.

Vaportrail56

43mph, rellik75? That must have been an awsome ride . I am amazed at how much a strong tailwind helps. Its like you are stronger and your speed is so much faster, dare I say it? It almost like you are SUPERHUMAN for a moment.

ReLLiK75

It was one hell of a tailwind on a slight downhill. For this particular stretch of road on calmn days 30ish is quite a reasonable speed.

tntyz

What speed do you maintain with no wind at all? If the difference between wind and ground speed is greater than what you would ride in calm conditions, then the "sit up" suggestions makes sense.

Note that sitting bolt uprioght is not my most comfortable riding position. I normally stay on the hoods since that's where I feel strongest even though there may be a good tailwind.

DropDeadFred

for some reason i read the title and thought you were trying to avoid bears or something....not bothering with the context...i like my version better

tntyz

Just had another sip of my morning coffee and rethought this. I'm wrong.

byrnemm

new thread. do it.

maybe some alaskans will chime in.

nhluhr

For a couple months every year, I would see a bear every single time I rode on Skyline Drive through Shenandoah National Park. The only time it was ever an issue was on descents when they cross the road in front of me.

merlinextraligh

It would be a rare wind where it would be faster to sit up. As noted by others. it would have to be faster than your riding speed. And it would need to be directly behind you. As it starts coming from the side it reduces the effective speed of the tailwind.

HED has an apparent wind angle calculater that lets you play with this.

https://s321476941.online.de/hedgerma...calculator.asp

Get the wind just a little bit off 180 degrees, and that helping tailwind starts to become a not so helpful cross wind.

gregf83 

Unless you're very weak or riding in a hurricane you will always have an apparent headwind so if you want to go faster get more aero. There will be less penalty for sitting up with a tailwind but it's still a penalty.

RT

Tailwinds, as rare as they are around here, deserve a Psalm each time they are experienced.

byrnemm

Honestly, on a bike I don't see tailwinds being much of a problem. Bears will have very little chance of smelling you before you pass them. The real danger is surprising a momma and her cub(s) that are crossing or right next to the road.

Vaportrail56

Well, thanks for the post all. It does get pretty windy around here sometimes where I ride and I sure enjoyed the tailwind the other night. That made for a fast ride back to my starting point. When the thunderstorm started coming closer the winds really picked up and my speed picked up as well, started getting a little scary too. I couldn`t believe how fast I was going. Oh yeah, thanks also for the info on riding with bears. I haven`t done it yet and I really don`t want to know how fast they run either.