Got wind?

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Forgot to add...skip to the 6:15 mark to see the power of the wind.

January and February is the season of strong winds here. And although I don't remember being bothered by the winds, I have heard of stories of cyclists availing of the wind power. But it was mostly on the plains and not in the climbing routes. They say that the push of the wind can add 10 to 20% of power to your speed. I still have to experience that.

It looks like a nice sunny weather and could have been a nice ride if not because of that untimely strong wind. I could not believe it even the big traffic motorcycles could not handle the forceful wind.

Must be why some of my rides lately have only averaged 13.8 mph. Sometimes I was pushing for all I was worth at 9 mph.

Yep... It's that time of the year that the wind is South! (That's very rare around here)

Time for Strava Segment accidents!! 😄

Corzhens said:

January and February is the season of strong winds here. And although I don't remember being bothered by the winds, I have heard of stories of cyclists availing of the wind power. But it was mostly on the plains and not in the climbing routes. They say that the push of the wind can add 10 to 20% of power to your speed. I still have to experience that.

Friday I had 50 miles into a head wind, and at the turn around point 30 miles of tail wind. I didn't try to knock myself out just because I had an assistance from the wind, though I did ride 19 to 20 vs 9 to 13 mph into the head wind. Then the last 27 miles it was hit or miss, depending on what kind of cross wind would hit me. Friday's ride amounted to 107 miles of pain, mostly, but it was a training ride, only just that.

Even though I very rarely cycle in inclement weather if I can help it (I've gone soft in my old age) I never really minded cycling in the rain or even the snow, depending on how bad it was of course, but the wind...that was another matter, so that defiantly wouldn't be for me!

Bicycleman said:

Friday I had 50 miles into a head wind, and at the turn around point 30 miles of tail wind. I didn't try to knock myself out just because I had an assistance from the wind, though I did ride 19 to 20 vs 9 to 13 mph into the head wind. Then the last 27 miles it was hit or miss, depending on what kind of cross wind would hit me. Friday's ride amounted to 107 miles of pain, mostly, but it was a training ride, only just that.

I am curious about that line which says "107 miles of pain." It looks to me that you may be abusing your body with that training. A proper training gives you pain because as they say - no pain, no gain. But the pain is not that long to ride 107 miles. I guess you are missing something in the method of training. Try PRT, the progressive resistance training where you increase the duration of training every day. That would take care of the body pains.

107 miles riding into a 20 -30 mph wind, gusting to 40 mph is painful, but it must be done to train for the 200k and higher mileage that I am doing. I don't do but one long distance ride like that a week, but I will do shorter rides of 50 to 70 miles. Before the day of the ride, I will ride, but at reduced distances to allow for recovery. I only ride 3 to 4 days per week with adequate recovery between those efforts. Since we will be doing a 200k as training, either on Saturday or Sunday of this week, then I will not ride the day before that long ride.

Corzhens said:

I am curious about that line which says "107 miles of pain." It looks to me that you may be abusing your body with that training. A proper training gives you pain because as they say - no pain, no gain. But the pain is not that long to ride 107 miles. I guess you are missing something in the method of training. Try PRT, the progressive resistance training where you increase the duration of training every day. That would take care of the body pains.

Food for thought: The more suffering you experience while training will make the day of the ride blissful because you won't feel that pain. You will be riding with others, experiencing a draft from other riders. Last Friday, I did that ride solo and into a headwind. Riding into heavy headwinds or very steep mountains can only build more strength. Try it, you will come to enjoy the pain because that pain brings extreme fitness.

Bicycleman said:

Food for thought: The more suffering you experience while training will make the day of the ride blissful because you won't feel that pain. You will be riding with others, experiencing a draft from other riders. Last Friday, I did that ride solo and into a headwind. Riding into heavy headwinds or very steep mountains can only build more strength. Try it, you will come to enjoy the pain because that pain brings extreme fitness.

Thanks for the invite but I'm not riding for the pains since riding is only a hobby for me. I want to fully enjoy my riding that's why there are times I ride around our village just to appreciate the houses and the gardens that can be seen. You may be very athletic to love the pains and I'm sure that goes with your motivation that the saying "no pain, no gain" is very appropriate to you. Good luck to your training.

"Pain is just weakness leaving your body."

Corzhens said:

Thanks for the invite but I'm not riding for the pains since riding is only a hobby for me. I want to fully enjoy my riding that's why there are times I ride around our village just to appreciate the houses and the gardens that can be seen. You may be very athletic to love the pains and I'm sure that goes with your motivation that the saying "no pain, no gain" is very appropriate to you. Good luck to your training.

Cycling is a hobby for me as well, but when I ran long distance, I pushed myself. I have always done that because if I don't come back from a ride totally exhausted, I don't think I've done enough. Yes, I do go out for fun rides, though and come back refreshed. Today, I did 46 miles, pushing against a head wind, but I was refreshed and not exhausted. It's only the 100+ mile rides that get me exhausted.