# Anybody else dread the wind?



## Bigtallfatbloke (17 Jul 2007)

I'm sitting here loking out the window. The sun is shining...just...through the dark clouds....and the wind is blowing strongly. Hmmm.....should I ride or chicken out? I hate the wind, it seems to chnage direction deliberatly so that on a looped route it is always against me.

....I suppose I should just get out there and deal with it...but....


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## bonj2 (17 Jul 2007)

I hate the wind aswell.


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## Yorkshireman (17 Jul 2007)

I'm not exactly in love with it  . I only remember the odd windy day (or two) from when I lived in Yorkshire (or any where else for that matter) but after 12 years living in Lincolnshire I celebrate wind-free days, and why ... ? See my sig  .


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## Whippet (17 Jul 2007)

Was planning to go out this morning..still sat here in my kit.

The sun's out but it's also p1155ing down and blowing a gale, I think we're paying for the two good days of the TDF. I hate wind and I doubly hate wind & rain. But when the sun's out too I think that's just taking the p155. Why not throw in some snow for good measure. Weather, some consistency please.


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## col (17 Jul 2007)

Im just sorting my long unused bike from the shed now,its pretty good weatherwise at the mo,bet when i get ready i bet it will start blowing a gale


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## andy_wrx (17 Jul 2007)

My wifey hates it when we're out on the tandem...


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## Keith Oates (17 Jul 2007)

If I can work so that I go out into the and then be with it on the way home then it's not so bad. But a head wind at the end of a hard day at work is not pleasant!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


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## Tynan (17 Jul 2007)

lately I get headwind in and tailwind home which is acceptable if wind there must be

it's the one thing I'd get rid of though, rain and hills I can live with

roll on winter


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## Bigtallfatbloke (17 Jul 2007)

...well I grabbed myself by the short and curlies and said...git orf your arse Bigtallfatbloke and stop this feeble winging...I dragged myself out the the garage...took on elast look at the sky and set orf. I decided to leave the waterproof jacket at home, I also rode in only a vest and some skimpy shorts (I know how the ladies of brentwood love that and I really didnt want to let them down)...the wind was a pig...from the west gusting from the north as well.....I told myself...fight this and you will be rewarded in heaven and on the return leg....how wrong can a fatbloke be....the wind Gods saw to it that the return leg delivered winds from the East and the south...as well as a few small showers. But it was very warm at least and the heavy rain didn't arrived until I had done my 38km and shut the garage door behind me again....Ha...foiled the rain God...that'll learn him to mess with Bigtallfatbloke!


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## col (17 Jul 2007)

Thundering and raining now,would you believe it


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## Bigtallfatbloke (17 Jul 2007)

yep...it's July


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## andy_wrx (17 Jul 2007)

Bigtallfatbloke said:


> ...the ladies of brentwood...



Something not quite rings true...


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## laurence (17 Jul 2007)

having sustained cracked ribs in a wind related accident... and also been blown over sideways (still clipped in and holding the bars), i'm none too happy with anything over a slight breeze. being quite light doesn't help either.

where summer b?

L


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## Lenny (17 Jul 2007)

There's an 11 (22 altogether, 11 each way) mile cycle that is quite a nice spin to take along the coast when time short along the coast here in my part of Ireland. Trouble is that we have almost constant south westerlies blowing in from the Atlantic here, which means I'm always fighting against it on the outward leg. 45 minutes out and 20 minutes back is not uncommon.


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## Brock (17 Jul 2007)

After a year of cycle commuting I think I've finally stopped fretting about the wind, it's just part of cycling, sometimes helpful, sometimes not. I actually get home fresher if I've had a stiff headwind because I don't bother trying to fight it, rather just drop a few gears and spin along slow and relaxed. Whereas any slight hint of a tailwind and I'm honking along hell for leather, sweating and gasping because I can't bare not to take advantage of it.


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## Andy in Sig (17 Jul 2007)

Simple solution to dealing with the wind: if it is blowing in the way you're going, ride out or get a train back or vice versa if it is blowing towards your start point. I had a very pleasant 100 km in this way a couple of weekends ago.


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## gbb (17 Jul 2007)

Pretty much the same as brock...drop a coupe of gears and take it steady.
I used to hate it with a vengeance, until i realised you cant beat it, so just find a pace you can live with. From that point on, it doesnt seem so bad.


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## Bigtallfatbloke (17 Jul 2007)

sounds easy..just drop a couple of gears and take it easy....today I was pedalling like hell down a hill just to keep moving...had i freewheeled I would have been stopped by the wind. I didnt have anyone to pick me up...and as the wind was westerly I would Have run out of land and ended up in the north sea anyway


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## Big Bren (17 Jul 2007)

It's demoralising, but until I pluck up the courage to ship the whole clan to sunnier climes, I've learned to live with it; there are even times when I've found myself quite enjoying battling a headwind.

