Hermes

In the past opening a thread BF / reading posts could be pretty funny. For some reason, when I opened this one and saw sup guys and chatting with a girl, I broke out laughing. Thanks for that.

I expect you were riding on / talking about Canada Road. Since I lived close to Canada Road and the TT course, I rode it a lot. Many times my wife and I would put the bikes in the car and drive to Edgewood and Canada to start the ride to go south and miss the wind. Most off Silicon Valley heading south is not that windy.

My wife and I have a lot of racing experience with light versus heavier riders in time trials since she is 106 pounds and I am 170.

In the real world of NorCal racing on the various TT courses, the wind is not constant but variable and gusty at times. For example, on Canada there is a section after the TT turn around where one is going downhill and is somewhat protected and then hit a cross wind. That wind can blow a light rider out of the bike lane into traffic if it is strong enough.

The first rule of heavy versus light riders i.e. men V women, is that light women have to be very careful in gusty cross winds. And may have to take a pass on racing if the wind is high enough.

Heavy riders carry a lot of momentum and frictional force between the road and the tires. When hit by a gust of wind they are less affected and do not slow down as much. When hit by a gust or variable wind, many riders let up on the power as a reaction to movement of the bike. In a TT, on a TT bike with wind and a deeper section front wheel, it is important to keep the power on and lean into the wind and not lose speed. My wife is excellent at this as long as physics do not take over and blow her sideways.

We show up at road time trials with several sets of racing wheels for the express purpose of selecting different wheels if the wind is a problem. A deep section front wheel is more difficult to control in the wind for both heavy and light riders but the advantage may go to a heavier rider. Although, after a time trial, I would experience a lot of bike movement due to wind and my wife would say it was not a problem.

IMO, the ability to ride fast in the wind is a skill that influences speed as well as W/kg and W/CdA.

Raw power coupled with skill may be an advantage as long at one can keep that raw power going and the position on the bike is not awful. And the momentum increase due to added weight may be an advantage in some wind and terrain conditions. What I have seen in practice is that longer time trials where there is a significant head wind section favor riders with low CdA. Raw power may be fleeting where CdA is constant over time.

For a larger rider with more raw power IMO, it is about horses for courses. On the right length course with wind, weight and power can be an advantage. Think one day Euro classic races won by bigger UCI world tour pro riders.