Cycling in the wind

Carrera,

Are you a tall and/or wide person? This will have a major affect on your cycling against the wind. And being heavy will impede one's efforts going up a hill. It's a matter of physics and is nothing to be ashamed about. Don't let it demoralize you.

At 20 MPH the average cyclist (i.e. non-clydesdale types) expends about 80% of their energy overcoming wind resistance. Again, that is for the AVERAGE rider. That is why so many cyclists are obsessed about their strength to weight ratio. In their case, smallish = good.

Being a person with broad shoulders and trying to pedal against the wind is like strapping a kite to the back of your bike. It produces some serious drag, more so than riding with fat tires!

Frankly, this "up the hill and against the wind" thing sounds like an excellent way to get into condition. Just strap on the HRM and use it as interval training.

** Please note that by being heavy I wasn't implying fat. I've known several people that were bodybuilders and powerlifters that had lower bodyfat percentages than cyclists but coudn't begin to keep up with them on the road because of their stature and weight.

Wind plays a physical and psychological role on training. It's amazing how much harder you can make yourself work when the wind is at your back and you are doing 28 mph like it was nothing, but when it is at your front and you are struggling to keep 15, you just want to quit, and it lessens the quality of your ride. I usually test my progress by my average speed, so as long as my route is a loop, and the wind is constant, the wind doesn't really bother me because I know that I may be slow going in, but I will be quite fast coming back, and it all averages out. What DOES really [censored] me off is when the wind is gusting because as soon as you get into the right gear the wind picks up and forces you to shift, then dies down and you have to shift again...etc. This greatly reduces efficiency and usually lowers my average by 2 mph. Having said all of this, I never let any kind of wind keep me from riding. A bad ride is better than no ride.

Carrera, I know exactly what you mean.

I live in Yorkshire and train over pennine roads and it's normally "breezy" on the tops. Although I find predictable headwinds demoralising, I take the approach of Memphiscyclist and reckon it balances out - the 12mph outward trip is forgotten in the 35mph return.

Providing it's not actually strong enough to blow you into the traffic, I train regardless of the wind. (otherwise up here I'd be a 90% turbo trainer !)

Seeing how you're looking for hillclimb power, I'd reckon the headwinds are actually helping you achieve your aims.

cheers,

Brian

I guess you could say I'm fairly tall, although I'm not in the six foot bracket. I wouldn't say I'm broad either but I do carry more muscle than the seasoned endurance cyclist since I've been weight-training for some years. I think the fact I used to do more bodybuilding in the past affects my stamina over longer distances (say after I've been peddling for over 2 hours). However, I'm a fairly good climber over a shorter period.
I think this wind situation affected me psychologically and physically in the way that you feel you're flogging a dead horse, as the saying goes. I had an overwhelming desire to just pack up for the day and cancel training but I'd have felt like a quitter had I done so.
The first night the wind was really strong and I was actually forced to stop for breath for a few minutes once I'd cleared the steepest part of the ascent. That night my friends reported their boiler had blown out 3 times!!!
I tried again the following day and made the climb all the way up but the wind was still blowing me back. Like I said I had to stand up all the way, even on the flatter sections just to keep moving.
It has occurred to me that cycling against a strong wind can probably improve performance if you can handle the psychological effect of being forced to reduce your speed to a crawl. However, lets face it, it feels far better when you're whizzing up a hill rhythmically on a day when there's no breeze at all.
It may amuse some of you folks but I came up with the idea of stripping down to a vest in mid climb as I figured my jacket had been working like an umbrella as wind sucked inside and inflated it with air.
Today the weather is still pretty windy but I'm having a rest day and a couple of beers.
By the way, have any of you ever had the experience where wind just stopped your bike altogether and even blew you back down a few inches?

Quoted post said:

Originally posted by Doctor Morbius
Carrera,

Are you a tall and/or wide person? This will have a major affect on your cycling against the wind. And being heavy will impede one's efforts going up a hill. It's a matter of physics and is nothing to be ashamed about. Don't let it demoralize you.

At 20 MPH the average cyclist (i.e. non-clydesdale types) expends about 80% of their energy overcoming wind resistance. Again, that is for the AVERAGE rider. That is why so many cyclists are obsessed about their strength to weight ratio. In their case, smallish = good.

