TomD77

Around 37 years ago I lived on the Pamlico Sound in North Carolina and bought a Hobie Cat sail boat. Unfortunately I had no tutor. My first day on the water, the wind was from the west and I thought it a great idea to run with the wind for hours, toward the Outer Banks. About two-three hours before dark, the thought of reversing course finally entered my "mind". A couple of hours after dark and I was becalmed god knows where. I did manage at great effort to swim, towing the Hobie to a lighted dock, where I found people and a phone. This was long before cell phones. I called my worried wife who picked me up leaving the Hobie until the next day.

That did teach me a lesson since generalized to do the hard stuff first then glide. It's been handy in all sorts of contexts.

I wanted to get a ride in today but weather was less that ideal. Temps were more than fine but the wind was from due south at 20mph, gusting to 30. Using my Hobie lesson, I picked a route that headed straight south, geared down, gritted my teeth and just pedaled into it for an hour. When the gusts were up, the wind was pushing 40 mph relative, there were times that 10 mph was WORK.

But the trip back
Was worth it
Just flying
Effortless

I've gotten so I can't enjoy a downhill or down wind ride if I do it first thing on the ride but I sure do if I've already done the hard lifting.

Rowan

Yes, there is always payback.

I do have to say, though, I like the beating to windward bit. In a good wind, it can be wet, exciting and lots of fun.

Less so on the bike. Wind can beat you up in some many ways more than just struggling to pedal into it. Keeping the bike stable, getting hit in the face with debris, the noise... it all adds up.

I also am suspicious of rides that start with a downhill, because there is always payment due somewhere on the way back.

GeorgeBMac

I can't say I learned that sailing but I caught on pretty quickly on the bike.

Riding Rails-to-trails many of the hills run for between 5 - 15 miles. They aren't steep. Sometimes you can barely even see them. But 10 miles of constant pedaling is, for me, work.

So, I position my starting point and set my course so that the return trip is mostly downhill.

I occasionally run into newbies on the trail who pedaled 15 even 30 miles -- the last 15 miles down hill. Now they are far from home and facing a daunting task to get back home.

qcpmsame 

Yep, today's south wind was a bear to ride against wasn't it.

Bill

oilman_15106

Easily one of the best days of my life was when I sold my O Day 19ft sail boat. Lesson learned.

Bill Kapaun

If I head out into the headwind, odds are it'll switch 180 on the way back.

Esteban58

That'd be Murphy's law as applied to wind management.

momsonherbike

Yes, it would be nice to have clear sailing all the way home...but for those of us who live at the (highest elevation) west end of the trails, there is no "free sailing" unless the wind is blowing a rare easterly. If I want a downhill return on my T2T I have to start in the east - which means 12 to 20 more miles driving to get there, and dealing with higher volume traffic. BTDT. It just felt too much like...oh, I suppose you could call it 'cheating'. At 60 and unbroken I'm still young enough and fit enough to suck it up heading home the uphill direction. (yeah, I keep telling myself that).

So... I get the freewheeling wind in my sails heading east and downhill, and consider it a fun and easy 12-18 mile warm-up for the technical teeth gritting hard working part heading back west on the endless inclines, into the wind, where I can use all the skills I'm learning to go faster and stronger. When I hit the inclines, I drop my head, lower my body, and concentrate on the few yards of trail in advance of my front wheel - one of the advantages of a helmet visor. Something rather satisfying about arriving back to the car all sweaty and blown out...but having done it faster and less winded than last time.

Yet ....ask me what I'd give to have a heafty nor'easter at my back coming home!

BlazingPedals

I'll always take the tailwind when I can get it. Who knows - it might switch for the way back and I'll have tailwind for the entire ride! (Yes, it's happened before.) But generally, wind doesn't bother me as much as others, so I don't worry about it like I used to when I rode uprights. And anywhoo... the trick isn't to schedule so the trip home is the easy leg ('cuz it might not be,) but to allow sufficient time for a headwind.

GeorgeBMac

I hear ya'...

But, it's not just the cheatin' side of town, it's the more expensive...

I ride (or try to) about 5 days a week. If I am driving 30 miles round trip (which I am) that means over a $1,000 a year in gas:

5 days/wk x 52 wks/yr x 30mi/trip / 25mpg x $3.50/gal = $1,092

(and that doesn't include wear and tear on the car)

For me, that's getting real close to the cost of an N+1 each year!

