In cycling, the wind is always worth a few more words, so we will add some this week.
You might wonder what kind of wind makes for an “easy” day of work for a pro cyclist. Would it be a tailwind, a crosswind, or a headwind? To answer this we have to look at what happens as a race unfolds. There is almost always a group of riders who try to break away from the main group and try to stay away until the finish to take the win. The main group or peloton will often let the small group go, and then wait until the end of the race to chase them down, saving their legs and lungs for a shorter bit of hard work at the end. Because they have more riders to take turns breaking the wind, and are likely fresher, they almost always catch the breakaway (unless there is a climb or two in the last half of the race to slow down the chase).
So, what happens with a tailwind? This is of course the wind most of us love to ride in. It turns out that in a race, a tailwind gives a smaller “breakaway” group an advantage. With less wind to fight, the smaller group can go almost as fast as the peloton. This means that a tailwind on race day excites the riders planning a break, and generates some moaning among the pack of riders who know that they will have to be more attentive, and chase down any “breakaway” group more quickly. A tailwind means a hard day at work for most of the riders!
What about a headwind? This is the one that you will see local riders grinding into with their heads down and teeth clenched. In a race, a headwind often spells doom for a smaller breakaway group of riders as they will exhaust themselves trying to build a lead on the main group. With more riders, the racers in the peloton know they can catch the breakaway quickly, and they can relax, riding at a slower speed and taking frequent turns to stay fresh. So, riding into a headwind makes for an easier day at work for a pro bike racer!
Now about the crosswinds. This is where it gets interesting! A wind striking riders from the side, will lead to the formation of a specialized pace line called an “echelon”. Each rider will be slightly behind and to the leeward side of the rider in front, making a “formation” that looks like half a moving wing on the road. Obviously, recreational riders can’t practice this- it takes up the entire road! As the echelon forms, the width of the road will determine the number of riders who will make it into the line. This is not your standard strung out pace line. Everyone in an echelon is nervous. It is easy to touch wheels, and the riders on the ends are always at risk of ending up in the ditch. Still, the echelon carries a huge advantage for its riders. In the classic races of northern Europe, the wind coming off the North Atlantic is always a factor and will often be a crosswind. Savvy race directors will take advantage of this, telling riders to get to the front just as the route turns into a crosswind. Those who make it into this first group of 10 to 15 riders at the right time can literally form the “winning move”. If a rider misses the leading echelon, his only hope is to find others and quickly form a second one to catch the first. If left out, his chances of figuring in the rest of the race are slim, and the wind wins another one. In the 2007 Tour of Belgium, the two leading echelons (about 30 riders) built such a lead in the first stage, that the rest of the field was essentially out of contention for the rest of the race!
Of course, in the Wenatchee Valley, we have more than our wind to make cycling challenging. We have hills- lots of them! Whenever the road heads upward, the wind becomes less dominant and the climb takes over. This is not a bad thing. In fact, around here, it is one of the best ways to “beat the wind”!More on that later.
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