Wind!
 

It was very windy tonight and I had to face it all the way home. I learned a great lesson, though. I simply got into the drops and forgot about my speed. Rather, I simply focused on keeping a comfortable heart rate and enjoying the ride. Total EXTRA time over 13 miles....a grand total of 6 extra minutes. Turns out wind is just not that big of deal if you drop your speed and enjoy the ride (extreme conditions excepted, of course).

I had that today coming back from the mailbox. Felt kind of silly down in the drops spinning madly in my granny gears and barely able to hold onto 9mph, but oh well.

I tend to spin more then try to mash and just understand the speed will not be as fast. Thats ok. I get the head wind (the majority of the time) on the way into work so its not bad plus when it is really windy, it makes the ride home sweet! But it can suck if the wind shifts and I get a head wind on the way to work and on the way back home :(

Headwinds can really make you appreciate drop bars. A persistent headwind is almost like riding uphill. Just put your bike in a comfortable gear range that you can sustain and spin it out. My brother and I rode a bike tour one summer where we had a strong headwind almost the entire last day with 80 miles of riding to get back to our starting point. I rode in my drops more that day than I ever have in my cycling experience.

I always just ride at the exertion level that I'm comfortable with, and don't worry (or even look) at my speed. My ride time has varied between 34 and 55 minutes, 34 being with a tailwind, 55 with a very stiff headwind in the winter with full multilayer clothing and cold temps with low pressure studded wide tires.

I don't usually give a crap about how fast I'm going, so headwinds are the only time my drops see any kind of action. For those rare times though, they're totally worth it!

being that i ride directly on the shore of lake michigan everyday, wind is unfortunately and a very ominous and ever-present aspect of my daily commuting. riding directly into a a 40mph headwind, gusting to 50 mph, that's been screaming, uninterrupted, down the entire 300 mile length of lake michigan, and you and your bike are the first object it has encountered, is no joke. i've encountered wind gusts that have actually brought me to a full dead stop.

Headwinds put me inside of myself. 95% of the time in Summer, I ride home into a hot Southwesterly headwind from 12 to 25 mph.

I get in the drops and focus on cadence and breathing - usually I can make myself disregard it for stretches of time.

I also found it helps to never, ever complain about it, or even bring the subject up in conversation. Somehow that helps me notice it less when I'm on the bike.

+1. The PNW coast can get really wild - last winter I had to get off and walk a few times because I was about to start going backwards on the bike!

When it was behind me it did make me wonder if I could rig up one of those ridiculous bike umbrellas into a jib.

Strong headwinds used to bother me a few years ago. But once I sold my car and started riding everyday, I found that I don't really care about the extra effort they require anymore. I actually notice them more in the colder months when it is a stinging cold, or I should say I notice when I have a significant tailwind and there is an absence of wind buffeting my front.

I am convinced that the wind moves 360° while traveling. Seems like no matter what direction I go the wind is still in my face and I never catch a break by getting a tailwind, never!

I don't mind headwinds too much.

Gusty side winds, in traffic . :twitchy: