Originally Posted by waterrockets
No, momentum applies, as the acceleration of gravity adds to it, as does the mass. The more momentum you have, the more you fight the breeze....
On momentum I was not talking about wind resistance at all. What I am referring to is entering a turn which will naturally "scrub off" speed. More momentum will sustain speed better. The same applies for going over a hump.
Momentum dosen't "fight the breeze". Speed through a fluid (air) causes more resistance.
Originally Posted by waterrockets
Frontal area increases proportionally to the square root of the rider's mass (well volume, but assuming even distribution...). ...
Are you talking about the volume of a sphere or cylinder? Remember that we are talking human bodies here. A good aero tuck takes most of the torso out of the frontal area. It is mostly head, sholders and lower legs.
Originally Posted by waterrockets
So a rider that weighs 2x only has 41% more frontal area, but twice the momentum...
I am not sure of those numbers. But, that is why I said that wind resistance is a smaller portion of the equation.