dooner90

I live in Illinois. The weather just broke for the season and so I decided to get out for the day. I rode my normal 26 mile route up/down the local path hoping to get it done in about 1 1/2 hours. Not a bad target time for me (I'm a new rider, etc.). Besides this, I also anticipated doing decent because I rode over the winter on my trainer, while doing a lot of weight/cardio training on the side. Needless to say I was stoked.

My ride sucked. I hit a decent headwind that would not let me go for the entire ride. I turned into a literal wind sail. My legs were weak as hell and I barely had the strength to move through the course without overexerting myself, even at some of the easier portions. My gearing felt sluggish, and nothing felt comfortable -- either I was peddling too fast and not getting any motion, or I was peddling too slow and wearing my legs down. I was angry, unfocused, and generally disappointed with my ride. Luckily the forest preserve people were burning large patches of shrubbery today (blocking my path), so I was forced to cut my ride short and return home defeated. I feel awful, lads. Cheer me up and tell me I'm not totally doomed.

Mitkraft

Maelochs

Lots of good stuff here.

First, a trainer is not a bicycle. had you not ridden the trainer this day's ride would have been Much worse, but still .... you were exercising but not riding.

Headwind ... yeah, I hit one today too. That really saps you because, It Doesn't Let Up. It is like riding uphill constantly--no breaks, no flat section, just a force sucking half your energy all the time. An hour into a headwind is like three hours without.

Also ... this is why 22-speed is popular. When you hit a headwind, you need to find the right ratio---you have to get rpms and power perfectly balanced with your body's abilities because you are essentially riding uphill the whole way. You can't waste Any energy. I often search through both rings looking for just the right ration---and when I find it, i lose it ion a minute or two because I get tired anyway,.

So ... the lessons are ... exercise is exercise and cycling is cycling---the muscles do a lot of different things when riding a bike (for instance are you constantly unconsciously shifting to keep your trainer from falling over?) The first ride or two might feel weird because it is weird, as in unusual activity. And a headwind is every cyclists' worst enemy (unless you live in goathead territory.) You would need 33 speeds or a CVT or something and even then you would not feel comfortable---you are essentially riding with the brakes on, losing efficiency.

Worst, wind is constant, there is no psychological ebb and flow.

When I see a hill, my brain and body shrink a little, then prepare for the effort; After the first rush of energy passes, i settle into a grind, trying to keep breathing. Then i start to worry whether the pain in my chest is just my lungs or sore muscles or if I am straining my heart. The I look up, see how close the top is and feel better. Then in a while I look again and see how little progress I have made and feel worse. Then I pump myself up psychologically to make it the last little way ... and that burst of energy passes, so I ease up a moment then re-attack. Then I hit the crest and try to recover. The feeling at the top is either relief, satisfaction, triumph, or some mix.

Wind is just an endless screaming in your ear "You suck! You're weak! This is no fun!" The only relief is turning a corner--and the next corner might be several miles down the road.

Twenty-six miles in 90 minutes is a good clip on a good day. Wind makes it twice as hard and three times less fun. Try again in a day or two and you will see that today was an anomaly.

GrainBrain

You were probably better than you thought. The headwind has a way of sapping your mental spirit. It's taken me quite awhile of riding but now I don't really "mentally" notice the headwind. However there was I time I would scream into the wind in frustration

It was a very Zen moment for me when I connected the wind to life itself. It's just there. You gotta embrace it, so spin those legs and put a smile on

GrainBrain

It might help the OP to look into adjusting their gearing for the flat lands here. But I would also say it's important to learn how to spin and not worry about power output.

I run an older eight speed group, and I ended up putting a 50t chain ring on to replace the old 53t. I also found a 13-23 cassette from the UK. I love having the 14t and 16t cogs, but do miss the 26t I had to give up!

Lemond1985

That moment comes when you "stop caring" about the wind and its effect on your average speed. Eventually you can get to the point where you hardly even notice the wind, and you suddenly realize it's a mental battle you're fighting rather than a physical one. BTDT.

JasonD67

Riding into a headwind, no matter your conditioning, can be a very dis-spiriting thing. For many years I always got angry at the wind when riding into it, pissed off that it was slowing me down and making me work more for less. As I matured as a rider (and a person probably), I began to accept and embrace it, just as GrainBrain says. Now, I always look forward to riding on windy days. I find the gear that gives me a comfortable cadence and accept the lower speed, and smile as my bike gets blown around in the gusts. It really is a mental game, and until you embrace the wind you will hate it.

