RIDE INTO A HEADWIND Riding into the wind is nobody’s idea of fun, but there are things you can do to limit the pain. Canyon-SRAM’s offers a few pointers on coping with headwinds
Tiffany Cromwell
EMBRACE IT
You probably know the feeling: you head out on a bike ride and it all feels far too good to be true. It then dawns on you that you’re being pushed along by a roaring tailwind, which of course can only mean one thing – a horrible headwind is waiting for you on your return journey. You could, of course, decide to cut your losses and head home then and there, but that won’t make you a stronger cyclist and it won’t prepare you for when backing out isn’t an option. Instead, you need to learn how to embrace the wind.
BUILD POWER
As a cyclist, you might as well accept the fact that unless you have someone else’s wheel to sit on, there’s no hiding when it comes to a headwind. As a smaller rider, I’ve learnt to do this over the years and I’ve slowly but surely improved when it comes to riding in the wind. Building power is a big thing, but it’s a different kind of power to climbing. With climbing, powerto-weight is what matters, whereas riding into a headwind is all about pure power, particularly if you’re battling a headwind on a flat road.
RESISTANCE DRILLS
Learn to ride bigger gears. You want to build the strength in your legs to push bigger gears on the flat without compromising your cadence too much – it’s all about efficiency. On days with no headwind, look to ride in a bigger gear for 10 to 15 minutes per every hour of riding, instead of riding along with almost no resistance in a smaller gear. This will help you progressively build the power in your legs so that when you do come across that headwind, you’ll be able to push through it a lot more easily.
GET AERO
It’s an obvious one, but the more aero your position on the bike, the faster you’ll cut through the wind and the easier it will be to ride into a headwind. Simple steps you can take to make yourself more aero include getting lower at the front end, riding on the drops and tucking your head between your shoulders. If you don’t enjoy riding on the drops then stay on your hoods but bend your arms at a 90-degree angle – this will get you lower and help you to cut through the air and offer less resistance to that headwind.