wind techniques ??

"Ravi" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:1082402541.315460@sj-nntpcache-3...

Quoted message said:

Hi, Am a 'weekend rider' and last weekend, was on Altamont
Pass Road. heading to Tracy (from livermore) was
*beautiful* - tail wind, downhill. After lunch at Tracy,
return was *painful* - headwind and a slight uphill. i was
on the dropbars, in an aerodynamic position, but how-long
- i couldn't stay there for long - every so often, i get
back on hoods, it was tough, and in some points when i
wanted to standup and pedal, forget it - it was the
toughest point - wind hitting my entire body, slowed me
down further than speed up 🙁 - this is my maiden
experience with wind this strong.

any tips your folks got for tackling the wind.

thanks, ravi

Ravi,

Don't over-gear. You're not going to be going at a record
pace, anyway. Save your legs. Spin easier gears. Depending
on how strong the wind is, keep it in the small chainring
and keep it in a gear where you can keep your cadence fairly
high without it hurting your legs alot to do so.

And remember ... the person who said, "whatever doesn't kill
you makes you stronger" was never hit by a car.

Bob C.

Mon, 19 Apr 2004 12:19:25 -0700, <1082402541.315460@sj-nntpcache-3>,

Ravi said:

any tips your folks got for tackling the wind.

thanks, ravi

It's an endless test of character.

Screaming, ranting and crying wastes more energy than aero-
rims save. Zip up, tuck in your elbows, grin and know it's
making you stronger.

Give thanks and acknowledgement to the tail winds you do
get.
--
zk

On Mon, 19 Apr 2004 12:19:25 -0700, Ravi <[email hidden]> wrote in
message <1082402541.315460@sj-nntpcache-3>:

Quoted message said:

any tips your folks got for tackling the wind.

Ho yus. Buy a recumbent :-)

--
Guy
===
May contain traces of irony. Contents liable to settle after
posting. chapmancentral.co.ukchapmancentral.co.ukOpen ↗

88% of helmet statistics are made up, 65% of them at
Washington University

Move to Denmark. There's always a tailwind. It's the law.
We'll not quite, but a politician there got elected on a
campaign platform of better gifts at Xmas and a perpetual
tailwind for cyclists (a very popular position given the
large number of cyclists and windy conditions in the west of
the country) . I think using the money supplied by the state
to run his campaign in order to bribe the voters with free
beer and sausages probably helped his election effort too.

Ravi said:

Hi, Am a 'weekend rider' and last weekend, was on Altamont
Pass Road. heading to Tracy (from livermore) was
*beautiful* - tail wind, downhill. After lunch at Tracy,
return was *painful* - headwind and a slight uphill. i was
on the dropbars, in an aerodynamic position, but how-long
- i couldn't stay there for long - every so often, i get
back on hoods, it was tough, and in some points when i
wanted to standup and pedal, forget it - it was the
toughest point - wind hitting my entire body, slowed me
down further than speed up 🙁 - this is my maiden
experience with wind this strong.

any tips your folks got for tackling the wind.

thanks, ravi

psycholist <[email hidden]> wrote in message
[email hidden]

Quoted message said:

"Ravi" <[email hidden]> wrote in message

[...]

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

any tips your folks got for tackling the wind.

Quoted message said:

Ravi,

Don't over-gear. You're not going to be going at a record
pace, anyway. Save your legs. Spin easier gears. Depending
on how strong the wind is, keep it in the small chainring
and keep it in a gear where you can keep your cadence
fairly high without it hurting your legs alot to do so.

Heh.

I live near a huge bay and there's a dirty great long road
running along the coast called Beach Road (funny that). It's
one of the most popular bike roads in the country. Every day
you'll see bikes and sensible motorists know to avoid it
like the plague at times like 6am to 8am Saturday and Sunday
mornings, that sort of thing. I live at the north end of
Beach Rd which is good because when there's a breeze it's
usually a southerly or there abouts, so I ride south as far
as I feel able, turn around and ride back with a tailwind,
and when I get home I always say to myself I should have
gone further. Anyway, this weekend just gone it was supposed
to rain intermittently and Saturday was gray and a bit more
blowy than usual. I went to go out once but felt a few drops
and figured it was about to rain and went back inside. After
a while, when it hadn't rained as such, I knew it was going
to be one of those days where it was just going to spit on
and off and if I was going to get a ride in I simply had to
put up with it. Sunday was predicted to be worse. So I
geared up and went for a ride.

