Headwinds and steep, long hills...
 

This is just wrong! Twice in the last month I have hit headwinds going up a long steep hill on the morning commute to work. It is just wrong!

Just saying!

Part of the game. If only twice, that's a good month for me.

wind, hills and crappy road surface are our enemies.

1 is no problem, 2 starts to suck, all three really sucks.

What would suck is if that wind was against you on the way home too.

Like my dad walking uphill, both ways, to school...

Take it up with Management.

Living in the Soos creek valley, and working in the Kent valley means I do have to commute up hill both ways.

I live in the Renton Highlands and work in Kent, so I also get hills both ways, neighbor. And, I sometimes use the Soos Creek trail to cut across town.

And at 3, that's when the 22 tooth granny gear starts to sound like a really good idea.

That is physically impossible. but I've had the wind change direction on me during the day numerous times. It blows!:)

The SCT crosses our road, and is part of my daily commute. I only see 1 or 2 other cyclists a week this time of year, this week it was "that guy" with helmet and bike lights on high exercising no courtesy.

What is really wrong is encountering a headwind on both your morning and evening commute.

Yes that is the worst.

I get that!

In the morning the wind is coming in from the Pacific and in the evening it's "sundowners" coming off the hills... :bang:

This time of year headwinds on hills isn't much fun, but in general I prefer a headwind while climbing to keep me cool. Nothing is worse than a gentle tailwind when you're climbing a 6-8% hill in bright sunlight at 90F. You get NO cooling from all the sweat!

+1,

I also prefer headwinds climbing vs. descending long grades. That's because the net effect of the wind is lower at lower speeds. Drag is proportional to wind speed, so consider the difference when riding slower (climbing) vs faster in the same 15mph wind.

Riding 6mph on a steep climb the drag is proportional to 15+5 squared or 441. Now same wind but with a 20mph shallow descent. The drag is proportional to 35 squared or 1225. Almost triple.

Final analysis, at low speed a headwind cools me, at higher speeds it kills me.

Other week: 28 mile ride: 25 mph headwind: 40 mph gusts: 43 degrees: wind shifted at turn around: rain last 30 minutes: 800 ft climbing: died: somehow averaged 15.2

Maybe not possible for the whole route. But, especially on a bike... you can spend 20 minutes going uphill and 2 minutes back down (or so). So if your hill is in the middle, it sure seems like one is going uphill both ways.

Yep, I've gone to school on a hill. Out the door of my house, and headed up the hill. Then coming home, it was out the door of the school and uphill again. I never had to worry about getting cold in the mornings as the hill was good at warming me up. Yep, there was the zipping around the loop at the top of the hill, and that brief downhill, but those uphill rides were the memorable parts.

As far as the winds, it is not uncommon for the morning and afternoon winds to be in the opposite direction. The trick is to choose a location for one's home to take advantage of the natural wind patterns.

Around here it differs with the seasons. I work south and slightly west of my home. Morning winds are generally very light, except on a few occasions. Afternoon winds are generally from the south and west when it's warmer, and from the north and west when it's colder. So for the sections where I go east going home, I usually have at least a small tail wind, or cross wind. Summer humidity is always high, which usually means a tail wind for me when going home (my home's elevation is also lower than at the office). So whenever there's a slightly drier day in summer, that usually means headwind going home. A warmer day in winter will mean a tailwind going home.

Another common occurrence is to have a cold front come through during the day, where the temperature drops all day long (high temperature for the day happens at midnight). So in the morning I'll have a headwind from the south, and in the afternoon a colder headwind from the north. Those are the absolute worst days for me. One day it was in the 60's and raining in the morning. That afternoon it was dry, but in the 40's about to hit the 30's. Miserable. *edit* I just looked it up on Strava, it was one year ago this week actually. Morning commute I had a west wind changing to north, with rain, 60 degrees. Afternoon commute was a NE wind (the worst, headwind every way I turned), and 36! :eek:

I just mapped out a 16 mile west/east route that, if timed exactly wrong, should provide headwinds in both directions. Fortunately it's mostly downhill on the return trip. But if I leave an hour or so before sunset heading west there's usually at least a quartering wind in my face. And as the temperature cools near sunset it'll switch directions. So, double the workout? Trying to think positive here.

It's a joke...

Yeah, I know...

That's a very glass-is-half-full kind of attitude, and I really wished that I could feel lucky to be facing a stiff headwind on both trips...but I always feel like if I fought the wind in the morning then I should be paid back in kind on the way home, or if I got a free ride in the morning I don't mind paying back in the afternoon. Fair is fair, right?

We definitely should get more tailwinds in life. :)

Yet, some people have too many tailwinds, but that is a completely different topic!