But, I shouldn't complain: at least in my case, that 30 miles round trip gets me not only to the closest access point of the trails I ride but also to the lowest point in either direction. It doesn't matter which I way I start, I am always coming downhill on my way back to my car.
... Sometimes ya' get lucky!

donheff

I had a similar experience to the OP on a windsurfer in the sound a little farther north near Duck. I also rode about 15 miles north on Rt 1 along the coast thinking wow I am flying today only to turn around and realize the wind had slowly and steadily built up to a howler. Both were lesson that stay with you. Unfortunately, not all locations offer the proper options to avoid wind or downhills on the return and the wind has a perverse tendency to change around and stick it to you.

NOS88

One of the reasons I cycle instead of sail (I've done both), is that I can walk much longer distances than I can swim.

Sculptor7

Where I live in Maine along the coast the wind is generally from the Southwest in the afternoon. With that in mind I head South in the morning when the wind is light and then cruise home with a wind that is generally favorable. Of course, there are always those days when it perversely swings around so that the whole day is headwinds. Generally though it works and makes for an enjoyable ride. Two things do not work in my favor: the rivers that interrupt my course and the irregularity of the coast which means that I am sometimes fighting winds out of necessity. But, for the most part, home is "downeast"; with the wind.
When I sailed on Casco Bay I was restricted by the fact that I live on the Southern end of the bay so usually had no choice but to tack all the way home to my mooring.

berner

Tom, I've learned many important life lessons also on a sailboat. Sometimes, over and over again. A friend once told me sailing is life intensified. The good is really good and the bad is really bad. I began sailing in the Hudson River of New York State where it was necessary to deal with both wind and tide. If both were against you it was a long and difficult day. I've have since learned that in tough situations it pays to have at least one thing in your favor.

I once sailed from Plymouth, England to Newport, Rhode Island. It was a long beat, day after day for 3000 miles, into prevailing westerlies. But what I had going for me was that I was on the homeward leg so that there was no choice but to press on.

BikeWNC

We have ride loops here in the mountains where the prevailing wind is always head on.

However, it is common for the wind to blow up both sides of a mountain gap even if the road is a straight path. Hot air rises I guess.

Generally though, wind up here is less of an issue than down at the coast or plains. We have trees that provide shelter unlike the higher Rockies or Sierra. It's rare I need to worry about direction though some days it does blow hard enough to worry about descending and the gaps can get tricky.

leob1

That reminds me of a day from my youth. I decided to go for a ride along the beach. It was a bright, warm, sunny summer day. I was cruising through beach town after beach town, enjoying the sights. It was such a great day, and the riding was effortless. Must have been my great conditions. Until I had to turn back. WHAM! I suddenly realized I had had a good tailwind the whole time, and the entire ride home would be up-wind. Of course because I expended such little effort, I went a lot farther than I should have. I was beat, and beaten, by the time I got home.

stapfam

I always try to go out into the headwind if possible and always if it is above 15mph. Doesn't always work due to wind shift but I do not enjoy going North from home with a stiff headwind and all that climbing that will be involved. Not hard hills but plenty of them upwards and very few where gravity takes over.

But back in 94 I did a 100 mile offroad in a straight line from East to West. Early May and the wind should have been from the East But summer came early and we had a 20mph westerly blowing rain into our face for the whole trip. That was one ride where I realised that wind could be an advantage if you used it.

JPFremin

I sail a 26' MacGregor. In biking as in sailing, I prefer the wind off the port or stbd beam. Predictable sailing both ways.

Doohickie

The prevailing wind around here is out of the south. Almost all my rides head north in the beginning (into the city; I don't like solo rural rides) and end with a pretty good southbound leg into a headwind. So as much as I would like to "glide" at the end, it's simply not possible; I almost always end riding into a headwind of about 15 mph. The best I can do is tack a bit to the southwest until I am a little south of my house, but several miles west, then ride eastward toward my neighborhood, then finish the last little bit (a mile or so) with a tailwind.

Once in a while, the wind shifts out of the north and I can get one of those glide-home rides. While more enjoyable, I definitely get a better sense of accomplishment if I have to push hard to get back home. Learning how to finish into a headwind has definitely improved me as a cyclist.