A few minutes later I turned onto Beach Road. *BOOF*! What
was a bit blowy at home was fairly full-on bayside but I was
there and I said to myself, you know, if I drop to a lower
gear, possibly even the small chainring, and if I keep my
cadence fairly high (hopefully without my legs hurting a lot
to do so), I can still have a reasonable ride, at least to
one of my nearer personal checkpoints. More fool me.

I have a hybrid with flat bars and clip-on aerobars. Using
the flat bars was out of the question, I might just as well
have draped a parachute out the back, so I went into
aerobars position #1, which is hands on the lower part of
the aerobars with arms fairly straight. My hands are fairly
close together and I lean a bit forward so the whole thing
is a bit more aerodynamic than the upright position (dur!)
and in fact it's become my favourite, most comfortable
riding position. Anyway, I'm in aerobars position #1 as I
said and I might just as well have draped a parachute out
the back for all the good it did. So I dropped into aerobars
position #2, which is hands on the lower part of the
aerobars with arms bent so that my wrists actually rest on
the flat bars and I'm effectively in a pseudo-tuck. This is
moderately better except that now I'm being blown by the
wind all over the place. Riding with aerobars is notoriously
unstable but with my setup it's not quite as bad because
when my wrists or lower forearms rest on the flatbars they
help stabilize things up front. Not that day! I was all over
the place, either the wind was trying to hurl me into the
gutter or I was in grave danger of shooting across two lanes
and being collected by a passing car when the gusts eased
for a couple of seconds whilst I was still fighting a wind
that momentarily wasn't there. So I did something I haven't
done for some time. I gave up on the road and headed for the
bike track that runs alongside the road.

The bike track is twistier than the road and slower, but
that was OK, the point was I wasn't going to get blown under
an 18-wheeler or what have you, and maybe I'd get to take
out my frustration on an errant pedestrian (I like to glide
up behind them and at the last moment hit the AirZound
airhorn - hey, they have their own path). Parts of the path
that ran closer to the water were wet from the spray but at
least the wind was onshore so it was pushing me away from
the rocks even as it sprayed me with seawater. Around about
now I noticed something. Beach Road is one of the most
popular bike roads in the country and to that point I hadn't
seen another bike. There weren't that many pedestrians
either, for that matter, so I didn't get to yell at anybody.

I pushed on a little further and said, bugger this for a
joke, I'm going to *quit*, I'm going to *run away*, I'm
going *home*, and hey, won't that tailwind be a ripper!
Woohoo! Twit. That wind wasn't a southerly (which are either
mild to moderate breezes or full-on storms all the way from
the South Pole when even I wouldn't consider going out), it
was a westerly, so I had to fight it nearly all the way back
again. However, on the way back I did see a roadie making
his way south. I got home eventually and checked the bike
computer. I'd done just over 10km, probably the shortest
ride I've done on Beach Road ever. Don't ask my average
speed, I wiped it. And geez, my legs hurt.

So, my tip for tackling the wind? Stay at home.

Bleh.

--

A: Top-posters.
B: What is the most annoying thing on Usenet?

"Ravi" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:1082402541.315460@sj-nntpcache-3...

Quoted message said:

Hi, Am a 'weekend rider' and last weekend, was on Altamont
Pass Road. heading to Tracy (from livermore) was
*beautiful* - tail wind, downhill. After lunch at Tracy,
return was *painful* - headwind and a slight uphill. i was
on the dropbars, in an aerodynamic position, but how-long
- i couldn't stay there for long - every so often, i get
back on hoods, it was tough, and in some points when i
wanted to standup and pedal, forget it - it was the
toughest point - wind hitting my entire body, slowed me
down further than speed up 🙁 - this is my maiden
experience with wind this strong.

any tips your folks got for tackling the wind.

thanks, ravi

Best advice I ever got was to shift into a big gear, move
back on the saddle, put your hands on the tops of the bars,
stomach-breath, push forward on the petals, and pretend your
climbing Ventoux.

