Riding in HEADWINDS

[xxspokesxx]

Hey as a newbie to road racing and training daily for the upcomming season I was on the bike this morning and was pondering a thing or two.

On a calm day I have no issues keeping a good pace 19+ mph for more than an hour or two. Today was windy so naturally with a tailwind 22+ with a headwind 16/17mph.

Is there a certain pace I should be keeping with a head wind. I get discouraged because I feel like my speed should be higher which would make me fight the wind and tire myself out even more.

How do headwinds act on say a road race is the pace still high? I guess I need to figure out if in a race if I fight the wind or keep at my same work level ie heart rate etc.

any suggestions?

 

[Cipher]

Originally posted by xxspokesxx
Hey as a newbie to road racing and training daily for the upcomming season I was on the bike this morning and was pondering a thing or two.

On a calm day I have no issues keeping a good pace 19+ mph for more than an hour or two. Today was windy so naturally with a tailwind 22+ with a headwind 16/17mph.

Is there a certain pace I should be keeping with a head wind. I get discouraged because I feel like my speed should be higher which would make me fight the wind and tire myself out even more.

How do headwinds act on say a road race is the pace still high? I guess I need to figure out if in a race if I fight the wind or keep at my same work level ie heart rate etc.

any suggestions?

Forget about maintaining a constant high speed. With a 30 mph tailwind on the flats your average speed is obviously going to be much greater than riding into that head wind, assuming your power output is a constant/equal for each. What you should really do is invest in an inexpensive heart rate monitor and focus on maintaining a specific HR rather than a given speed.

 

[sparkyrasmus]

Out here on the Minnesota prairie we have an amazing concentrarion of wind power generators --- since we have amazing winds. It seems that on a windy day, no matter what direction the wind is from (with the exception of 45 degrees one way or the other of straight behind) it is against you. On those days, I strive to keep cadence rather than make miles. We tend to think of them as "training opportunities" out here on the prairie.

 

[stevek]

wait till you get 20+mph headwinds it really slows you down (G)

 

[bryanquinn]

I too used to fight the head wind and hated it. My ride into it always seemed to suck. Some days I would go out and see how hard the wind was blowing just to decide if I was going to ride out side that day. All I could think about was how hard the wind was going to be pushing against me. This is going to sound kind of far fetched but it seems to work for me. I was reading a sport psychology book the other day and one of the authors had this advice. Imagine your aura as a knife out in front of you, slicing through the wind, causing it to pass around you. For me just the change of perspective seemed to help. You can always work on technique on a really windy day too. Remember too, the other cyclists are fighting the same head wind.

 

[oneradtec]

headwinds are just a part of the cycling experience. Dont ever wake up in the mornings and hope for the perfect weather to ride...that being 80 degrees and no wind.....that's would be like riding in a vacuum. There are many many benefits to be gained from riding and training alone.......much thanks to the training time you spend fighting those frictional forces that nature throws at you. Those headwinds will do many things...to include building your base power output. When you are able to improve the watts you can produce...you instantly become a better performing cyclist. Watts mean higher average speeds and better climbing among others. Many great riders from Holland credit the strong headwinds there for making them good climbers..because there are no mountains there. Don't ever avoid those headwinds....infact you should relish the time you spend fighting them. Use them to help build your power....power is crucial to competitive success. Unlike weight training...fighting headwinds is a 'cycling specific' form of resistence training. You can't beat that!!!!

 

[oneradtec]

...just to add

don't sweat the stuff that you cannot control. I find that I have no control over nature and weather patterns. I just come home from work and get on my bike and go train. I don't worry too much about wind or other related factors. If I did..I would only train a few days a week when the weather is 'perfect'. I find that on most days conditions will not be perfect. Just get out on the bike and make the most of it. Be tough like Tyler Hamilton! Don't complain because somewhere...there is a cyclist in siberia that would gladly trade places with you.

 

[tafi]

Just ride pal.
I started riding to my new job (50km each way) a few times a week. The wind always seems to be pointing in the other direction on the way home. A stiff headwind is not what you want or 50km but you can turn it around to be a positive. The idiots breezing past in the other direction aren't getting the sort of strength that you are. I have stopped checking the weather whilst at work now and just ride in the weather I'm given. I used to choose thae days I rode by weather but I know that that is useless if you want to get training done.

 

[firegooroo]

What is interesting is that in Miami just on Thursday at the beach we had sustained winds of 20 to 25 mph half of my training was done into the wind. I hated every stroke I took, but my cycling coach was with me and said "this is what divides true cyclist from the wannabes."

After that I had gone home spent from the days training and picked up a book I've been reading about Lance Armstrong and I happen to read the part on a day he was training with one of his trainers and on that day he rode thru a rainstorm and right towards the end of his ride he got a sudden blast of head wind his trainer got next to Lance and said "Man, I bet you're bummed about this headwind" Lance looked at him and said "What headwind?"

After that I look at headwind as another training tool. You might not go fast but you'll grow stronger.

 

[Ted B]

I do a lot of solo riding along the south shore of a very large lake (Lake Ponchatrain), so it seems there is always wind blowing...unless of course when it is steaming hot outside, then the air is still. Mother nature is cruel...

It's tough on the ego when you ride into a headwind, especially when it is like the one I was facing with near freezing temperatures yesterday morning. Like someone pointed out, doing this really makes you work, and if you brush the ego aside and try to put the distance in anyway, it will make you stronger.

 

[gntlmn]

Originally posted by firegooroo
What is interesting is that in Miami just on Thursday at the beach we had sustained winds of 20 to 25 mph half of my training was done into the wind. I hated every stroke I took, but my cycling coach was with me and said "this is what divides true cyclist from the wannabes."

After that I had gone home spent from the days training and picked up a book I've been reading about Lance Armstrong and I happen to read the part on a day he was training with one of his trainers and on that day he rode thru a rainstorm and right towards the end of his ride he got a sudden blast of head wind his trainer got next to Lance and said "Man, I bet you're bummed about this headwind" Lance looked at him and said "What headwind?"

After that I look at headwind as another training tool. You might not go fast but you'll grow stronger.

I wonder if he really didn't notice the headwind. Maybe that's what he does, just puts his psyche to a different level. I kind of wonder. He was probably joking though. What do you think?

 

[amorevelo]

Originally posted by xxspokesxx
Hey as a newbie to road racing and training daily for the upcomming season I was on the bike this morning and was pondering a thing or two.

On a calm day I have no issues keeping a good pace 19+ mph for more than an hour or two. Today was windy so naturally with a tailwind 22+ with a headwind 16/17mph.

Is there a certain pace I should be keeping with a head wind. I get discouraged because I feel like my speed should be higher which would make me fight the wind and tire myself out even more.

How do headwinds act on say a road race is the pace still high? I guess I need to figure out if in a race if I fight the wind or keep at my same work level ie heart rate etc.

any suggestions?

Pretend that the stronger the headwind, the stronger your getting. It's like resistance, or literally is resistance. I love headwinds cause when i look at my comp and see 20 mph and I'm having a hard time I know that I'll make everyone around me in a race have a hard time when i can draft. Keep your head low and find an aero position and keep pedaling. Btw, keep that damn obnoxious smile on that mug of yours and you'll soon learn to love the pain.