# Riding into strong headwinds 20 mph



## new2rd

What is your advice/stategy for solo riding into strong headwinds? 

Yesterday I went on a 3 hr ride that started with 25 min of crosswind (good for warming up) and then I turned into a sustained 20 mph headwind, what made matters worse was there was no hiding or breaks for 90 min and there were a lot of false flats of course going uphill. 
So far I've heard that you have to push it going against the wind since there's not enough time to make up the difference going back with the wind. This would work for me for shorter periods, but for a long uphill fight against this beast, I didn't want to "bonk" or cramp up knowing that I had a long way to go. Besides staying low most of the time, is there any advice out there for keeping the pace up? My legs were pissed off at me the entire time and although it was downwind and downhill coming back in, I was spent. 
So, do you just accept that your average is going to suck? I rode this in these crazy conditions because it's the course for my first race. I know one thing for sure, I won't be trying this solo during the race. I'll be looking for a bunch of fast 6'5" riders to block the wind. lol


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## jnbrown

I really hate riding into the wind since I am small and don't have good sustained power.
I love climbing and can never get enough of it.
Short of sucking wheel, I try to make myself aero as possible without too much discomfort and use a lower gear so I am spinning more than pushing.


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## JustTooBig

I think you're getting too wrapped up in 'pace'. Training is about your effort level for given periods of time, the pace is secondary.

There's a reason that coaches prescribe workouts based on (ranges of) power, heart rate, even cadence, but not speed. Speed/pace is subjective and easily influenced by other factors -- as you experienced -- and is a lousy metric to be concerned with.


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## Wookiebiker

You just accept that your average will suck.

As for the race...depending on the wind direction it can be the perfect use for an attack. A headwind usually isn't a good idea to attack into unless you are a really strong TT guy and there is a way to get the Peloton to not see you.

However, if you are strong and there is a crosswind...gutter the field and ride away from them 

Also...if there is a side wind, expect those big 6'5" power guys to ride away from the field. They will get up front, gutter the field and ride away with all the small guys left behind battling the wind by themselves.

How do I know this? I'm one of the bigger power guys and love races with cross winds because you can do just that. I've gone out with another rider on multiple occasions and put 2-3 minutes on the field pretty quickly in those conditions.


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## cycocross

Headwinds are great motivation for maintaining perfect TT position. 
But better for mind conditioning. If you can deal with the morale defeating aspects it will help with other aspects of riding you might not enjoy.


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## PoorCyclist

The strongest wind I have came across is close to 50mph and going tail I hit 45mph barely pedaling

going head on it was about 8mph on the lowest gearing.


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## new2rd

cycocross said:


> Headwinds are great motivation for maintaining perfect TT position.
> But better for mind conditioning. If you can deal with the morale defeating aspects it will help with other aspects of riding you might not enjoy.


I spent some time paying attention and working on body position and technique. However, my mind would soon wander and the "morale defeating aspects" would take over. Funny how long and lonely a ride can get into some headwind.


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## ronderman

Like most people I just don't ride by myself if the wind is around 20 or higher, but one time I was visting somewhere and had my bike and was meeting a buddy. Normally I would not have ridden, but we made an appointment and I wasn't going to pull out.

On the way out, massive headwind at 25mph, it was just each guy take a pull and no talking. We each suffered. On the way back, we had places where it was no noise, just silent due to the tailwind: we'd be going 24mph and not even peddling. 

Another buddy and I swear we're going to drive a car somewhere, drive back, and then ride the tailwind as fast as possible to the first car. Why not, right?


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## Cervelo S-5

To echo JustTooBig, I would not get two hung up on the speed/pace thing. If you have power meters, or HR monitors, they will give you a much better idea of your level of effort for your training which is really what you are after. A a body builder turned cyclist (oh I can hear the laughter now) I know a thing or two about "wind blocking" and often hear from behind me this is great, you should try it...........................! I recall a short TT course that our club has used and I have often come home on the return leg in still air between 38-42 km/h and this one day as I was giving all I had in the lowest tucked TT position possible and when I saw my speed at a whopping 21 km/h with more effort than I have ever put out, I was a little disenchanted too. Save to say we all laughed and accepted it as the effort put forth was more valuable than the result stats at the finish! My advice, keep doing this in the wind, as it will only make you stronger and come race day there could be a hurricane, and you won't be afraid of it mentally, 'cause you've already seen that! 

Cheers & ride safely!


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## SevensRacer

Wookiebiker said:


> You just accept that your average will suck. As for the race...depending on the wind direction it can be the perfect use for an attack.


I agree. Every now and then, I do run into strong headwinds that significantly slow me down and the only thing I do is ride on the drops and tuck.

