My legs don't work..when there's a headwind/sidewind...

TOnight on my ride home I took the river route & had rather horrible headwind/sidewinds. I don't mind riding into a headwind as it'll eventually stop! I just don't want to get blown into the sand on the side of the path!

What i do mind is-folks zooming past me like i'm standing still! :( What exactly am i doing wrong? I've tried pushing harder but that doesn't work.
Ok, all of the folks passing me were gents..Am I trying too hard to be like a male cyclist?

Do i need to do more weights? Lose weight?

Any thoughts are lovely!

You want to try to spin, so put her in the small chainring.

and check to make sure your brakes aren't rubbing. :p

Karen

c2 - Crosswinds are the pits. You have to concentrate on keeping your balance in them. Therefore, you might want to ignore the speed of other cyclists and just focus on your own effort. This is just me, but when I "fight" a wind, it's more difficult. I now take more of a Zen approach to riding in wind---just do my best, go with the flow (more or less), and see it as great strength training and a test of my balance. I also shift to "easier" gears when necessary and focus on cadence, like Red recommended in her post.

The more you ride in the wind, the stronger you'll get.

We had some decent wind this morning when I rode (actually, it's been blowing since yesterday!!). Gusts were up to only 25mph or so, but enough to toss tree debris all over. A test of bike handling skills!!! ;)

Why does it always seem that the gusts pick up when you're heading up a steep hill?

here's a little something that can help, and is to your advantage OVER the big gents.

Crouch down, make yourself as small as possible. this really helps, they've tested it in windtunnels. Sometimes when the wind is ferocious, I spend a lot more time down in my drops, that's the word?

Funny you should mention that. This morning I rode to work in steady 15-ish mph headwinds with occasional bigger gusts. It was awful, and at times actually scary. Even though I was in the drops almost the whole way, I still felt totally buffeted by the wind, like my body was some kind of huge sail to slow me down. Ugh. I felt like the faster I went (on downhills, for example), the scarier and less steady I was. Is there some way to safely keep your balance in wind like this?

Fortunately I never see any other commuters going my way, so I didn't have anybody to compare myself to. :p But it did take an extra 5 minutes, bringing my commute up to an even hour, and that means I averaged exactly 13.25 mph. I can't imagine living in a place where it's windy like that all the time. Then again, I just kept telling myself "Think of it as a hill workout," and that helped some.

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Originally Posted by mimitabby

here's a little something that can help, and is to your advantage OVER the big gents.

Crouch down, make yourself as small as possible. this really helps, they've tested it in windtunnels. Sometimes when the wind is ferocious, I spend a lot more time down in my drops, that's the word?

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What she said. Be small, and pedal steady. Windgusts suck!

How do you compare against the "gents" when you're not having head winds or side winds? Is this just an over all speed issue or do you think they know something about riding in the wind that you don't know?! If it's the second, then you probably just got the best advice. When coming down a hill on a SUPER windy day recently, I told my friend the same thing. First I said, "Brace yourself for bursts of wind." I barely got the words out when one came and she said, "Like THAT?!". ;) One could easily be knocked over if not prepared. Then I told her to crouch down to get the wind moving around her instead of the wind moving HER.

If it's simply a matter of speed, then of course there are tons of posts and information to be found on that subject. It does suck, though, to feel so dang slow with all that wind. I can feel like you're a fish swimming upstream and barely getting anywhere.

I also like the "zen" approach of just bearing down and riding it out. This is my approach to long hills. I used to get so mentally frustrated, which made it worse physically. Now I just deal with it and take it one pedal stroke at a time.

I try to make sure not to have deep dish wheels on my bike if I know it's windy.

Mostly, I just crouch a bit and deal with it. But it's also a good time to work on form if you know there's something in your stroke that you need to practice or work on - gives you something to concentrate on and think about, which can distract you from it sucking that there's crosswinds.

It could be the bike not you. My carbon Ruby is as flighty as they come in a cross wind. I've had it almost blown out from under me more than once. :eek: One the other hand, my LHT and I can lumber along with hardly a waiver. I've yet to figure out why. The Ruby doesn't have much to catch the wind while the LHT is loaded down with a front painier, 50mm fenders and Hokey Spokes in the wheels. :confused:

And while this doesn't address your leg question, I just seem to ride slower cause I'm working so hard on my balance. :o bikerHen

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Originally Posted by crazycanuck

Do i need to do more weights? Lose weight?