Being a person with broad shoulders and trying to pedal against the wind is like strapping a kite to the back of your bike. It produces some serious drag, more so than riding with fat tires!

Frankly, this "up the hill and against the wind" thing sounds like an excellent way to get into condition. Just strap on the HRM and use it as interval training.


** Please note that by being heavy I wasn't implying fat. I've known several people that were bodybuilders and powerlifters that had lower bodyfat percentages than cyclists but coudn't begin to keep up with them on the road because of their stature and weight.

I guess you could say I'm fairly tall, although I'm not in the six foot bracket. I wouldn't say I'm broad either but I do carry more muscle than the seasoned endurance cyclist since I've been weight-training for some years. I think the fact I used to do more bodybuilding in the past affects my stamina over longer distances (say after I've been peddling for over 2 hours). However, I'm a fairly good climber over a shorter period.
I think this wind situation affected me psychologically and physically in the way that you feel you're flogging a dead horse, as the saying goes. I had an overwhelming desire to just pack up for the day and cancel training but I'd have felt like a quitter had I done so.
The first night the wind was really strong and I was actually forced to stop for breath for a few minutes once I'd cleared the steepest part of the ascent. That night my friends reported their boiler had blown out 3 times!!!
I tried again the following day and made the climb all the way up but the wind was still blowing me back. Like I said I had to stand up all the way, even on the flatter sections just to keep moving.
It has occurred to me that cycling against a strong wind can probably improve performance if you can handle the psychological effect of being forced to reduce your speed to a crawl. However, lets face it, it feels far better when you're whizzing up a hill rhythmically on a day when there's no breeze at all.
It may amuse some of you folks but I came up with the idea of stripping down to a vest in mid climb as I figured my jacket had been working like an umbrella as wind sucked inside and inflated it with air.
Today the weather is still pretty windy but I'm having a rest day and a couple of beers.
By the way, have any of you ever had the experience where wind just stopped your bike altogether and even blew you back down a few inches?

Quoted post said:

Originally posted by Doctor Morbius
Carrera,

Are you a tall and/or wide person? This will have a major affect on your cycling against the wind. And being heavy will impede one's efforts going up a hill. It's a matter of physics and is nothing to be ashamed about. Don't let it demoralize you.

At 20 MPH the average cyclist (i.e. non-clydesdale types) expends about 80% of their energy overcoming wind resistance. Again, that is for the AVERAGE rider. That is why so many cyclists are obsessed about their strength to weight ratio. In their case, smallish = good.

Being a person with broad shoulders and trying to pedal against the wind is like strapping a kite to the back of your bike. It produces some serious drag, more so than riding with fat tires!

Frankly, this "up the hill and against the wind" thing sounds like an excellent way to get into condition. Just strap on the HRM and use it as interval training.


** Please note that by being heavy I wasn't implying fat. I've known several people that were bodybuilders and powerlifters that had lower bodyfat percentages than cyclists but coudn't begin to keep up with them on the road because of their stature and weight.

I guess you could say I'm fairly tall, although I'm not in the six foot bracket. I wouldn't say I'm broad either but I do carry more muscle than the seasoned endurance cyclist since I've been weight-training for some years. I think the fact I used to do more bodybuilding in the past affects my stamina over longer distances (say after I've been peddling for over 2 hours). However, I'm a fairly good climber over a shorter period.
I think this wind situation affected me psychologically and physically in the way that you feel you're flogging a dead horse, as the saying goes. I had an overwhelming desire to just pack up for the day and cancel training but I'd have felt like a quitter had I done so.
The first night the wind was really strong and I was actually forced to stop for breath for a few minutes once I'd cleared the steepest part of the ascent. That night my friends reported their boiler had blown out 3 times!!!
I tried again the following day and made the climb all the way up but the wind was still blowing me back. Like I said I had to stand up all the way, even on the flatter sections just to keep moving.
It has occurred to me that cycling against a strong wind can probably improve performance if you can handle the psychological effect of being forced to reduce your speed to a crawl. However, lets face it, it feels far better when you're whizzing up a hill rhythmically on a day when there's no breeze at all.
It may amuse some of you folks but I came up with the idea of stripping down to a vest in mid climb as I figured my jacket had been working like an umbrella as wind sucked inside and inflated it with air.
Today the weather is still pretty windy but I'm having a rest day and a couple of beers.
By the way, have any of you ever had the experience where wind just stopped your bike altogether and even blew you back down a few inches?

