I realize that cycling into a headwind is hard, and you will slow down, but I’m always amazed and chagrined by how much. I feel like I’m working harder, but my heartrate tends to be lower, and my watts will run average or lower and I feel like I’m working harder than the wattage I’m doing. Cadence runs about the same.
The end result it that I get totally demoralized. If I’m lucky, and I get to turn my back to the wind, I leave all that behind me as I fly along, but if I’m headed home, or in a race, my attitude plummets.
So, what am I missing? Is there a technique to riding into the wind? Is it a mental issue? How much speed can one realistically expect to lose in, say, a 20mph headwind?
I rode a century one time from Las Vegas to Bullhead City, AZ, where it felt like the wind was in my face all day with a slight uphill and temps in the high 90s. It was the longest day of my life.
Do you ride a tri-bike in the aero position? I’ve been riding a road bike my whole life and just got a tri-bike a few weeks ago. I noticed that it was much easier to ride aero into a headwind than sitting up on my road bike. In fact, it was like night and day.
Slightly related… there’s some information about aero wheels, headwinds, crosswinds and riders pushing harder into a headwind on one of the first podcasts…
I used to be the same way, totally demoralized in a head wind. If I’m on the verge of a bonk at the end of a long ride I still feel like giving up the sport!
I think it is mental…just get in a groove, accept that you’re gonna be going slower but the work is still getting done. Don’t worry about keeping your speed up, stay aero (if you’re on the tri bike) and plug away. I actually like a head wind now, I draw strength from it.
Just don’t bonk, I find that if I’m on the verge and have run out of calories I start thinking about how much longer it’ll be before I’m able to stuff my face with a PB&J sandwich…then it gets very tough, tough enough to make a grown man cry sometimes!
I used to experience the same thing. I don’t have a problem with headwinds anymore. Of course I slow down, but I don’t feel like I am struggling anymore. Why? Because, I’m not. You have to relax and ride just as you would with no wind. This takes a concerted effort to learn to do. You have to focus on your pedal stroke as the wind is causing you to put out power more consistently, like riding a trainer. Focus on really getting your foot over the top of the pedal at the top of your stroke. Also, an increase in bike fitness will always help!
Its funny I have thought this same thing many times. I’m sure I cannot hold the same watts into a head wind as I can without (same course). It feels like something is missing from the power equation but the laws of physics to don’t lie — or do they?
An excellent question! It is a conundrum that baffles me and is part of my mental problem.
I ride a tribike, and stay in my bars, although I have a position that is not very aggressive. I accept that I will be slower, but I think kfc_bob is onto one reason it is so hard for me: my numbers don’t match my effort.
Should I increase cadence? Stop whining and push more watts? My last IM was windy, and I focused so hard on my technique, and pulling my foot over the top, that my anterior tibialis muscles froze up - which was murder for my run. I think part of that was cold weather on bare legs, though.
Sounds silly, but the best thing i ever did for riding in wind was getting rid of the cycling jacket i owned that flapped like crazy in a headwind. it would drive me absolutely banana’s - and reminded that every pedal stroke was into the wind. Amazing how much lower windspeed feels if you don’t hear the wind as much.
Well, I know what our friend Ultra Tri Guy would say:
"Mate,
Into the wind, as you are a triathlete, and therefore much slower than a pro cyclist or a formula 1 car, you can just stand up, aero doesn’t matter, and it won’t slow you down. "
It is because the strong headwind is slowing you down more between each pedal stroke. This is very similar to riding up a hill. It’s more difficult to ride with a smooth and quick spin into a headwind than it is a tailwind (or no wind). I think that we look down at the road and expect it to be going by faster, so we tend to push a little harder into the wind.
Relax, keep your cadence up, and focus on a powerful, efficient spin.
After doing a 30 mile ride at lunch today with a 25 mph headwind a 2/3s of the way, this is very appropriate for me. These months in Florida(Mar-May) are always very windy with warm/cold fronts fighting it out. The nice thing is come summer, I’m much stronger heading into less windy conditions.
But I feel your pain. I always tell my training partners you ‘hurt’ more by a headwind than you get helped by a tailwind. I would much rather ride a calm hilly ride than a flat windy one(unless it was a point to point with a tailwind).
It’s been windy lately, and it doesn’t help that it keeps taking me back to that windy race, in which my bike really suffered. I’m going to have to put that behind me.
Cross-country bike ride. I forgot to mention that I only had a few hours sleep the night before, but at least I didn’t drink or anything. I wouldn’t have been able to finish if I had had a hangover.
When I started riding six years ago, a strong headwind defeated me physically and mentally. I didn’t like the sound of the wind, the feel of it or the ridiculously low speed I was going or the high effort I felt I had to put out.
Its still not as much fun as blasting along with a nice tailwind.
But now, for me, a strong headwind is like a difficult but solvable problem. You know you can work your way thru it and it is very satisfying when you do. I think part of it is maintaining composure (which is particularly fun when others are losing theirs).
Where I’m from (Saskatchewan) the wind blows all summer long so I’ve had no choice but to learn to cope with it.
When I was new, the group I rode with would always head out into the wnd so that usually the wind would be at our back on the way home. That’s a good safe strategy for newbies. What I like to do now is ignore the wind, ride a route I feel like riding and take the wind as it comes. A good headwind on the last part of a long ride is good training for me.
It is because the strong headwind is slowing you down more between each pedal stroke. This is very similar to riding up a hill. …
Except that I can hold a higher power climbing than on the flats, and I hold a lower power on the flats with a head wind.
Although there might be something to that as head winds are more like the trainer where it just slows your momentum but does not reverse it like a hill does.
Training around Boulder I’m pretty used to wind so its not a moral problem.
I notice it most in short races where I’m trying to hold close to FT and paying very close attention to the numbers. Big headwind and the power seems to drop (or require a huge jump in PE). Change direction and I’m back holding my target power.
Edit: On more thought (OK not much more thought) a headwind does reverse your moment. You would eventually go backward if you stopped pedaling up a hill or in a headwind. Still, there is something about riding in a headwind that is closer to riding on the trainer than riding on a hill.