Wind or climbing?

If the wind is really strong it's surely annoying, but climbing a mountain or going uphill for 5 or 10 consecutive miles is no joke and beats wind anytime.

I'd also say that riding a mountain is more of a challenge than riding in the wind as well. At least with the wind it's not usually a constant head wind that your up against and you do normally have a break.

Riding up a mountain for a long stretch is more demanding on the body, and while you can stop, if you do its often harder to get going again.

Yep, general rule yes, but I have face insane winds and it's aggressive and we have to make a big effort to face them. All in all it depends, sometimes a small climb is better than wind.

I've ridden 100 miles into wind going a steady 20-25 MPH with gusts to around 40 MPH. It flat out sucks. Unrelenting...tiring...very boring going at a pace slowed to a crawl...painful...unpleasant...and most of all it is unrewarding. There is no joy in surviving it. The invisible hand that holds us back is no fun.

I've ridden 104 miles with 6,800' of steep climbs...multiple climbs. I've ridden 117 miles with around 8,000' of climbing with multiple steep climbs and a few long, drags of two miles to three miles. I've done individual climbs of around 4,000' to maybe 6,000' or more, ending 12,000' ASL.

If the altitude and thinning oxygen is ignored I would much rather climb. There are respites and the gradient varies. The view is often breath taking. There is a sense of accomplishment at the end...and it DOES eventually end. Some days the wind never lets up and some days it gets harder as the day wears on.

Big, powerful riders often do well in the wind. Skinny, light riders often do well on hills and mountains. I'm closer to being a climber than a locomotive.

Both wind and gravity require high efforts. Both are 'hard'. But the wind doesn't just blow. It sucks.

I'll take climbing any day, but where I live, the hills aren't that big so I have to contend with just as much wind as hills. That's why I prefer cycling alone when training for long distance events. If I ride alone, I don't have to stay in a paceline that constantly goes up and down in speed, exhausting me just trying to stay with the riders. It's especially difficult when you're in a paceline with strong cross winds. Then you have the riders, usually short ones, who have to show you just how fast they can ride into a headwind, knowing full well that tall riders like me will have a hard time hanging on to their wheels. Solo riding? You can't beat it.

i'm not a fan ow windy days, as a lightweight, I've been pushed around by the wind on a few occasions. It made me very cautious when going downhills. I like hills and worse comes to worse, my pride takes a hit and i have to stop and continue.

There is an objective difference: When climbing, the effort is roughly linear with the speed - you can choose the proper gear and speed you can keep steady and just keep it [with the little adjustments of the changing slope], and it is easy to manage and control. In face wind, however, any attempt to speed just a little will cost heavily, and further you are not in control - the wind changes unexpectedly.

Lots of variables but given the choice of being pulled up a climb or up a hill I will take being the wheel sucker in a tough headwind any day and take the lead on a climb.

jhuskey said:

Lots of variables but given the choice of being pulled up a climb or up a hill I will take being the wheel sucker in a tough headwind any day and take the lead on a climb.

I like to lead on the climbs, but often I can't climb fast enough for the group I'm with, and I get passed.

I used to ride with this lady, who was a bit heavy but a really strong rider, so I would fight to draft off her. Riders would try to slip in on me, but I managed to fight them off just to stay in her draft Now, she has trimmed down and is not such a good draft any more. Darn it!🙁

Uawadall said:

i'm not a fan ow windy days, as a lightweight, I've been pushed around by the wind on a few occasions. It made me very cautious when going downhills. I like hills and worse comes to worse, my pride takes a hit and i have to stop and continue.

Living where I do, every time I go out, it's windy.

Bicycleman said:

I like to lead on the climbs, but often I can't climb fast enough for the group I'm with, and I get passed.

I used to ride with this lady, who was a bit heavy but a really strong rider, so I would fight to draft off her. Riders would try to slip in on me, but I managed to fight them off just to stay in her draft Now, she has trimmed down and is not such a good draft any more. Darn it!🙁

Just can't trust females. They can let you down on many levels.(:

jhuskey said:

Just can't trust females. They can let you down on many levels.🙂

Especially if they're undertakers.

Wind yuck! At least you have the satisfaction of summiting a hill. Of course I haven't ridden up any real mountains so I don't have anything to compare to. And I'm kind of a newbie so what do I know!

I'd rather climb. Climbs are predictable and everyone has to do their own work. There are good views. You get your energy back at the end.

In the wind, everyone hides behind the biggest person - usually me. You go slow on sections you are used to riding much faster. Tailwinds are a hoot though and in the end power is power whether going up grades or into a gale.

maydog said:

In the wind, everyone hides behind the biggest person - usually me.

Would you mind sitting up a little? I can still feel a little wind back here.

I don't mind taking my turn on the front. I get low and I'll take a long pull and give everyone a rest and WISH I could power through the air like the big guys.

I take way too many long pulls I guess, but that's my nature. I really took long pulls yesterday when I rode solo. Fortunately, the wind wasn't that bad. Yes, there was wind, but at least it wasn't trying to pluck me off the bike like 2 days before.

I just came back from a windy ride and felt like a leaf. Every downhill, every corner, I felt like I was going to get pushed off the bike .Thats the most wind I've felt on a solo ride in a while.

I'll take a climb any day over significant winds.

Do la Marmotte and tell me you prefer the wind. Nice views. Fun climbs.

Bicycleman said:

I really took long pulls yesterday when I rode solo.

I train aloooooone! Yeah, with nobody else.
You know when I train alone, I prefer to beat up myself!

Just be glad you don't ride with that little [censored] on the Garmin screen. He never takes a pull.