Wind
Bloody wind
Believe me I can get ruder when it comes to wind.
Wind is not just coming from the Devil’s arse, it is the arse itself.
The past weeks have been full of wind, fully ready to carry out the cyclists curse to the full.
Cyclist’ curse?
The cyclist’s curse is the whichever way you need to commute/ride you will have a head wind.
For instance, when I worked in Croydon I was travelling roughly east so of course I had an east wind. On the way home, it switched to a west wind.
When I cycled to town, it was north-east direction and guess where the majority of the wind came from? Yep, it was a south-westerly wind and yes it would switch for the way home.
And the past week or so? A south wind.
So my legs have been getting that extra work out from a constant headwind - even more viciously up to the Epsom Downs.
With this in mind, you’d think I’d avoid winds for my first training ride of the year.
Well, no.
One of the tricks of training is that if it is windy, you should head into the wind so that on the return you get a nice push as your legs tire.
So with that in mind, I headed westward straight into the horny beast’s expulsions.
I had made provisions though. After the week of head and occasionally side winds there wasn’t a hope in hell that I would take my Carbon bike out. Nope, it would be the commuter. That sturdy, and importantly heavy beast of burden would not get it’s weekend’s rest but would give me a bit more reassurance in the gusts.
Oh boy…
That wind was worse than I expected.
To put it into context, from Hampton Wick through Bushy Park to Chestnut Avenue, with no traffic I should average about 20mph. That was down to 17 mph thanks to the wind,
Over the avenues there was a lot more traffic with families and dog walkers abound. I’m fairly relaxed about this although I do wish they would realise that it is an actual road not a path.
One dog decided to block my path cueing much apologies from his owner but, as I told her, it was a welcome break from the wind.
Anyway tacked my way through to Ashford, Shepperton Studios then over to Laleham where I turned and took the river route to Chertsey,
Through Weybridge, I took the riverside to Walton then down to Hampton Court then home. Did I get the benefit of the wind?
According to Strava, three times. Three times. All that effort and I get three personal bests. All that riding into the wind and only three times did the wind help me out? Once on the Weybridge to Walton stretch and two sections of Hurst Park to Hampton Court.
All that bloody riding into the wind, for that ?
I said, cyclist’s curse.
Training ride 1
Miles: 27.5
Average speed: 15.4mph
Elevation: 243ft
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