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Nope that'll get you blown over :D joking... oh well, yes lighter and more powerful makes you faster, alright, but really in the wind sometimes it is a risk (I've been blown over...)
So really losing weight is not the best recipe to deal with the wind ;)
What helps the most is making yourself and your bicycle more aerodynamic, and avoid mashing too much (mashers usually have a harder time with a headwind). Find a balance, a point where you can maintain a high cadence but still be on a good ratio so you can maintain a straight line and avoid wasting energy. Try to avoid the granny gear, it will make you advance too little with each pedal stroke, and make you unstable in a strong wind (i.e. you waste energy and it's dangerous!).
Aero bars may help - although you can ride or rest on the bar tops and obtain a similar effect. If you decide to add aerobars and you haven't used them before, I would recommend that you get very familiar with them on trainers or rollers, and on easy non-trafficky roads away from the windy days. Make sure you can safely ride with aerobars before attempting to go out against a strong headwind or sidewind - it can be dangerous for you, and even for others. This is why generally I tend not to suggest TT bikes or TT bars to people that don't do TT's much...
Anyway, yes, aerodynamics is the keyword. Try to remember this too: according to wind tunnel tests, how narrow you can make your profile actually affects your speed more than how low you can manage to get. In other words, if you keep your elbows in and try to assume a more 'elongated' position, that will help you gain speed, even more than getting very low on the bars.
Check your fitting - especially the size of the handlebars. Sometimes too wide handlebars force you to open up your chest, and that reduces your aerodynamicity. Tucking your chin in (like if you were a little turtle trying to hide the head between the shoulders), and keeping your chest narrow by keeping the elbows in, will help you 'cut' into the wind, so to speak. You can directly tell your fitter that you are having some troubles with headwinds, and he/she will help you reach an optimal aero position.
Another issue to be taken into consideration is your path while you are riding. Of course if you are in the middle of the city in the traffic there's not much of a choice. But when you ride for pleasure or fitness/training, then you can work on your strategy as well. You can select your path to avoid the strongest winds especially when you are going through curves or corners. It will save your strength, increase your speed, and be safer.
Good luck!
:)

-- I agree with all of the "hunker down" advice
--Also, I agree with TXdoc not to go TOO light in the gears
--I also find myself tending to ride more "on the rivet" in the wind -- I sit much more forward on my seat. I have no theoretical reason to offer why this should help, but it seems to help for me.

Staying relaxed helps. Though you need to be more focused in the wind too, and that in itself is tiring...

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Originally Posted by liza

--I also find myself tending to ride more "on the rivet" in the wind -- I sit much more forward on my seat. I have no theoretical reason to offer why this should help, but it seems to help for me.

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There is actually a very mechanical reason... moving forward in the saddle promote rotation of your pelvis, makes you contract the core and as a result your body is more aerodynamic :)

Even at that us small people are always at a disadvantage in the wind. No matter how aerodynamic we make ourselves, frontal area doesn't go down in proportion to height or weight.... So smaller people, who put out less power (we generally need less, as we are moving less weight), still have to push through nearly the same amount of wind resistance as larger, more powerful people. It's the same reason you generally do not see the little climbers winning TT's at The Tour.

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Originally Posted by bikerHen

It could be the bike not you. My carbon Ruby is as flighty as they come in a cross wind. I've had it almost blown out from under me more than once. :eek: One the other hand, my LHT and I can lumber along with hardly a waiver. I've yet to figure out why. The Ruby doesn't have much to catch the wind while the LHT is loaded down with a front painier, 50mm fenders and Hokey Spokes in the wheels. :confused:

And while this doesn't address your leg question, I just seem to ride slower cause I'm working so hard on my balance. :o bikerHen

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It's because your Ruby is lighter.

Red-I was spinning as much as I could but it was really really hard to!! The wind was just straight at me for about 20km...(It's known at the Freo Dr..a strong wind that cools perth down in our summers)

I also have to mention that I had a hard time seeing because the wind was directly at my face, sand was blowing at me...I guess I was focusing on just keeping my bike straight & upright :o

I was in my lowest gear :o ..& i normally can spin but when it comes to any sort of wind, I just can't fine any power...Along the river it's sometimes impossible to go forward when the dr is in but i want to go home the long way.

No idea what the other guys were doing but they made it look rather easy.

Tanks for all the info. Next week when i head along the river again & there's a headwind, i'll apply some of the techniques you guys have suggested.

Hey CC
Dont be too hard on yourself
You had some significant injuries to recover from - that takes time and can have surprisingly long impacts, even when we think we are well over it all.

It seems to me the last time you posted about serious winds (maybe about 2years ago now?) you must have been on the same route... you sounded so full of energy and lust for riding that that was when I decided we HAVE to ride together sometime...

Dont lose that in your focus to be faster in the head winds.

Hunkering down and geeting in your drops and in a low gear is what I would suggest too.

And remember that the wind is a bugger for everyone else too... maybe they are just burning their legs to get past you and impress you and as soon as out of sight they are wishing they hadn't :p

RR, it's the same path :D & I still enjoy riding into the headwinds on it. ( I don't like all the new blind corners though..geez someone in the planning department just doesn't get it & people still don't slow down!!!)

It's hard to remember that everyone else is having difficulty as well!!

One day we might actually get to meet & ride together :)