Which is worse?

[ColinJ]

Hills are bad, headwinds are worse but crosswinds are the killer for me

Especially gusting crosswinds on rapid descents off big hills!

I almost got blown off the side of Holme Moss once, which wasn't a pleasant experience.

Love hills, hate winds.

My worst wind experience ever was when trying to cycle into a tunnel on the Costa Blanca. There was a strong headwind blowing down into the tunnel. I could barely get to the tunnel entrance and when I finally did, I came to a dead stop in the face of what had been concentrated into a 50+ mph headwind by the funnelling effect of the tunnel. I was in a 39/29 gear and standing on the pedals, and performing an involuntary trackstand in the middle of the road. Eventually my legs gave way and I was blown backwards off my bike. The bike got blown up into the air like a kite and I had to grab hold of it and pull it back down onto the road to avoid it disappearing over the barrier into the gorge below the road!

 

[Vantage]

It's gotta be headwinds.
Guaranteed, just as I reach the crest of the hill and smile that I made it up after crawling along in my lowest granny gear at 4mph, that's when the headwind rears it's ugly head and slows me to 3mph just to take the p1$$.

 

[Supersuperleeds]

I hate hills, but I hate a headwind more.

 

[Will Spin]

Hills I like, I like the uphill bit if only for the sense of relief when it's finished and downhill, well I just go for it! The wind I don't mind, all my rides end up at the place I started from so I know that at some stage the wind will be behind me. I usually try to plan my rides so that the wind is behind me on the way home, however I have decided to go on a club run tomorrow and their route will be 35 miles down wind to start with, so not looking forward to the ride home!

 

[Welsh wheels]

I quite enjoy going up hills, because it gets you fitter and then you get a nice downhill. I hate headwinds. I am often to seen struggling in low gear against the nasty headwinds we get around here, hurling abuse at the wind as if it was an animate being. Headwinds just make me really angry.

 

[tallliman]

Headwinds grind me down mentally, crosswinds make me worry about keeping the bike in a straight line and so are worse.

Hills are fine going up, it's going down I don't like!

 

[ColinJ]

I hate hills, but I hate a headwind more.

Ah, yes - I thought we had done this topic fairly recently - headwinds AND hills!

 

[Pat "5mph"]

Crosswind (you should have put this as an option in the poll), crosswind is scary, can blow you off the bike, into traffic.

 

[RedRider]

There's grim satisfaction in a headwind, something heroic.

 

[Reynard]

Well, there aren't that many hills to speak of here, but the wind, definitely... With it being so flat and open, there's nothing to stop the wind blowing through. Just an everyday fact of life for a cyclist in the fens...

 

[HLaB]

Can't really do it here but back home I've deliberately plotted a route that hugs the hills to avoid a headwind; I know what I prefer/dis like

 

[mustang1]

2 things i dislike about winds:
1. You can't see it.
2. There's always some tosser pulling a fast one drafting me.

But ordinarily, although i prefer hills, i don't really mind the wind.

 

[biggs682]

Hills can be a good test and marker for fitness

 

[Cp40Carl]

Unwavering headwinds, especially when lead to wind in the willows. However, padded shorts usually prevent this.

 

[Salad Dodger]

Headwind is worst for me. Hills are there, no matter what the weather and you either ride over them or round them. But to have flat roads ruined by a headwind is truly horrible....