What I have discovered though, inspired by this shite summer and one of the last active threads on the C+ forum, is the genuine joy of cycling in the rain - it's great fun!

Bren


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## HJ (17 Jul 2007)

It character building and good resistance training, on my commute it is generally with my in the morning and against me on the way home. It is just one of those things.


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## Mr Phoebus (18 Jul 2007)

Hairy Jock said:


> It character building and good resistance training,



Yep! It's a great aid for getting fitter.


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## Yorkshireman (18 Jul 2007)

Mr Phoebus][quote name= said:


> Yep! It's a great aid for getting fitter.
> :?:



At my age I reckon I've got as much 'character' as I'm likely to need, and as far as fitness ... I'm holding my own (just about) without any extras  .


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## Mortiroloboy (18 Jul 2007)

I have just come back from a 23 miler down the A4 into a fairly strong head wind  , cut across at Hungerford towards Littlecote, then back along the A4, this time with slightly less of a headwind  (why couldn't it have just kept blowing in the same direction damn it?!)
I feel fitter already :?:


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## Morrisette (18 Jul 2007)

Aaargh wind!! The wind blowing rain sideways into your eyes! (What Mr Morrisette calls the Welsh rain special) Tell me how, as I cycle round 3 sides of a square, the wind is against me all the way???!!


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## Yorkshireman (18 Jul 2007)

Morrisette said:


> Aaargh wind!! The wind blowing rain sideways into your eyes! (What Mr Morrisette calls the Welsh rain special) Tell me how, as I cycle round 3 sides of a square, the wind is against me all the way???!!



Well, it's calm here so you must have ours  .


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## on the road (18 Jul 2007)

I thought I was a wimp for hating the rain. At least you don't get wet in the wind, unless it's raining as well


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## Blue (18 Jul 2007)

Lenny said:


> There's an 11 (22 altogether, 11 each way) mile cycle that is quite a nice spin to take along the coast when time short along the coast here in my part of Ireland. .



I can empathise. I live on a different part of the Irish coast and have similar problems - there must be only about 2 days a year when there isn't a wind. 
Over the last couple of years I have mostly taken to riding inland along narrow, twisting, undulating country lanes. The road surface is worse than the coastal road but the wind isn't constantly in the face for 10-15 miles at a time. However, on a calm day the coastal road is hard to beat :?:


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## Blue (18 Jul 2007)

Andy in Sig said:


> Simple solution to dealing with the wind: if it is blowing in the way you're going, ride out or get a train back or vice versa if it is blowing towards your start point. I had a very pleasant 100 km in this way a couple of weekends ago.



I've thought of doing that, but does it not feel a bit like cheating


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## Oldlegs (18 Jul 2007)

I'm quite relaxed about wind as long as the ride back is not directly into it. Hate the thought of turning round knowing its going to get harder all the way home.


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## snorri (18 Jul 2007)

Blue said:


> I've thought of doing that, but does it not feel a bit like cheating



Good man (or woman  )Blue. 
We need your sort, people of good character with a strong sense of right and wrong. :?:


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## postman (18 Jul 2007)

*wind*

Hate it going into it.Love it when it pushes coming back.Just like Saturday,Pately Bridge to Scarhouse and Angram resoviours.Up hill into wind.Return 15 miles in 45 mins not bad on a Galaxy.


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## Andy in Sig (18 Jul 2007)

Blue][quote name= said:


> Well I've never seen the point in suffering for one's art so I suppose the short answer is no. Actually you work just as hard with the wind behind you. When I did that 100 km trip I probably went about 5 kph faster than usual so I belted along and was just as knackered at the other end. The difference was I was happy and knackered instead of grumpy and knackered.


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## Fnaar (19 Jul 2007)

laurence said:


> having sustained cracked ribs in a wind related accident...


Chicken Jalfrezi by any chance? :?:


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## Blue (19 Jul 2007)

snorri said:


> Blue said:
> 
> 
> > Good man (or woman  )Blue.
> ...


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## Blue (19 Jul 2007)

Andy in Sig][quote name= said:


> Andy in Sig' said:
> 
> 
> > Simple solution to dealing with the wind: if it is blowing in the way you're going' date=' ride out or get a train back or vice versa if it is blowing towards your start point. I had a very pleasant 100 km in this way a couple of weekends ago.[/quote']
> ...



I see your point as I like to beast myself when I have the wind at my back. However, I think it feels great when you have had to work into the wind before getting the pleasure of the high speed trip home. :?:


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