Friday, August 26, 2022

Ode to the Underappreciated: This F***ing Headwind

What is it with this wind, why do I feel like it's always pushing me back, no matter the direction I take on my ride?  Why are my legs feeling like jelly, it must be this f***ing wind.  These are questions that sometimes come to mind on a ride.

The best, cheapest, and easiest to access indicator of wind speed, although it is completely subjective, is the volume of wind noise in one's ears (for those not hearing impaired). If the volume increases, I am either going faster, or the headwind has increased, or some combination of the two. Of course, the inverse is also true. Comparing the wind noise level with my cadence helps to isolate if it's my speed or the wind that's changing. If I'm pedaling the same gear at the same cadence, and the wind volume increases, then I have isolated that the wind has increased.

Different volume levels in each ear also help me ascertain which direction the wind is coming from relative to my vector, ie the volume in the upwind ear will be higher. This is useful for anticipating the wind conditions ahead if the course direction is changing.

After years of riding, I've developed an intuitive sense that above a certain level of wind noise, I should be in the drops and small to the wind or I'm just throwing away watts needlessly (and I don't have any extra to spare).

And herein lies the underappreciated aspect of this f***ing headwind.  I can, in the moment, crouch down and get as low as possible to reduce its affects, so I at least still have some small measure of control of the situation in the here and now.  A similar dynamic is at work with climbing and trying not to be so heavy, but this is much less immediate, relying as it does on not having that extra scoop of ice cream, or several beers with friends, or that extra helping of jerk chicken weeks in advance.