simplygib

Yep. Give me a hill any day over wind. I like to space out when I ride and think about all kinds of stuff, and it's nearly impossible to do that when it's windy.

My worst wind story: On an unsupported in AZ with my girlfriend, huffing and puffing up a 9% grade in horizontal rain and wind - I don't even know how hard the wind was blowing. We were geared all the way down and barely making our way up that hill when a big gust hit me sideways and blew me over in the mud. I had a nice little profanity-laced tantrum in that moment, but 10 minutes later we were coasting down the back side of that hill with the sun breaking through the clouds. Ahhhhhhhh.... That is the one nice thing about the wind. It makes you appreciate the lack of it that much more.

oilman_15106

Started at 7:30 with the same thoughts in mind even though it was 29f outside. About 8am the wind was in full force and it was no fun.

big john

Years ago 2 of us struggled up Latigo Canyon from PCH into a wind that was so strong that we couldn't hear each other shout from 3 feet apart. We wobbled and cussed our way over that mountain until we stopped for a rest at the Rock Store, a popular hangout for motorcyclists. I overheard one motorcycle guy say to the other "Wow, you came up that thing in this wind?" after hearing that he came the same way we did. Poor guy.

bentnail

I have to agree the wind is bad..... but I got rid of my computer and now i don't have to keep up with thos little numbers. NICE so the wind has become my friend.

genedoc

Rode a 20K TT Sunday with 25mph gusty tailwind out and 25 mph headwind back. My computer frooze up when I hit 122 rpm, but I was seeing 40-44 mph for a good part of the ride out. Fun as heck, but getting blown around the road at 40+mph on an aero TT bike (i.e. hands a loooong way from the brakes) can be...interesting.

Then there was the return leg. Something about riding 16mph on an expensive TT bike in a race that just seems wrong.

bkaapcke

My bad attitude centers on jerk car drivers. It is so bad, that I no longer ride the streets, and stick to local trails. Two bad attitudes are just an excuse away from serious violence. 'nuff said. bk

sch

There can be worse things than hills and headwinds: check out the
thread posted by Machka in the Long Distance Forum titled Nasty
Vicious Cruel centuries and look at her photos of same. 6-8" of snow,
wide open terrain at temps in the 20sF

Artkansas 

Didn't you know, a bad attitude towards wind just invites more wind. It's the law of attraction.

Nope, wind doesn't bother me. I just gear down, pedal and try to keep her running straight.

stonecrd

In general I don't mind the wind but seems like this winter it has been there every day. Not crazy hard but a sustained 10-12mph with 20mph gusts, every single day. It just wears on you after awhile and it takes a bit of the fun out of riding. I ride mainly for the exercise but I like to enjoy it as well!

spry

No worries mate,but this is the "old buffer,s" forum,by jove.

Monoborracho

Everything around here is either uphill or into the wind, or so it seems. Today at lunch I did my 15 mile-out-and-back-by-wife's-elementary-school-to-wave-hi-at-playground-then-onto the newly resurfaced road. It is about 2 miles to the city limits with max of eight stop signs/lights. I try to do it and average 15mph, today is took 1:08 for 14.61 miles so no joy. I did great on the way out, including the hills I had to climb, but the wind ate me up coming back in, even though it was only 5-10, gusting to 15. Just the usual.

I knew an instructor pilot in service who would always place himself to that you had to look into the sun to hold formation with him. His reasoning was that the sun was always there and you might as well get used to it. Such could be said for where I live.

John E

We had a pretty windy weekend. Since I had to work Saturday, I rode the mountain bike to the office and rode the UO-8 home. I find the Bianchi's already twitchy steering downright scary in a heavy crosswind.

Tom Bombadil

Is an "old buffer" someone who has been buffeted one too many times by strong headwinds?

Big Paulie

Sigh...

It's a guy who used to polish cars for a living...

rschleicher

You think headwinds are bad on a bike, they are even worse when canoeing (or kayaking), at least when you are on a lake or some other "non-moving" water.

I remember canoeing one time down the Wisconsin River, upstream of the Wisconsin Dells area. As you start to approach the Dells, the river widens out into what is almost like a fairly large lake, so there is essentially no current. We had a big headwind, such that white-caps were forming on the river/lake, and for a while it felt like we were actually going backwards, while paddling! For that matter, some birds were going backwards also. At least on solid ground you know you are always going in the right direction.

lhbernhardt

But getting back to your original question -

Yeah, I got a bad attitude. When I'm out riding I don't say hello to anybody. If anybody tries to wave or say hi, and especially if they're duded up like bike racers, I just kinda glare at them, trying hard to suppress a "f*** you." I don't know why, I guess I've just been racing too long. It's an attitude ya gotta have if you wanna be a decent bike racer... Most of you are real nice guys and wouldn't understand. You'd have to be a frustrated and largely unsuccessful bike racer to understand, see?

- L.

will dehne

Cute!
Are you giving them "The Look"? (Lance A.)

Big Paulie

A month or two after the "The Look" incident, I was riding my normal route on a Sunday morning. My jersey was red, black and white. A local club was having a race along that course, and their jerseys were also red, black and white. So I looked like I was in the race at first glance.

A guy rode past me at one point, got a few yards ahead of men, then turned and gave me "the look." Apprarently, he thought he was smoking me big time. What a jerk. I broke out laughing right on the spot.

67walkon

I'm with Stone from Westin. Here in South Florida, we have had only a few days all winter where there hasn't been a wind of at least 10-12, and often more.

But even if there is only a light breeze, I feel like I'm flying going with it and struggling going against it. It never helps me going one way as much as it hurts me going the other. I've notice from my HR monitor that I am working harder with the wind behind me, probably because it is just more fun. When it is in my face, I feel like I'm working harder, but often I'm not, according to the HR monitor.

So I tell myself it's mostly mental and plug along.

John

The Weak Link

I went on a 200 miler this weekend, and was feeling good that I was getting 32 MPH. Then a tornado hit. I didn't stop because it was only an F2. It slowed me down to 16 MPH. It was awful.

Seriously, guys, some of you are well-trained and conditioned mutants. Stop complaining when you have to ride as slow as the rest of us.

Big Paulie

I've wondered about this for years. Why can't I maintain a high heart rate into the wind, but have no problem hanging at 85% with the wind? I think there is the fun factor, as you alluded to. But I also think that going with the wind there's less wind noise, and the bike is more stable because we're going faster over the ground. Plus you're covering more area. It's just more satisfying.

jppe

Ditto for me as well. It sure FEELS like I'm working harder.......I know I'm going a lot slower.

Big Paulie

Here is some interesting, and some uninteresting, information about riding in the wind...

https://sheldonbrown.com/brandt/wind.html

stonecrd

I find that going from the front to behind a single rider is worth 20bpm for me when riding into the wind. As you say, with the wind behind I probably only get a 10bpm advantage because my cadence will go from 85 to 95 and my speed goes up.

Riding in the pack is where its at, last week I turned into the wind on a long stretch of hwy 84 here and it was dead into the wind. After a few minutes a pack of 30-40 riders in a group caught me and I jumped in. Road the entire road at 27mph with my HR <90%, that is why the peleton has so much advantage.

will dehne

BP:
Talk about detailed information. if I were to study everything I do to that level of detail, I would have no time for biking.