While I have never raced in a "formal", organized race, I definitely agree with the attacking, especially on totally informal "street" racing. :devil: There was one rider that cut me off on my typical run. He had a good pace, however, there was a lot of heavy headwind, so I stayed behind him. Once we got to the uphills, I clearly saw that the headwind took a toll on him, so I made an attack and got away. :hand:


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## Andrea138

Deal with them by loving them. It's like the air is giving you a hug. A slow, steady, hug.


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## Mike T.

Headwinds, like hills, are there for two purposes only -


To make us stronger.
To demoralize others.


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## new2rd

I multitask: Got stronger & demoralized!


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## Mike T.

new2rd said:


> I multitask: Got stronger & demoralized!


Go stand in the corner


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## pdenman33

In Chicago the wind is not unidirectional. Same winds going out as coming back. It is miserable. The wind doesn't let up either, it's just driving and constant. On a long ride you can forget that you're even struggling against the wind and get pissed at yourself for being such a slow weakling. Then you turn a corner and hit a spot with no wind and realize you've been pedaling hard enough to go flat out 30mph for the last hour. In my experience windy weeks bring me close to over training. Now i leave my cyclocomputer home for windy rides and go for a set time.


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## Schneiderguy

I'm little, the wind sucks and live where there is lots of wind in Texas. Tomorrow the forcast is 20mph wind . Spring time the wind is oftern 20-30 mph. If it is gusting over 30 I'll not ride or hit the trainer. On a standard crank I use a 12x23 cassette. I also live in the middle of rollers and short climbs. I need the 23 for the wind not the hills. Be sure you have sufficient low gearing you can ride solo into a 20+ wind. If you have 20+ winds often maybe get a cheap training wheel and cassette with really easy gearing or change out the cassette from your regular wheel.


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## Fireform

I live in the flats and the winds are a gift. We ride the winds because we got no hills.


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## BostonG

For the last 3 weeks it seems like every time I go out, it's been really windy. The first week of that wind I whined and complained and cursed (depending on the wind strength). The second week I resigned myself, accepted the wind, and stopped caring about speed and that I couldn't get out of the small ring. The third week was a lot more fun to ride.


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## 4Crawler

My normal ride is about 10 miles into a ~15-25 MPH block head wind then 10 miles back with a tail wind, ride is half paved and half dirt. Since the ride is otherwise flat, I consider the wind like climbing a long grade. And I tend to focus on the HR and cadence readings as I ride. Usually have a couple of gear ratios that tend to get used for that outbound ride, some days you can push a higher gear, sometimes not. As far as overall average speed on that ride, there is sort of a sweet spot in terms of wind speed. Too light and the downwind return speed on the dirt is not very fast. Too strong a wind and I find I might blow up on the way out and not have enough left for a fast return. But right in the middle and you can push just hard enough into the wind, then have enough left to push hard on the dirt with the downwind leg. 

I always find here in the SF Bay area, the winds are pretty consistent and it works best for me to try and ride into the wind at the beginning of a ride, if I have the choice. Then, the return is with the wind. But back where I grew up in eastern Washington, the winds were so unpredictable and variable. The rule we used on bike club rides was if there was a wind at the beginning of loop ride, start off with the tail wind because at least you get one leg of the ride with a tail wind. Once time we did not follow that rule and rode into a head wind for an entire 360* loop


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## Creakyknees

music, with good earbuds that also block the wind noise.


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## Schneiderguy

I just finished 65 miles and the wind is blowing 20-30 mph. I big group of Tri guys and girls were doing 112 miles! It is in the 80s and high humidity. I put the ego on the self and let a couple of fast riders go and rode with the group saving my energy that I would need later to get home and not be so beat up I can't do intervals on Tuesday. No whining about the wind


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## Sworker

Riding wind by yourself sure does suck, I live south of San Fran on the water and we 100% consistent wind here and I ride 99% of the time by myself.....mostly blows from North to South, so I sail down the coast and ride back in it. While I know alot of people are against wearing an MP3 player and listening to music, I have some outer-ear sport type headphones, so I can still hear traffic noise and whatnot, but it also shuts up the sound of the wind. After 2-3 hours of the wind sound my head is ringing.


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## locustfist

I'm 6'5" and may front door route is almost straight north/south and the wind around here blows on or the other....mostly south. Depending on the ride length it can be 18 miles dead into the wind. 

nothing more demoralizing than battling 25mph headwind for 40 minutes and getting passed by 4'11" ladies on aero bars on downhills while i'm in the small ring


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## mushroomking

On a windy ride vs. a calm ride my heart rate can be considerably higher even at speeds of 5-10mph lower than normal. It may be disheartening to be moving slower but its like going up a hill without the view.


