Tail winds - do thay exist?

medoramas

Have you ever experienced a tail wind? After all my time spent on cycling I have started to consider them a some sort of myth... The true is that the wind always changes its direction to blow straight on your face or sometimes tries to knock you off from the side...

iwearshorts

yes, yes they do.

Libraio

Nope, only power awsome exists... Bloody strong headwind on the way home though.

suzyb

Yes but they help you along where you don't need help, specifically down hills.

Slapster_UK

Agree with you - headwinds are a myth. The wind is always in your face, no matter what!!

rolf_f

They do exist but you don't notice them most of the time.

If you are cycling into still air at 15mph, it feels like a 15mph headwind. If you are cycling at 15mph into a 10mph headwind, it feels like a 25mph headwind.

On the other hand, if you have a 10mph tailwind, it still feels like a 5mph headwind.

So, not only do you need much stronger tailwinds before you notice them compared to headwinds, they also need to be more directly behind you (since half the speed of the tailwind will be lost if it is at 45 degrees to your back).

The above is a simplification but it does indicate why if there is any wind about, it almost always feels like a headwind. Of course sometimes you get a real headwind - like tonight - after a couple of beers. And it took me 50 minutes to do 9.5 miles when I've done the same (mostly uphill) route in barely more than 30.

Off to have a glass of Cameron Brig. I deserve it.....

Gallywomack

You know those days when you feel great and can easily spin up to a 25mph cruising speed and hold it without breaking sweat? You know, good days, when all the pieces have fallen into place, man and machine are in perfect harmony, your body feels lithe and supple and capable of anything? Days which confirm your belief in your own gargantuan talent?

Tailwinds.

rick_chasey

I remember the day when I was cruising at 45kph, i mean really cruising. Barely making a sweat.

Suffice to say the route back was paaaainful.

EKE_38BPM

Gallywomack wrote:

You know those days when you feel great and can easily spin up to a 25mph cruising speed and hold it without breaking sweat? You know, good days, when all the pieces have fallen into place, man and machine are in perfect harmony, your body feels lithe and supple and capable of anything? Days which confirm your belief in your own gargantuan talent?

Tailwinds.

Thats cold, man. COLD!

Kieran_Burns

I guess when you're bowling along at >25mph on the flat when fully laden with NO effort and you realise you're being overtaken by road debris (leaves, twigs, branches, the odd tree, small children) that you do in fact have a tailwind.

This happened to me on the way home one night - generally I live with the fact that I have a headwind home every night; but this night the grass was laying down flat and small objects were overtaking me. I was matching the traffic for long stretches in every 30 limit and got home completely unwinded.

God - I miss that kind of ride....

flimflam_machine

Gallywomack wrote:

You know those days when you feel great and can easily spin up to a 25mph cruising speed and hold it without breaking sweat? You know, good days, when all the pieces have fallen into place, man and machine are in perfect harmony, your body feels lithe and supple and capable of anything? Days which confirm your belief in your own gargantuan talent?

Tailwinds.

Bwaaaahaaaahaaahaaaa!

I suspect recent weather in Scotland could have provided some tailwinds that couldn't have been mistaken for anything else.

il_principe

Oh they do. There's a road in Kent that runs from Rye to Lydd along the coast. It's completely flat and I've hit 40mph along there without really hurting. Mind you, coming back can really, really suck.

mudcow007

they deffo exist, i was doing 30+ mph on Wednesday night along the River Mersey - my lard arse normally only pushes to about 20Mph ish an im generally a sweaty mess too

rick_chasey

Il Principe wrote:

Oh they do. There's a road in Kent that runs from Rye to Lydd along the coast. It's completely flat and I've hit 40mph along there without really hurting. Mind you, coming back can really, really suck.

64kph?

*smells fishy*

London_Falcon

Rick Chasey wrote:

Il Principe wrote:

Oh they do. There's a road in Kent that runs from Rye to Lydd along the coast. It's completely flat and I've hit 40mph along there without really hurting. Mind you, coming back can really, really suck.

64kph?

*smells fishy*

Well, he did say it was a coast road :-)

petemadoc

Gallywomack wrote:

You know those days when you feel great and can easily spin up to a 25mph cruising speed and hold it without breaking sweat? You know, good days, when all the pieces have fallen into place, man and machine are in perfect harmony, your body feels lithe and supple and capable of anything? Days which confirm your belief in your own gargantuan talent?

Tailwinds.

So true

mrc1

They certainly do in Kansas!

During RAAM we did a five hour stint that had such a strong tail wind that we both changed from TT bikes to regular bikes as the wind on our backs in the more upright position was more beneficial than the forward moving aero advantage of the TT bike. We covered a RAAM, Garmin and follow van tacho verified 158miles in five hours - i'd love to credit our legs with that speed but the wind made a big difference. It was awesome (except for when the dual trailer cattle lorries overtook or passed us as they created totally unpredictable squalls that threw you several metres off your line).

The trade off is that a few days before that I was pushing out close to 300 watts (pretty much my 20 min limit at the time (distant memory now..)) in order to do 9-10mph on pan flat terrain due to a headwind.

dhope

Because NSB isn't here yet with the memes

MRLEON83

Hell yeah, ... awesome tailwinds all week to work.. super fast super easy... nice ... not so nice on the way home though, my legs were on fire !

EKE_38BPM

dhope wrote:

Because NSB isn't here yet with the memes

Squinty eyes to minimise airbourne debris flying into them says Power Awesome (TM) to me.

veronese68

Tailwinds only happen to other people. When I'm in the drops, head down, struggling to reach double figures. Then some barsteward flashes past in the opposite direction, sat bolt upright, not pedalling and you hear a sonic boom as he passes.

exlaser

not when i am riding to and from work!

gosport_commuter

Veronese68 wrote:

Tailwinds only happen to other people. When I'm in the drops, head down, struggling to reach double figures. Then some barsteward flashes past in the opposite direction, sat bolt upright, not pedalling and you hear a sonic boom as he passes.

LOL! that pretty much sums up my normal commute experience!

phy2sll2

I think this is a bit like the "I always seem to be going up the hills" argument. You're slower in a headwind / going up a hill, therefore you spend more time doing it, therefore when you look back at your ride, that's the bit you remember.

essex-commuter

Nodding Fred's on BSO's get headwinds. We ride to fast to experience them.

JamesFree

They exist !! Had a lovely one this morning 21 mph average including god knows how many traffic lights and general traffic!

veronese68

The reality is that headwinds or crosswinds naturally will make up 75% of the winds, so the mythical tailwind will be 25% at best. Add to this the fact that you are travelling with said tailwind, eliminating the ones weaker than your own power awesome, and you are left with a very elusive beast.

roger_merriman

Veronese68 wrote:

The reality is that headwinds or crosswinds naturally will make up 75% of the winds, so the mythical tailwind will be 25% at best. Add to this the fact that you are travelling with said tailwind, eliminating the ones weaker than your own power awesome, and you are left with a very elusive beast.

indeed last i can think of was in the summer riding home though the park with my wife, and realising we where pottering at about 20mph.... very nice as it's normally the other way around with whinging and grumbling from my better half.