Originally Posted by Niles H.
I don't have the numbers with me (maybe someone else knows them, or knows where they can be found?), but higher and higher percentages of a cyclist's energy go into overcoming air resistance as speeds increase. I've seen charts for this, and it is dramatic. Especially at higher speeds, the limiting factor -- and the factor that is really slowing you down -- is air.
Don't have any solutions on your fairing problem, but the equations I've seen are that air resistance for bikers increases with the square of the speed at slower speeds and the cube of the speed at faster speeds. This is dramatically unsatisfactory, as it doesn't define fast vs. slow, and is discontinuous. Nevertheless, that's the rule of thumb. I just got a copy of Bicycling Science, and surely somewhere in there is the true equation :-). I'll let you know when I find it.
Best,
Ari