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## Sworker

I was going into a 30MPH wind today and get passed by a guy on a bike that was 2" off the ground. This wasn't your standard recumbent, I was going 17MPH and near 150 Heart rate and he passed me like i was in reverse...2" off the ground. Locust you live near the beach? I live right off the coast and the wind never stops.


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## Sworker

I always look at this way, the extra work will make me stronger on the next century when I can get into a pack and don't have as much wind to deal with.........that said I would rather climb 12-19% grades than ride into 30mph winds.


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## Chris-X

new2rd said:


> What is your advice/stategy for solo riding into strong headwinds?
> 
> Yesterday I went on a 3 hr ride that started with 25 min of crosswind (good for warming up) and then I turned into a sustained 20 mph headwind, what made matters worse was there was no hiding or breaks for 90 min and there were a lot of false flats of course going uphill.
> So far I've heard that you have to push it going against the wind since there's not enough time to make up the difference going back with the wind. This would work for me for shorter periods, but for a long uphill fight against this beast, I didn't want to "bonk" or cramp up knowing that I had a long way to go. Besides staying low most of the time, is there any advice out there for keeping the pace up? My legs were pissed off at me the entire time and although it was downwind and downhill coming back in, I was spent.
> So, do you just accept that your average is going to suck? I rode this in these crazy conditions because it's the course for my first race. I know one thing for sure, I won't be trying this solo during the race. I'll be looking for a bunch of fast 6'5" riders to block the wind. lol


Knowing your limits is very important.

Don't struggle into headwinds. Similiar to golf, don't try to hit the ball harder. Swing easier and more smoothly. Pedal easier and more smoothly.

Like rip currents, don't panic and struggle. You'll tire very quickly.

Pace yourself and don't "pedal squares."


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## mimason

I embrace rule #5. I love the windy days which are frequent in my area. I hear the moans from the pack and I put the hammer down. I'm the tt guy with sustained power. It is my day to get back at the sprinters and climbers that use me and spit me out on the other rides.


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## Sworker

I agree, you just have to go with the flow. I try to keep heartrate under 150 so I am not killing myself.


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## CheapTrek

I don't know if this flies in the face of conventional wisdom but when I'm riding solo into a strong headwind, I'll alternate between the drops and the hoods. Being in the drops for sustained periods is uncomfortable at first but you get used to it.

I'm 6'1" and I have to tell you, if I go to the tops it feels like someone hung a parachute behind me.


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## mimason

I ride the drops as much as possible and if wind/safety allows rest rists on top of bars if riding out front...as aero as possible


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## cntryislandboy

new2rd said:


> What is your advice/stategy for solo riding into strong headwinds?
> 
> Yesterday I went on a 3 hr ride that started with 25 min of crosswind (good for warming up) and then I turned into a sustained 20 mph headwind, what made matters worse was there was no hiding or breaks for 90 min and there were a lot of false flats of course going uphill.
> So far I've heard that you have to push it going against the wind since there's not enough time to make up the difference going back with the wind. This would work for me for shorter periods, but for a long uphill fight against this beast, I didn't want to "bonk" or cramp up knowing that I had a long way to go. Besides staying low most of the time, is there any advice out there for keeping the pace up? My legs were pissed off at me the entire time and although it was downwind and downhill coming back in, I was spent.
> So, do you just accept that your average is going to suck? I rode this in these crazy conditions because it's the course for my first race. I know one thing for sure, I won't be trying this solo during the race. I'll be looking for a bunch of fast 6'5" riders to block the wind. lol


you couldn't be more right about riding into the wind

if i remember correctly you commented about BikeTown in abilene, if so where do you go riding? i usually ride on the base each afternoon for an hour or so, but am looking to get a little more serious

i've also been on one group ride with biketown before the end of the season last year, but i'll be riding the next monday(23rd) evening(slow/newer guys) group ride at 1800, i think the advanced guys ride on thursday evening, just thought i'd let you know in case you didn't know and would like to go


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## locustfist

Sworker said:


> I was going into a 30MPH wind today and get passed by a guy on a bike that was 2" off the ground. This wasn't your standard recumbent, I was going 17MPH and near 150 Heart rate and he passed me like i was in reverse...2" off the ground. Locust you live near the beach? I live right off the coast and the wind never stops.


Austin Texas...spring and fall are particularly windy


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## Sworker

The drops for sure are critical. I was riding into a 30mph headwind just yesterday and was able to stay in the drops for most of the 10 miles into the wind....until I had a rear pinch flat and had the wrong spare with me (not long enough valve)....I hated calling for the SAG wagon except I got out of another 15 in the wind.

I think SMALL when I ride into the wind, get as compact as possible.


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