Quoted post said:

Originally posted by Doctor Morbius
Carrera,

Are you a tall and/or wide person? This will have a major affect on your cycling against the wind. And being heavy will impede one's efforts going up a hill. It's a matter of physics and is nothing to be ashamed about. Don't let it demoralize you.

At 20 MPH the average cyclist (i.e. non-clydesdale types) expends about 80% of their energy overcoming wind resistance. Again, that is for the AVERAGE rider. That is why so many cyclists are obsessed about their strength to weight ratio. In their case, smallish = good.

Being a person with broad shoulders and trying to pedal against the wind is like strapping a kite to the back of your bike. It produces some serious drag, more so than riding with fat tires!

Frankly, this "up the hill and against the wind" thing sounds like an excellent way to get into condition. Just strap on the HRM and use it as interval training.


** Please note that by being heavy I wasn't implying fat. I've known several people that were bodybuilders and powerlifters that had lower bodyfat percentages than cyclists but coudn't begin to keep up with them on the road because of their stature and weight.

Again, I'm sorry for these repetitions of posts. This computer is playing up big time and messages don't appear to go out as the system keeps jamming. Then I find 3 messages are sent where I thought nothing had gone out at all.

Carerra,
if it's any consolation it is exactly the same conditions here in the west of Ireland at the moment.
How does one maximise training in the wind ?
Like what the other posters have said, I try to do a loop route so that I have to struggle against the wind for part of the course and
then when I turn I get the benefit of the wind at my back.

When I'm facing the wind (and remember these winds are coming in from the atlantic seaboard), I find that I am working really hard.
And while it is physically a struggle - I do find that I increase my fitness.
Maybe it's psycological but after a few hard weeks of this, I find that my fitness level increases dramtically (usually Feb-Mar and only after having cycled only intermitently during November/December/January).
I find that cycling with the wind at my back is of no real benefit in improving my fitness because it's too easy and I know that when the winds slacken off (after March) that such benefits are only
momentary.

But make no mistake, it's not easy cycling in to the wind and I do not think that there is an easy solution to it, (sorry !).

Thanks for the tips. I did the same route today and it was far less windy. What a difference! Where I was standing up some days ago, I was able to climb seated. I only needed to get into the drops for the steeper sections. I wore just a T-shirt to try and negate any breeze blowing me back.
But the wind was nowhere near as strong and I enjoyed my training session very much.
I would say that when the wind is strong it makes a hell of a difference to my climbing attempts but my only option is to just hope I can get used to adverse weather and press forward. This is a very windy region during Spring and I've no doubt we'll be getting 60 mph gales throughout the season.
I agree with you that if you can climb against a wind it must improve fitness and I think the problem I have is more the psychology of the situation. It feels like trying to run underwater.

Quoted post said:

Originally posted by limerickman
Carerra,
if it's any consolation it is exactly the same conditions here in the west of Ireland at the moment.
How does one maximise training in the wind ?
Like what the other posters have said, I try to do a loop route so that I have to struggle against the wind for part of the course and
then when I turn I get the benefit of the wind at my back.

When I'm facing the wind (and remember these winds are coming in from the atlantic seaboard), I find that I am working really hard.
And while it is physically a struggle - I do find that I increase my fitness.
Maybe it's psycological but after a few hard weeks of this, I find that my fitness level increases dramtically (usually Feb-Mar and only after having cycled only intermitently during November/December/January).
I find that cycling with the wind at my back is of no real benefit in improving my fitness because it's too easy and I know that when the winds slacken off (after March) that such benefits are only
momentary.

But make no mistake, it's not easy cycling in to the wind and I do not think that there is an easy solution to it, (sorry !).

