This may be a stupid question, but I’ll ask it anyway. When riding with, say a 20mph tailwind; is it better to ride upright, using your body as a sail, or be in the aero position?
Thanks,
Mark
With that much of a tailwind I’ll ride in the most powerful and comfortable position available to me.
On my tri bike I’ll likely still be in the aero bars cuz I’ll probably be going 30+mph, nearly spun out (so it may be difficult to hold threshold or VO2max power), and it’s more comfortable for me.
If I’m going uphill I’ll be on the horns because I’ll be going slower and it’s easier to hold power above threshold there.
On my road bike I’ll likely be on the hoods.
Thanks Jaret
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I think you can keep it pretty simple, if you feel wind on your back, you’re going slower than the wind so sit up. If you feel wind on your face you are going faster than the wind so get into aero position.
This question was asked on the Silca marginal gains podcast. It’s still faster to stay in aero position.
I did this exact thing yesterday. I went after a 12-mile Strava KOM riding my road bike on a flat stretch of road with about a 20 - 25 MPH tailwind (maybe it was more). I stayed on the hoods the entire time because that’s the most aero for me and more importantly because I could control the front end better than in the drops. Got the KOM with a 32MPH average!
Tie some yarn to your bars. If the yarn starts blowing forward, ride upright. Otherwise, stay aero.
This may be a stupid question, but I’ll ask it anyway. When riding with, say a 20mph tailwind; is it better to ride upright, using your body as a sail, or be in the aero position?
Thanks,
Mark
I did this exact thing yesterday. I went after a 12-mile Strava KOM riding my road bike on a flat stretch of road with about a 20 - 25 MPH tailwind (maybe it was more). I stayed on the hoods the entire time because that’s the most aero for me and more importantly because I could control the front end better than in the drops. Got the KOM with a 32MPH average!
Congrats on the wind doping achievement! Based on the ridiculous tailwind that KOM will be safe until some fool goes out and risks his personal safety with a 30mph hurricane on his or her back.
IRL it is unusual to ride slower than the tailwind, given that at race speeds 90% of what holds you back is wind resistance.
The exceptions would be some crazy hurricane-force wind you probably shouldn’t be riding in for safety’s sake, and when you are going uphill (so the work against gravity is providing a lot of resistance).
What it does mean is that more of your power at steady state speed will be going to overcoming other loads (bearing friction, rolling resistance, etc.) that increase linearly with speed (vs. exponentially like wind resistance) compared to what it would be w/o a tailwind. This may mean that a slightly less aggressive aero position that allows more power output would help. Think of it as the opposite of descending, where aero is so important that a position that you can’t pedal in but is highly aero is faster than a less aero position where you can push the pedals.
I did this exact thing yesterday. I went after a 12-mile Strava KOM riding my road bike on a flat stretch of road with about a 20 - 25 MPH tailwind (maybe it was more). I stayed on the hoods the entire time because that’s the most aero for me and more importantly because I could control the front end better than in the drops. Got the KOM with a 32MPH average!
Congrats on the wind doping achievement! Based on the ridiculous tailwind that KOM will be safe until some fool goes out and risks his personal safety with a 30mph hurricane on his or her back.
Why, thank you! I snagged the KOM (with about 30 seconds to spare) from a guy who did it under similar, if not more brutal, conditions a few years ago. But unlike me, he called his wife to come pick him up on the way back because the wind was so crazy; I just trudged home into the massive headwind.