Technique for Riding in a Headwind
 

So, what's the best technique? What I've been trying is similar to a climbing technique, high cadence, but not on the bars, but in the drops, to minimize wind resistance. I try to get as small as possible and spin.

This is better that just trying to hammer through it, especially when its about a 17 ride in a headwind. What's your technique for keeping up a good speed in a headwind?


:D
RD

Turn around and make it a tailwind

baggy clothes... stand and flatten my shoulders and chest.

;)


I try and find a rider to draft off of!

I usually just get in the drops and try to keep a low profile, high cadence as well.

Having ridden for 13 years in Manitoba where you've got windy days and very windy days ...

I have found what works for me is to find a comfortable gear and cadence, and then I just relax when riding into the wind. I don't try to work too hard ... just simply try to get as comfortable as possible out there.

And then, every time I get a break from the wind ... whether that's a line of trees, or a change of direction (me or the wind), or whatever ... I ride as hard as I can until I'm back into the wind again. And when I get back into the wind again, I relax and rest a bit until the next break from the wind.

A lot of people try to work hard into the wind, and then rest when they've got a break from the wind ... but after 13 years of experimenting with it, I've found it's actually more efficient to rest into the wind, and work hard when there's a break from the wind.

I think you are doing it right. Stay in the drops and just bear it. Riding in windy conditions is pretty difficult, IMHO...

Get 'bent! Aero profile is much better.

If you don't care about how fast you're going that might work for your comfort.

However if you want to go fast, that is completely backwards.

You lose more time into the headwind than you gain back in the tailwind. Thus you're better off going a bit above threshold into the headwind, and recovering in a relative sense, on the downwind leg.

The mathmatical modeling, and experience, comfirm this. Take a look at the TT pacing threads in the Racing forum, and the models linked in those threads.

Tack into the wind; ride at angles.

And yet ... after 13 years of riding in wind ... I've discovered I'm signficantly faster when I ride my way than when I do the opposite. Faster and more comfortable. Both of which are essential elements of doing 600K randonnees where there's 400K of headwind.

There is science and engineering here and a look at the airline industry is revealing as $B's are at stake. What they do is throttle up into the wind so that they are negatively effected for less time. When they have a tail wind they ease up of the throttles so that the wind can benefit them for more time.

In the USA, when flying west-to-east they have a tail wind that can be 200 miles per hour but is usually about 100mph. When they fly east-to-west they face that same wind in the face. If they did not increase the throttles into the wind and decrease with it the flight time difference would average 50% (500+100 versus 500-100) but could be more than 100% (500+200 versus 500-200). But, that's not what happens as the difference is typically less than 20%.

So, the scientific answer is to pedal harder and reduce the drag by getting into the drops when you ride into the wind and you can pedal easier with a tail wind. Again, you want to reduce the time spent fighting the wind so you MUST ride harder.


Brian

If you do the math, you lose more time into the headwind than with a tail wind.

Ask any coach about how you TT in windy conditions, and the advice is always go a bit above threshold into the wind, and recover with the wind.

The math is pretty simple.

To the extent that your apporach works for you in endurance events, it's likely because it's a tool to keep your from blowing up, and working too hard too early.

I can see in a long event if you push too hard too early your burning matches you'll need later.


But that still doesn't mean that you wouldn't be faster by pushing a bit harder into the wind, and recovering downwind.

So at most your strategy is a coping mechanism not to burn matches, but it's slowing you down from what you could do if you reversed the startegy, as long as you maintained the discipline not to work too hard into the wind and blow up.

Just keep thinking no matter how hard it is its only going to make you stronger.

Bingo Brian. Only caveot is that our engines perform a bit different than Jets. but nonetheless the math is still to push a bit above what you can sustain into the wind, and then a little under that downwind to recover.

I believe your math is correct, but I love riding hard with a tail wind for the fun factor. On my group ride this morning, we had a nice tailwind on the way out. I was pushing the pace, pulling at just under FTP effort for almost an hour straight (good suffering for all). I had already accepted that the ride home was going to be very painful (bad suffering) since my legs were totally shot.

For me, it's much more rewarding to put out big efforts when going fast or climbing. I don't find it very fun or rewarding pusing hard into a headwind at 15mph, I guess it's just in my head. Group rides make it much better, but it still sucks when the wind is really blowing.

Draft a larger (read big tall and fat) rider for all you can :)

Stay in the drops as much as possible, crank along at a reasonable effort.

On the Machka vs Merlin discussion- one is headwind and tailwind, one is headwind and less headwind- not the same thing.

Strongest winds I've ever been in were hiking up Mt. Lady Washington on New Year's Day a number of years back. What worked best there was to just stop and brace with ski poles when the wind hit, then move when it let up. Wind was alternating directions, with sort of lulls in between.

Are you an airline pilot? Cause I am and I can tell you that what you're saying is...well...not true.

Not to mention it has no real application to bicycling. How many times do you sit down to crunch some numbers on your caloric intake and the cost of 'fuel' when you're contemplating whether to push it and suffer or just make it through a headwind?

Hmm, playing with some numbers here.
Using this website for power calculations:
http://www.noping.net/english/

Using my weight, arbitrary power numbers, etc.

Suppose I have 15 mph headwind half the time (half the time, not half the distance) and 5 mph headwind the other half.

If I ride with 200 watts constant power for 2 hours, I get 1 hour at 12.1 mph, 1 hour at 16.9 mph, total distance 29 miles.

If I ride with 250 watts power in the strong wind and 150 watts power in the weak wind, I get 1 hour at 13.7 mph, 1 hour at 14.7 mph, and total of 28.4 miles.

If I ride with 150 wats in the strong wind and 250 watts in the weak wind, I get 1 hour at 10.2 mph and 1 hour at 18.7 mph, and total of 28.9 miles. Better than the more-power-in-the-wind, not quite as good as holding uniform power.

If you figured strong wind for half the distance, not half the time, that might swing the other way, I haven't tried to see. But it looks like potentially some benefit in Machka's method.

How many roads must a man bike down
Before you call him a man? ...
The answer my friend is blowin' in the wind
The answer is blowin' in the wind

The really useful thing I found when I got a HRM was that with a decent headwind I wasn't actually working very hard. I think a lot of the perceived effort goes into battling the buffeting.
Getting low and pushing up the cadence seems to help significantly.

Well, that and the results of a plane bonking are a bit more, ummm, dramatic.

Accept that you're going to go slow.

53x11 gear, stand up, and grind against it @ 40 rpm. Am I doing something wrong?