EddNog

We've already discussed the difference in gusty wind between heavier riders and lighter riders, but has anyone else noticed that different riders (of similar height & weight) sometimes FEEL or are affected by wind very differently? I've been riding with my cycling club on Sundays for a few years now, and of course there are riders of all sorts of sizes and weight, but I've noticed that, compared to other guys my height and weight, they seem to have significant difficulty in wind, particularly compared to me. Most of the time, gusty wind conditions or even fairly constant, strong headwinds don't bother me nearly as much as it does them. I often times have to move up to the front and pull the group when wind gets intense, and I'm constantly having to hold my power down so as not to drop everyone. I've struggled to understand why this is the case, or is it just that I am a stronger rider? I'm fairly compact, at 5'5" and 170lb. I've been told I have, "massive calves." and that I LOOK nowhere near 170lb. Is it possible that the other guys my height look as heavy but actually aren't?

-Ed

topslop1

Maybe you should feed em some milk and tell em to grow the calves.

PepeM

Give Oleg a call, stud.

TimothyH

big john

If you're constantly dropping everyone then you need to start riding with a faster group.

EddNog

Fair enough. This happens primarily for me when I ride with the B group (our club is pretty big, and in the summer runs D, C, C+, B, B+, A and A+ rides on Sundays). I've been considering moving back up to B+ again when it gets into spring. Two years ago I was just about riding A, but last year I got married and with all the wedding related responsibilities etc. I totally lost form and fitness and am now having to build back up. There's a curiously large gap in speed between our B groups vs our B+ groups, which is silly (much more than just 1 or 2 mph moving average). B+ generally isn't too far behind the A guys. The primary difference between our A+ guys and our A guys is that the A+ guys can also climb, while riding with the non-plus A guys always lets me recover on hills (they're all really big, powerful dudes that rocket on the flats but seemingly lose major propulsion on hills--the A+ guys are just as powerful, but way skinnier).

Then again...not a lot of actual hills here in South Jersey! I go to Philly and environs for my uphill kicks.

StanSeven

Lots of people aren't comfortable in the wind too. They tense up, lose concentration, and aren't fluid. That makes you work harder to go slow.

gregf83 

You have a much lower profile than the majority of other riders so the wind resistance you feel will be less. You're also a lousy rider to draft

corrado33

Yes, you're... well... tiny (no offense.) You're riding a smaller bike and you have the weight to put out a lot of power. No wonder why wind doesn't bother you as much as it would someone of normal height...

Drew Eckhardt 

Power to drag ratio which goes with being heavy and short for a cyclist.

That's the opposite situation climbers have with good power to weight ratio which goes with being light and at least average height. I'm 5'9.5" and 135-137 pounds in good riding shape so I almost levitate up mountains although my barn-door aerodynamics don't work well on flat ground.

Either way it beats being bad in all situations.

FLvector

Step it up and start riding with the B+ group. You might need to do short pulls and sit in more the first few rides, but nothing worse than feeling you need to hold back with the B's and not getting in a good ride. I like the challenge and find I can dig deeper if and when I need to.

Most of my rides hurt, but I expect them to hurt. I don't train so it doesn't hurt, I train so I can tolerate it and feel less pain.

Being compact is an advantage in the wind.

EddNog

Try drafting off my wifey. She's 5' 1.5" (when you're that short, you start counting fractions), but she's crazy fit, so routinely (accidentally) drops the pack when pulling (because she likes to sandbag Sundays and ride C+ or B). I tell her to just sweep nowadays. She utterly drops me like a rock on climbs, but when the wind gusts strike, she blows away like a kite!

-Ed

rmfnla

True.

My wife gets very agitated in windy weather, good time for me to be someplace else...

CafeVelo

+1. I do the local AA ride on Tuesdays, but the highest offered ride on Thursdays is A. I sit in more on Tuesday and do a lot of hero pulls on Thursday. I'll get a good ride in either way

bakes1

This thread is worthless without a pic of your "massive calves"
And I am sure you have more than one pic somewhere

Phil_gretz

@EddNog,
I grew up in Cherry Hill, but moved away in 1982 or so. What is the name of the club, and is it centered around a particular shop? I'd like to know if I plan a NJ visit this summer. Thanks, Phil G.

Lazyass

That's like asking if climbs affect riders differently. Well, yeah, obviously. It's resistance.

EddNog

That's pretty ironic/coincidental. I was born in and lived in NY in 1982 until 2012, then I moved to Cherry Hill (live in Woodcrest) and have been here since. I ride with Team Evesham. Team Evesham ? Geared Up, Ready to Roll

-Ed

Sojodave

I'm 6'4", ride an endurance bike, and my body acts like a sail in the wind. I rode home the other night into a 30 mph headwind and was going 10 mph downhill...sigh

jamesdak 

LOL, was that last Saturday? The wind kicked my butt on a 40 miler. I think I'd rather have our freezing temps back over the wind.

DrIsotope

I'm right there with you. 6'2" on a CX frame, spent an afternoon riding directly into 25-35mph with gusts approaching 50mph (not by choice-- too dumb to check the wind/weather before heading out.) In one section, I was pedaling as hard as I could to go downhill at 11mph. I think If I had stopped spinning, I would have starting moving backward.

I'd ride up an eternal hill a la Sisyphus rather than ride into that wind again.

Doctor Morbius

I think I got a whiff of some wind whilst reading this thread.

vinnyvincent

In for pics of the massive calves

jbrow1

Funny thread. Why am I so powerful? I have to work to not drop everybody.. B ride.

Machka 

The wind doesn't bother me all that much either ... not nearly as much as hills bother me. Given the wind vs. hill choice, I'll choose wind. It takes a mighty strong wind to have me off and walking ... but it only takes about a 15% grade hill.

But I have spent most of my cycling career in flat, windy places so that's what I'm used to. After hundreds of windy rides, you figure out what works out there.

And I'm smallish ... 167 cm tall and quite a bit lighter than the OP.



BTW ... from all my wind cycling experience ... it is actually quite easy to drop people in a windy situation, even if you aren't an overly strong cyclist. You just have to know the nuances of the wind and catch the break before the rest realise what's happening.