OldTryGuy

Sometimes you're the windshield and sometimes you're the bug.

Hills (climbs) you see coming-prepare-engage-overcome but the wind is an invisible hill with no peak in sight or that relaxing coast down so it's much more intimidating unless as GrainBrain said you find your ZEN. Live in the moment, make the effort, gear down if needed and enjoy the pain.

BonkonFleet

You didn't do anything wrong except set a goal of averaging over 17mph solo for your first ride of the year.

maartendc

Did you have a headwind both ways? Somethings not right here..

Rides4Beer

I swear on some rides it's a headwind the whole time, no matter which direction I'm going!

As mentioned, on windy days, I throw any speed/time goal I had out the window and just enjoy the ride.

AlmostTrick

The solution is you need a new bike.

Seriously, you did well.

This is the only time of year I can keep up with some riders in my group. The reason, I figure, is because they "trained" inside and I rode outside over the winter with the wind and hills.

rumrunn6

something to work for. you remind me when I was running, I'd sometimes have an OK go of it, but sometimes, out of the blue, I wouldn't know whose legs I was on, I felt so strong & so fast. we don't have perspective to appreciate the good days unless we have the bad days & the mediocre days. check your rest, nutrition & nutrition timing. welcome to the forum!

Bah Humbug

This. A trainer is a great tool, but you still need to train all the ancillary muscles that don't get worked on the trainer, and then there are things like keeping a narrow profile into a headwind that doesn't show up on the trainer either. It's still better than nothing (a lot better than nothing) because it does give your legs more power, but you need to ride more to ride better.

There's a big push on the tri side towards indoors-only bike training. One of my friends does that - he crash-DNFed out of his last two races.

Gconan

Even a short, crummy ride is better than no ride at all.

motosonic

^This^

The indoor trainers are a nice tool.. but anyone that's ridden both indoors and out knows it's just not the same. Frankly, I hate indoor trainers.. nothing makes them less painful and boring for me.. but it's a necessity in New England Winters.

That said, if you feel you did poorly on that ride, you're mistaken. Sure, that effort isn't going to score you a pro contract, but there are literally tens of thousands of riders that can't put out that kind of effort on their first ride. Cut yourself some slack.

berner

There are days like that. Not to worry. Congratulations - you are now a cyclist. Instructions for the secret handshake will soon follow.

seau grateau

Some rides suck. Hope for a better one next time.

ThermionicScott 

Welcome to BF and Spring. It never gets easier, you just go faster.

firebird854

This is precisely why I love my powermeter so much, if I'm hitting the watts I want it doesn't matter if it's a wind or not, it really lets me know how much effort I'm putting in. In fact, the wind would just make it a better experience because it would cool me off and I could quantify everything .

Without a tool like that it can be super hard to gauge fitness, downhill or with the wind and you feel like a god, but you can't get a good sense of things without incredible research between your current ride, previous ones, previous forecasts, etc.

Realistically, it sounds like you got outside, the wind made it take longer so you got to enjoy the scenery more, and you're getting back into it!

cyclozone

+1 for powermeter!

But some days, when you have bad legs and your numbers look dismal, at least you know it's just you.

downhillmaster

downhillmaster

Maelochs

Well .. the wind was worse yesterday than the day before ..... and I Beat the wind yesterday. Didn't let it hinder me at all. Didn't even much notice it.

That's how it is on rest days.

chicagogal

I don't know. I use my PM the way @firebird854 suggested. Basically, the most important (top, biggest) number on my computer is the power reading. Speed is a tiny number in the corner that I rarely look at, because it is affected by gradient and wind in a way that the power reading isn't. I go out with a plan to hit certain power numbers. If I face a headwind, or a climb, I can still target those numbers. If wind is really bad, I might glance at speed and, seeing something like 12mph, decide to shorten the route to get home at the planned time. This doesn't mean that I don't have a good sense of perceived effort. In fact, I can usually tell within 15-20W what number I am hitting without looking at the computer. This changes near the end of a hard ride when fatigue makes perceived effort higher than the PM says. I think it is good to push through that fatigue and try to hit the numbers until the end. That is why I have a PM.