Wow, cycling in the wind isn't much fun
03-19-16, 05:15 AM
#51
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03-19-16, 05:20 AM
#52
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I hate hate hate wind.
I was once talking to a cyclist from the Netherlands and I was telling him that the Netherlands would be a boring place for me to cyclist since I love climbs. The bigger the climb, the better. His response that they had wind to make cycling harder and that it was equivalent to hills. He made cycling in the Netherlands go from bad to worse.
I was once talking to a cyclist from the Netherlands and I was telling him that the Netherlands would be a boring place for me to cyclist since I love climbs. The bigger the climb, the better. His response that they had wind to make cycling harder and that it was equivalent to hills. He made cycling in the Netherlands go from bad to worse.
03-19-16, 06:41 AM
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Wind, at speed, can be dangerous. Once in a race I was going downhill, probably around 40mph and a truck came up the mountain and as it approached me it blocked the very strong side wind I was fighting. That brief pause in the wind almost caused me to crash. More than one person has been seriously hurt by gusty winds so treat strong winds with respect.
03-19-16, 09:47 AM
#54
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03-19-16, 10:15 AM
#55
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I prefer climbing over wind. What goes up must come down, and there's nothing better in cycling than a well-earned downhill ride! Not so with headwinds... they always find a way to turn around and STILL be a headwind on your way back. >:-(
03-19-16, 10:20 AM
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That's a cute thought, but it isn't really true. It is true that side winds act like headwinds unless they are at a fairly sharp angle behind you. So a side wind can feel like a headwind in both directions your are riding. But if you have a true headwind going one way or one just a bit off angle, and it doesn't change direction, it will be behind you coming back. I demonstrate that on nearly every ride.
03-19-16, 10:28 AM
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That's a cute thought, but it isn't really true. It is true that side winds act like headwinds unless they are at a fairly sharp angle behind you. So a side wind can feel like a headwind in both directions your are riding. But if you have a true headwind going one way or one just a bit off angle, and it doesn't change direction, it will be behind you coming back. I demonstrate that on nearly every ride.
Up here you can fairly routinely experience wind direction changes of 90-180* over a day or an afternoon...even without major weather frontal systems plowing through. And being the Great Plains, they ain't gentle ground level breezes either.
03-19-16, 10:32 AM
#58
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Oh, c'mon Robert! Everyone knows that Mr. Wind has a personality of his own, weather forecast be darned. He's out to torture and frustrate you... I've heard him laugh as I just spin in place, hardly moving forward. There's no scientific explanation... Mr. Wind just is.... 
03-19-16, 10:36 AM
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Agree it's common around here for the wind to change during the course of a day's ride. I prefer to start the ride with a tailwind. At least that way I'm guaranteed to have a tailwind for a portion of the ride.
03-19-16, 12:32 PM
#60
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I'm also here in eastern Pa, and on yesterday's 28 mile ride I was actually and literally moved sideways by almost a foot on a gust. SCARY AS HELL.
03-19-16, 01:08 PM
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High winds provide the opportune time for better hill training here in flat-land SW FL. 103 miles today with 250' of climbing because I went over 2 small canal bridges and 2 Intracoastal Waterway bridges. Riding into the wind in a 53/12 combo while standing for 2 to 3 mile sections holding 14/17mph is very helpful. Recently we have had 20mph to 30mph winds providing great training rides, very enjoyable! I have Six Gap later in the year with 103 miles and 11,000'+ of climbing so I can use all the wind Mother Nature can muster.
03-19-16, 02:51 PM
#63
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The wind does not blow it sucks. One nice thing about training with power is at a the end of a demoralizing up wind ride you can post some big numbers. At least I do.
03-19-16, 06:59 PM
#66
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03-19-16, 07:14 PM
#67
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My first power meter ride today confirms just how much it sucks. 465w just to make 17mph into the headwind today. Ouch. Although, my meter is still settling a little bit, so it might not have been that bad.
03-20-16, 12:25 PM
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I look at it this way: if you have a there-and-back route, then the headwind becomes a tailwind on the way back, which makes the net effect of wind zero. This works on hills, too.
03-20-16, 03:21 PM
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03-20-16, 04:53 PM
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03-21-16, 06:53 AM
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A headwind is a never ending hill with no soul.
03-21-16, 07:34 AM
#74
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There used to be a train ride heading west, for $20 you got to travel 125 km one way with the bike in the baggage car. We would wait for a wind forecast of >40kph from the west and take the trip. Once I got to ride without unclipping with a steady 50 kph tailwind for 2 1/2 hours. That was a good day.
