Minnesota Wind Machine

Welcome to Minneapolis, where the wind comes sweeping from the plains... Both ways. Every morning on the ride in to work there is a stiff wind in my face, causing me to exert more effort and break a good sweat before work. And
of course the commute home gives the joy of another stiff head wind in the opposite direction.

Head wind is a good tool for a workout ride. It's like adding weight to the machine or free weight bar at the gym. I'm only assuming that's what you do, having never seen the inside one of those places. Nonetheless, you would think that a guy needing to lose 15 more pounds would welcome the wind as a strength-building tool. You would think. If I analyze this properly, in a stiff head wind I get the opportunity to shift to an easier gear and keep my pedal cadence up and have the benefit of more resistance with a high cadence. That is the ideal situation for guy looking for fitness on the bike. I could even do intervals with high cadence steady-states mixed with low cadence false climbs. The wind provides an excellent simulated hill. It sounds like I'm all in favor of the Minneapolis wind tunnel. I'm not. I hate the wind. The stiff head winds remind me of how out of shape I really am. How it slows me down to what feels like a crawl, while my thin and fit tormentors ride past me, slicing through the 25 mph truth machine like the Easter bunny taking a lie detector test. "Are you the Easter bunny?" "Yes." "Do you deliver baskets of chocolates and delicious peeps to Christian kids?" "Yes." "Thanks for coming in." See, it's exactly the same reason why people hate going to the gym (in March well after the New Years resolutions wear off): you hate having to take all the weight off the device, even if the fit guys are not judging you. It's demoralizing by reminding me of how frail I really am. There is a laundry list of deficiencies and conditions that keep me from attacking the wind and using its energy to build strength and stamina. Riding in the ubiquitous head winds of spring only reminds me that over the winter I lost muscle mass. I gained 10 lbs. I get winded too easily. My physical deficiencies have exacerbated. I need to take a lesson from the cute and fuzzy Easter bunnies out passing me and looking resplendent in their spandex kits. I should maintain a fitness regime over the winter, in anticipation of spring.