Works for me. Keeps me from becoming demoralized from going
so slow on a flat.

HTH

In article <[email hidden]>,
[email hidden] says...

...

Quoted message said:

Best advice I ever got was to shift into a big gear, move
back on the saddle, put your hands on the tops of the
bars, stomach-breath, push forward on the petals, and
pretend your climbing Ventoux.

How is stepping on flowers going to help you in the
wind? ;-P)

--
Dave Kerber Fight spam: remove the ns_ from the return
address before replying!

REAL programmers write self-modifying code.

Ravi <[email hidden]> wrote in news:1082402541.315460@sj-nntpcache-3:

Quoted message said:

Am a 'weekend rider' and last weekend, was on Altamont
Pass Road. heading to Tracy (from livermore) was
*beautiful* - tail wind, downhill. After lunch at
Tracy, return was *painful* - headwind and a slight
uphill. i was on the dropbars, in an aerodynamic
position, but how-long
- i couldn't stay there for long

Bend your elbows and keep your body low. Spin the pedals to
apply even power. Shift down if necessary to keep your
cadence up. Wind + hills = great training.

"psycholist" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

"Ravi" <[email hidden]> wrote in message

Quoted message said:

any tips your folks got for tackling the wind.

thanks, ravi

Ravi,

Don't over-gear. You're not going to be going at a record
pace, anyway. Save your legs. Spin easier gears. Depending
on how strong the wind is, keep it in the small chainring
and keep it in a gear where you can keep

your

Quoted message said:

cadence fairly high without it hurting your legs alot
to do so.

Good advice. One last thing: cover the bike computer. On
last summer's tour, I rode north for 3 days against the
wind, vacationed for a week, then rode 4 days south against
the wind. It helped to put the map over the top of the bike
computer so I couldn't see it unless I needed to (e.g. to
judge the miles since the last turn).

At the end of the day, you can look at unimpressive stats
like this: 101 miles, 11.0 mph average speed on bike
computer and realize that the important thing was that you
had fun and you still feel like getting up tomorrow and
riding another century.

Oh, one more tip: Hang onto those handlebars when big
trucks pass.

Ken said:

Wind + hills = great training.

heh. when the wind is bad around here i head to the hills.
well, when the wind is down i head to the hills, too, but
hills are cake compared to the wind. no nice views nor sense
of accomplishment and fewer bragging rights. no one ever
brags of crossing south dakota .. but ch-rist .. they
probably should.
--
david reuteler [email hidden]

If you're with someone else, take turns drafting. If not,
then all you can do is hunker down and fight the wind (or
stay overnight and hope it's gone tomorroy ;-3) ).

- -

"May you have the wind at your back. And a really low gear
for the hills!"

Chris Zacho ~ "Your Friendly Neighborhood Wheelman"

Chris'Z Corner geocities.comczcornerOpen ↗

I'm on my way :-)

trg said:

Move to Denmark. There's always a tailwind. It's the law.
We'll not quite, but a politician there got elected on a
campaign platform of better gifts at Xmas and a perpetual
tailwind for cyclists (a very popular position given the
large number of cyclists and windy conditions in the west
of the country) . I think using the money supplied by the
state to run his campaign in order to bribe the voters
with free beer and sausages probably helped his election
effort too.

Ravi said:

Hi, Am a 'weekend rider' and last weekend, was on Altamont
Pass Road. heading to Tracy (from livermore) was
*beautiful* - tail wind, downhill. After lunch at Tracy,
return was *painful* - headwind and a slight uphill. i was
on the dropbars, in an aerodynamic position, but how-long
- i couldn't stay there for long - every so often, i get
back on hoods, it was tough, and in some points when i
wanted to standup and pedal, forget it - it was the
toughest point - wind hitting my entire body, slowed me
down further than speed up 🙁 - this is my maiden
experience with wind this strong.

any tips your folks got for tackling the wind.

thanks, ravi

Quoted message said:

any tips your folks got for tackling the wind.

