Old 08-20-10 | 10:15 AM
  #11  
jonathanb715
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Joined: Jan 2007
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From: NorCal

Bikes: Kestrel Talon

Originally Posted by Lanceoldstrong
Someone once said, and I wish I knew the source, "hills make you strong, headwinds make you mean".

I find that at 6 foot and 180 pounds, still quite large by cycling standards, I have a big advantage in headwinds. I kind of get pissed off at the wind and put the energy from that into the fight. I punch through the wind in a gear that allow me a high cadence with the power I can generate as a large rider. I think that my strength to mass ratio may actually tip to my advantage in headwind, at least on the flats.

During a double century this spring I was pulling a pace line and my buddy cccorlew, who goes about a buck fifty, asked me to slow down. I backed it down to 18.5 mph and after a few miles we came to a stop sign and he cried out "That's, what you call turning it down a notch?, 18.5 into a headwind?" As a smaller rider he was having trouble holding my wheel, even with me shielding him from most of the wind.

Use your size, use your power and get mean in your fight with Mr. Wind.

So my tip is, get low in the drops and wrestle that headwind to at least a draw.
+1 a good headwind will knock anyone's speed down - but I think bigger guys have an advantage in the wind. Our frontal area is not that much bigger, but we're able to produce a lot more power (particularly if you climb regularly - we have to produce more power just to get over the hills).

JB
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