Facing the wind !
 

hi all, today I was out cycling happily without so much effort in 30's (kph) suddenly a strong wind faces me directly, it was KILLER. The wind drop my speed from probably a avg. speed of 35 kph in the first 4Km to 20! wow it was so strong.. so I took the nearest U-turn which would make my ride long but with less wind and it was fine for like 1-2km and suddenly the wind faced me again :S
It was my first experience in wind, so advices are welcomed! plus the temperature was 37-38c :innocent:

I guess cycling here sucks, people are so disrespectful to bike riders.. a guy threw an iced bottle, no respect by car divers, loose dogs, high temp, a guy waving saying weird stuff from a taxi.. ok I'll stop :cry: about it :notamused:.

Where were you riding?

Welcome! And don't get discouraged. It's something we all deal with. Here's my advice for dealing with wind:

1) Get aero. That means low and narrow. Ride in your drops if you are comfortable there, bend your elbows, and keep them tucked next to your body.
2) Spin. That means use a smaller gear and turn your feet over faster. A headwind is like a long, invisible hill.
3) Drink. We have wind, high temps, and low humidity here. Those hot headwinds will suck the water right out of you and you may not realize how much you're sweating.
4) Ride out into the wind, ride home with the wind. I'll ride 5 miles past my house just so I can turn around and have a sweet, sweet tailwind to finish on.
5) HTFU. If the wind was good enough for Eddy, it's good enough for you.

Keep riding, eventually you will be able to overcome wind by increasing leg tension like I did on my ride today. Without wind I see 25km/h average with some decent climbs (nothing to brag about but still) and I nailed the 25 mark with some dreadful wind and dust storms (WTF??? Those hurt).

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/47422557

PS, I've never biked in wind like that before and I did it all up hill lol. That was nuts, even pushing me with 5-10 degrees body-english and about 5 degrees steering off the road twice.

It took me a long time to learn how to ride in winds and the same with hills.

Relax and do what you can.

Someday you will be much stronger.

I'm riding in Kuwait, thanks a lot guys for the advices! I appreciate them!

I can't go that distance yet, I'm fasting those days so I'm not trying to increase :O
Very nice link! and effort, good job.
I lost 9 kg in like 26 days from fasting and cycling (I'm not light weight), I don't wanna over work my self while fasting because I know how bad it feels.

300ft in 30 miles isn't quite "up hill."

On the subject at hand, I hear Cervelos make you immune to the wind. You should invest in one.

As people have said, get lower and push harder ;)

You should post some pics. I've seen some pro races from that part of the world but little from recreational cyclists.

i generally swear a lot. it helps some.

Yeah ... they don't. They're still fun to ride, though.

The wind is like a hill. One you can't see. If you know the area well, you can find a route that offers some amount of shelter. When I had a mountain bike, I'd take trails through the woods in a 3.5 mile city park on really windy days.

I need to lose weight to make my body more "aerodynamic", then I'll consider a cervelo :p

+1, I rarely curse, except when I'm solo on the bike.. then it's like I have tourette syndrome.

If you can maintain 18 km/h into a wind ... it isn't much of a wind. Keep riding, you're fine.

If you can maintain 15 km/h into a wind ... there's a bit of a breeze. Shift into an easier gear and relax. It's like a very gradual hill.

If you are struggling to maintain 10 km/h into a wind ... that's a pretty strong wind. That's a character and leg-strength-building challenge! Shift into an easier gear, relax, and try to spin as much as you can. Anytime there's a lull in the wind, push as hard as you can, and when you get back into the wind again, relax again and spin.

Don't push too hard when you're actually riding into the wind, push when the wind lets up, like when the road turns a bit, or when there are some trees blocking the wind. Lots of people I've ridden with do it the opposite way ... they push hard into the wind and exhaust themselves, and then relax when the wind lets up a bit. But you get further and feel better if you just relax and spin into the wind, and then push it each time the wind eases up. As slow as I am, I've dropped stronger riders that way (much to my surprise!). :D

Thank you for your advice man! Maybe it was around 30kph wind when I came back and checked online.

What? You've been on earth for how long?

Longer than you've been.

Get a recumbent and use your aerobelly to advantage.

just got back from a rainy ride guess how hard the winds were going, 24 mph with 30 mph gust. o f*** it was not fun at all and i could never really seem to hit a tail wind.

Eeeek !

200ft in a mile is uphill. As I've said before...nothing compared to the rest of folks here on the forum but a 3.8% grade and a wind that seemed to come from every direction made my life FUN! I really like the idea of relaxing in the wind and taking it easy, that is a good technique I think.

It was nice to see a bunch of casual cyclists walking their bikes to see me buzz by at 25km/h gulping some powerbar gel back.

Sallom, I have a few friends also fasting in the same situation (trying to improve cycling speed) and it is definitely a good idea to take it "easy".

It took me awhile to realize that riding into a headwind just makes you stronger.

Thanks for the advice bro !

I ride now in Kansas. Originally from Cali. Pass winds (coastal to inland valleys) in Cali can be ferocious, foggedabout riding west on Pacheco on summer afternoons, like umd has never done it, if he did, he'd want a medal for making it, some Central Coast Valley winds can be hard most of the time.

But Kansas truly sucks. Low wind days are really rare. They are great when they happen, but 15-25 mph winds prevail most of the time. Often gusting 30+, sometimes 45-50+. There's a reason why biking is not popular here.

I'm guessing you didn't live here long? Every Californian I know hates that term. Just sayin'.