Not much to tell except that crosswinds on a loaded bike are
the worst.

Normally where I live we get northwest winds, I go west
on my way to work and east with a jog to the north on
my way home.

The buildings funnel the wind in exactly the wrong way, all
I can say is stay aero and spin. If you have a problem
staying in the drops raise the bars to where you get an
average improvement.

On long rides anything you can do to get aero is good, a
snug windshell will help. You don't want anything flapping
or snapping in the breeze.

On a long crosswind leg be aware that an overtaking vehicle
can block the crosswind for a second or so, don't
overcompensate when that happens.

Be aware that riding in a strong wind will suck the sweat
right off you, definitely drink more.

If it's cold, watch that exposed skin, even if it's hot--
sunburn and dehydration can wreck your complexion.

When you feel your lips start to dry out and crack it's time
to watch "Lawrence of Arabia", the director's cut.

--

_______________________ALL AMIGA IN MY
MIND_______________________ ------------------"Buddy Holly,
the Texas Elvis"------------------ __________306.350.357.38-

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

[email hidden]__________

Ravi said:

any tips your folks got for tackling the wind.

I find it helpful to decide to stop being concerned with my
speed and just concentrate on a sustainable cadence. Click
up a couple of gears or whatever it takes, and just pedal.

A couple of mentions: you need Good eye protection on windy
days, (trust that this is a relevation to somone). WEAR IT.

Bring an extra bottle of water and an extra snack maybe.

Don't look at your speedometer -- i set my computer to just
show cadence and time. OR put a sticker or tape ofer the
speed display.

Find a _sustainable_ aero position. A full tuck is nice, but
not for 20 or 120 miles.

Finally -- just take your mind out of the wind -- don't
stress about how
%$@%^& you're crawling, just pedal and think of ... the
%cleverly worded
post you'll write for wreck.bikes, detailing your
Sissyphusian struggle against the wind, enjoy the scenery
two feet to your right, yadda.

So really, the advice is what i was told on my first
ragbrai, when faced with my first Real Hill. "Just Shut Up
and Pedal" :-) Don't worry about the wind. You're there,
you'll prevail, it's only a matter of time.

I remember one day out in the roads west of Chicago, Kane
and DeKalb counties, in Corn Country, about this time of
year. 5 hours into the wind with strong transvese buffets
that kept trying to throw me either into the barbed wire
filled ditch or at the grill of a 1973 Chevy Pickup.

I looked after i stopped to turn around, an average speed of
5.2 mph and i was beat down tired. A hot dog and some RC
cola (what the locals ate) charged me up enough that I did
the return trip in 52 minutes. just shy of 30 mph and it
felt as though my bike was welded to the road.

My speed had given me a brobdignagian momentum normally
achieved through jumping off buildings, but mine was
controlled via the instrumentality of my Trek1220 which shrugged-
off the now feeble gusting wheezes of the morning. this
last furor broke the winds's spirt they declared defeat
offered to serve and propelled me into town with nary a
pedal stroke from me.

So the real secrit is to Dominate the Wind with a Pure Soul
and some other stuff you can get at Nashbar.

.max and that's how i became Wind Breaker.

--
the part of <[email hidden]> was played by maxwell
monningh 8-p

Mike Kruger said:

Good advice. One last thing: cover the bike computer.

Good advice there, too. I can remember long hours of looking
down and seeing "8 MPH" ... "8 MPH" ... "8 MPH"

Very disheartening.

(Under more normal circumstances, I sometimes reach double
digits. ;-)

--
-------------+ Frank Krygowski [To reply, omit what's
between "at" and "cc"]

In article <betatron-
[email hidden]>,
[email hidden] says...

...

Quoted message said:

I looked after i stopped to turn around, an average speed
of 5.2 mph and i was beat down tired. A hot dog and some
RC cola (what the locals ate) charged me up enough that I
did the return trip in 52 minutes. just shy of 30 mph and
it felt as though my bike was welded to the road.

Kind of like my "Tailwinds are a wonderful thing..." post of
a few days ago.

...