Quoted post said:

Originally posted by Carrera
Thanks for the tips. I did the same route today and it was far less windy. What a difference! Where I was standing up some days ago, I was able to climb seated. I only needed to get into the drops for the steeper sections. I wore just a T-shirt to try and negate any breeze blowing me back.
But the wind was nowhere near as strong and I enjoyed my training session very much.
I would say that when the wind is strong it makes a hell of a difference to my climbing attempts but my only option is to just hope I can get used to adverse weather and press forward. This is a very windy region during Spring and I've no doubt we'll be getting 60 mph gales throughout the season.
I agree with you that if you can climb against a wind it must improve fitness and I think the problem I have is more the psychology of the situation. It feels like trying to run underwater.

After posting my reply to you - I deliberately went out today after work for a two hour session on my bike.
I deliberately went for 1.5 hours in to the wind and I burned a lot
of energy.
In relative terms my 1.5 hours in to the wind, feels to me to be the equivalent of 2.5 hours in more moderate conditions.
I hate cycling in to the wind - but I know that it will benefit me,
even though it's dreadful at the time.
I do think that it psycological.
I feel great after my 1.5 hrs in the windtunnel !!!!!!!!!!!

I ride in it everyday as i'm close to the beach. I always start into it and sometimes its such a hard ride,coming back even with it to my back,i'm popped.

Headwinds are tough, no doubt. I just checked a power calculator for the effect of a 15 mph headwind. The speed at 200 watts power went from almost 20 mph down to 12 mph.

Agree it's always best to start out going upwind if you can. I just gear down and relax going into the wind; forget about the speed on the computer. The payback is the downwind return home. A 15 mph tailwind, a flat smooth road, and the big ring is hard to beat.

When I started bicycling I felt the wind was my enemy. But as I got into shape I relised the wind was just tough coach.

Azulene Laca🙄 :

Of course you have to train in the wind, my god. What if the wind started blowing during your race, or time trial. Would all the other bike riders just pack up and go home? No way so get dug into training in the wind and grit your teeth: its character forming!

Quoted post said:

Originally posted by Glasgow United
Of course you have to train in the wind, my god. What if the wind started blowing during your race, or time trial. Would all the other bike riders just pack up and go home? No way so get dug into training in the wind and grit your teeth: its character forming!

Agreed !

Yesterday I noted that my speed climbing fluctuated between 6 - 7 mph on the steepest gradients and sometimes reached 12 mph during the other parts of the climb. It wasn't very windy.
I guess that my speed would fluctuate between 2 - 5 mph on a very windy day since it's not unknown to be brought to a standstill. I don't know if anyone has experienced being forced to stop during a gust due to not being able to move the bike at all for some seconds?
Fortunately the gales have slowed down over the last couple of days.
I'll just have to get used to cycling in windy and rainy conditions as the weather here is probably worse in Spring. Winter is just cold and a bit gritty but you don't get much rain or gales.
Next time I climb on a windy day I'll monitor my speed and see if I've improved from last time. I agree it is probably a good way of getting fit if you can handle the psychological effect of feeling under par.

Quoted post said:

Originally posted by Glasgow United
Of course you have to train in the wind, my god. What if the wind started blowing during your race, or time trial. Would all the other bike riders just pack up and go home? No way so get dug into training in the wind and grit your teeth: its character forming!

wind is what separates the real racers from the pack fill. i don't like racing in calm conditions, it's too easy, everything stays together usually.
of course it helps that i am 6'2" 170lbs. those 130lb lightweights must despise the wind.

and it is really fun when you can go 30mph with only 200watts.

When I encounter wind...... I get as aero as possible(in my spinacci's) , and do my best in the gear that I'm in(so that I'm ON TOP of my gear.... and not struggling).

Imagine one self as a needle, passing effortlessly through the wing, at super-sonic speed 🙂

The way I look at life, is give me the worst of conditions (since in the end, I know I'll be stronger because of it, ie. a super windy/rainy/hail day) , or give me a picture perfect.... beautiful day - in which case I cannot give any excusses for riding poorly... or not making best use of my time(while on the bike, or off the bike). Ying-Yang..... black and white folks. Everything in between is simply.......... everything in between.🙂

Living in Florida, it's damn near always windy. My training loop is all rolling hills. I find that training in these ****ty conditions makes me better for races.

Imagine training on a 21 pound bike heading into 25 mph winds, and then racing on a 17 pound bike with no wind. I swear, it makes the races feel like an off day....heh