Wind.

[howard2107]

Has anyone got any tactics for riding into the wind. Just ridden my short round the block quick half hour (not so quick today) 5 miles, unfortunately when i set off from home everywhere is uphill, OK only a mile but a climb of about 500 feet, then I'm on relatively level ground for about 3 miles, then its downhill a mile and half dropping about 600 feet, and the last bit is about half a mile uphill back to where i started. I could hardly move with the wind in my face, or am i just getting old and things are catching up, didn't bother me as a kid from what i remember and i only had 3 gears at the most. The good thing about the route is i get to watch all the standing traffic near junction 28 of the M62 going nowhere.

Cheers.............Howard

 

[Dayvo]

Keep low (if you can) and spin.

Watch out for side winds as they can be very dangerous.

 

[Mo1959]

Yep.....agree with Dayvo. If it's a road bike, tuck down on the drops and drop a couple of gears and try and spin along gently. Tougher if it's a more upright bike, but you can still crouch down a bit lower although it's not so comfortable.

 

[howard2107]

Thanks, its a Hybrid, but i will give it a go.

 

[gbb]

Don't try and beat it (the wind), just find a pace, however slow it needs to be to allow you to ride within yourself.
Ive ridden 15 miles into a strongish headwind, head down, find a gear that lets you spin and just travel at whatever speed that allows you to comfortably. If its 10mph, 5 mph or 13....so be it.

AND THEN LET IT RIP ON THE HOME RUN

 

[sackville d]

Relax and don`t struggle against it.

 

[howard2107]

Don't try and beat it (the wind), just find a pace, however slow it needs to be to allow you to ride within yourself.
Ive ridden 15 miles into a strongish headwind, head down, find a gear that lets you spin and just travel at whatever speed that allows you to comfortably. If its 10mph, 5 mph or 13....so be it.

AND THEN LET IT RIP ON THE HOME RUN

I like your sense of humour

 

[DEFENDER01]

I decided to to my regular run the opposite way round to get the wind behind me.
Damn wind changed direction it was a good plan but didn't work.

 

[DEFENDER01]

AND THEN LET IT RIP ON THE HOME RUN

Beans and plenty of them.

 

[Drago]

Head down, find your cadence, disengage brain from nervous system and slip it into neutral. I do wonder if the most successful cyclists are those able to almost enter a trance like state.

 

[Simontm]

I decided to to my regular run the opposite way round to get the wind behind me.
Damn wind changed direction it was a good plan but didn't work.

Yesterday, I decided to change jobs purely on the averaged prevailing wind for cycle home. Still working it out.

 

[raleighnut]

Head down, find your cadence, disengage brain from nervous system and slip it into neutral. I do wonder if the most successful cyclists are those able to almost enter a trance like state.

That explains Froomy's normal expression when staring at the stem.

 

[summerdays]

Watch out for large vehicles passing you, it gives you momentary shelter then you get the full blast back. You have to cycle downhill which isn't fair! And watch out for things flying into the road, even a bag is enough to take you down if it gets tangled in the mechanism.

 

[nickyboy]

All good advice so far. Although your ride is quite short, if and when you start going a little further on windy days you might want to plan a route to make it as easy as possible;

1) If you have a particularly hard climb make sure you do it tailwind rather than headwind
2) Try to plan the headwind sections as low level sheltered areas, tailwind sections at higher altitude

Finally, if all else fails, try to do the headwind first half of the ride, tailwind second half

 

[NorthernDave]

The slow progress into the wind I can understand and live with, but its the having to pedal down hill just to keep moving that does me in.
There is a hill near me which is about half a mille long and virtually straight where I can top 25mph with relatively little effort on a wind free day, but when its blowing my speed drops to single figures even when giving it the beans. Its that vexing that I'll avoid going that way on a windy day.