Quoted message said:

So the real secrit is to Dominate the Wind with a Pure
Soul and some other stuff you can get at Nashbar.

.max and that's how i became Wind Breaker.

Great story!

--
Remove the ns_ from if replying by e-mail (but keep posts in
the newsgroups if possible).

Zoot Katz said:

It's an endless test of character.

No thanks, my closet is already filled with the boxes of
character I've built up.

Quoted message said:

Screaming, ranting and crying wastes more energy than aero-
rims save. Zip up, tuck in your elbows, grin and know it's
making you stronger.

Pretty much. Took the looong way into work today (35 miles).
I was regretting it a little when from about mile twelve
onward I had a fairly good headwind. The Eclair Basque I'd
picked up from the bakery [1] on the way in was a nice
reward though when I got to work.

Quoted message said:

Give thanks and acknowledgement to the tail winds
you do get.

Our Father, who art in velodrome, Hallowed be thy chain. Thy
raceday come. Thy miles be done, On roadside as it is in
velodrome. Give us this day our daily winds. And forgive us
our trespasses, As we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation, But deliver us from
recumbents. For thine is the velodrome, and the tailwinds,
and the yellow jersey, for ever and ever. Amen.

[1] Essential Baking on Madison. Very nice, but I think I
prefer Le Fournil over by the university bridge.

--
Dane Jackson - z u v e m b i @ u n i x b i g o t s . o r g
"Bill Gates says Open Source is riding on the coat-tails of
Windows' success. That's like saying Osama has done his part
to increase airport security." - Carl Schelin -
alt.sysadmin.recovery

"Dane Jackson" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Give thanks and acknowledgement to the tail winds you
do get.

Our Father, who art in velodrome, Hallowed be thy chain.
Thy raceday come. Thy miles be done, On roadside as it is
in velodrome. Give us this day our daily winds. And
forgive us our trespasses, As we forgive those who
trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, But
deliver us from recumbents. For thine is the velodrome,
and the tailwinds, and the yellow jersey, for ever and
ever. Amen.

I only knew the Mountain bikers' Version:

Our Father, which art in Moab, Mountain Bike be Thy name. To
Thy trailheads we come, Thy maintenance be done, On fire
road As it is on singletrack. Give us this day our daily
ride, And forgive us our trespasses As we forgive those that
trespass on us. And lead us not onto illegal singletrack,
But deliver us from equestrians; For thine is the lycra, The
SPD, And the knobby, forever, Amen.

Oh, and just because I'm feeling ecumenical, how about the
Cyclists' Kaddish?

May the great road be debris-free and smooth in the world
that He created as He willed. May the bicycle reign over the
road in your lifetimes and in your days, and in the
lifetimes of the entire Family of Cyclists swiftly and soon.
And we say: Amen.

May all our rides be blessed forever and ever.

Blessed, praised, glorified, exalted, extolled, mighty,
upraised, and lauded be all our rides on our bikes,
blessed they be

for any short spin and long-distance event, race and commute
that are pedaled in the world. And we say Amen.

May there be abundant bars from the Clif company, and gels
for us and for all cyclists. And we say: Amen.

He Who makes traffic peaceful in the heavens, may He make
traffic peaceful for us here, and for all cyclists. And we
say: Amen.

Warm Regards,

Claire Petersky Please replace earthlink for mouse-potato
and .net for .com Home of the meditative cyclist:
home.earthlink.netWelcome.htmOpen ↗ See the
books I've set free at:
bookcrossing.comCpeterskyOpen ↗

trg said:

Move to Denmark. There's always a tailwind. It's the law.
We'll not quite, but a politician there got elected on a
campaign platform of better gifts at Xmas and a perpetual
tailwind for cyclists (a very popular position given the
large number of cyclists and windy conditions in the west
of the country) . I think using the money supplied by the
state to run his campaign in order to bribe the voters
with free beer and sausages probably helped his election
effort too.

Free beer and sausages is a more legitimate use of campaign
money than most. At least the people saw some of the
benefits eh?

Too bad I don't drink beer or eat sausages. Or live in
Denmark. Otherwise it could have been good.