Having decided not to go out last weekend due to the cold and frosty conditions I was keen to get out this weekend. I didn't want to end up cycling inside again. The forecast all week wasn't the best. Not so much the temperature but the wind was to be up and that always makes for tricky cycling. As it was both days were ok but the wind did have its say.
The wind creates invisible hills. Roads where I would normally either get some speed up or be able to take it easy become harder and I find myself in gears I normally climb hills with. Uphill into the wind becomes even more of an effort. I find that acceptance is the biggest weapon in my armoury. I try to keep my cadence up andjust adjust the gearing accordingly. Of course if the granny gear is already in use it just becomes hard work. Not being the thinnest of cyclists I also find that any reduction in the surface area presented to the wind also helps. I'm not a fan of long spells on the drops but it definitely eases the pressure on the legs when cycling into the wind.
Generally I'm doing circular routes for my training runs so I can usually look forward to some downwind cycling as well. It is as lovely as cyling into the wind is hard. Even the uphill sections become easier. And here's where my extra width helps. I can sit up a little and present a lovely sail for the wind to push along. As you can see below I had two excellent downwind sessions this weekend.
Saturday
It was to be very windy on Saturday morning and that was when I needed to go out. I decided to keep it short and sweet, riding a verion of my standard shorter routes. I decided to include two hills, one being the one from Dura Den to Strathkinness. I hadn't climbed it for a while and wanted to see if I found it any easier after my hills training (on road and stationary). The way out to Cupar was pretty much into the wind and proved to be very testing. It took a good 8 minutes more than my quickest time. Hard work indeed. The climb up to Craigrothie wasn't so bad and then I had a great downwind route home to look forward to. And it was great too, and soon I was at the bottom of my test piece. Starting up I felt great and I was looking forward to my best time when I met a flock of sheep that were being moved from one field to another. As they were right across the road I felt I had to stop and wait. A shame but that's life. After they had gone I sailed up the hill and home. One lesson to take from it is that stopping on a hill helps. Starting again I felt refreshed and raring to go.
All in all a nice short run.
Sunday
I had no particular plans for my Sunday ride but again the forecast was for wind and an inauspicious start saw me doing a u-turn to go to my gym to use the toilets. Maybe I should have taken that as a sign and gone home. But that would have been defeatist. I also learned that I have a degree of toe overlap that makes turning the bike at low speeds inadvisable. I didn't come off but it was close!
Starting out again I decided to ride out to Cupar and then take a new route over to Newburgh. The wind was from a slightly different direction from the day before that made the hil down to Cupar feel really hard. Pedalling downhill and feeling like it is maybe slightly uphill is not what I had in mind. Over the hill to Rathillet was also affected by the wind and a lack of energy in my legs so I was delighted to reach the lovely smooth tarmac of the A92, a main road through Fife. The wind wasn't hurting on this section and it was lovely.
Not so lovely was the cycle after turning off the A92 and heading to Newburgh. It was mostly into the wind and the downhill sections were again harder than I like. I got there eventually and availed myself of the garage shop for a sports drink and a flapjack. I still had some drink in my bottles and some food in my pockets but I wanted to be well stocked if I decided to go for longer than I was now considering.
As I ate and drank my goodies I decided to take advantage of the wind that was basically pointing staight home to make a run for it. The first 30 miles had taken me over 2 hours, the next 20 took just over an hour. Now there is the matter of some extra climbing, but the way home is the longest sustained speed I have ever maintained. I had a lot of fun, staying on the bigger roads for flatter and better tarmac. When I got home I was done in though. I don't think my quads enjoyed it at all!
