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Yeah, So About That Headwind


Razors Edge

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It was so bad today, I actually used my small chainring on a section of road with 1% climb!!! Took me down to 11mph at some spots!!! Yowza.  Surprisingly, lovely weather if properly dressed and riding WITH the wind :D

Note the lap times - into the wind (14.3!!!!) and with the wind but exhausted (20.1).  The headwind might have been 20mph, but the gusts were what were a bit scary in the exposed sections.

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5 minutes ago, JerrySTL said:

Wind can be brutal and doesn't give you the sense of accomplishment like hills.

A group of us once got caught in storm front moving it. 30 MPH headwind gusting to 40 mph. I was in my granny gear at times on the flats and had to pedal down a hill were I'm usually grabbing the brakes. 

Pedaling DOWN a hill - just to get down it - is awful and goes completely against the whole reason to ride a bike!

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I faced the same wind about an hour's drive to the NE of your Fairfax location in Severna Park, MD and it exhausted me. It was 48F but felt like the 30's due to high winds. I walked a dog around a 3 mile loop in a park where I began and finished on a high ridge. The wind died died down as I reached some lower areas, which were warm and sunny - where some whitetail deer were also sheltering.  But the last 2/3 mile was uphill and right into the teeth of that wind - I had to hold the baseball hat I was wearing in my hand because it would blow away otherwise and 80 lb Jake was pulling me up the hill with his leash.

On the 20 minute drive to take my brother's dog home, mostly on 55 mph and 65 mph roads, cars were struggling not to get blown across lane lines as the gusts would suddenly hit them, particularly on overpasses.

By the time I got to my car I was really tired.  I went grocery shopping afterward but cut it a little short due to my muscles beginning to tighten up.  At least my calves or Achilles tendons aren't sore though, which is a first for this year!

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2 minutes ago, groupw said:

Around here, you don’t get to ride much if you don’t deal with the wind! It’s all about putting your head down and grinding it out! 

Yep - we have wind from Jan through May or so.  Then, ass it get warmer, the winds come more as a sign that a storm is on the way.  But I spend a lot of time on windy rides.  :(

Luckily, I have a powermeter, so my efforts are apples-to-apples from a "training" aspect.  Wind is just brutal regardless of the reality of the effort, though.

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