Wind and Hills

When we lived in WA,  I bicycled to work every day.  At the end it was 10-15 miles one way and there were very hilly roads.  I didn't notice as much as now.

The wind is very important to bikers.  If the wind is with you; you don't notice it very much, but if it is against you it is very noticeable.  Yesterday, the wind was 20-30 mph from the North.  This meant I would have to bike against it on the way home from the Y.  Since I thought that I would do my regular swim (52 - 50 yd. laps) I thought I would take the car and get some gas for the lawnmower (the grass wasn't quite to the roof of the house but getting close).  When I got to the Y, they told me the pool was closed until further notice (some pipe problem).  I then wished I would have biked since I only did the weight machines (I hadn't done them in over 8 months & lost some of  the weight levels I had built up) and some treadmill (4 mph at 15% incline) and wouldn't have been as tired (but I did cut the grass for a lot of extra exercise [I keep wishing the lawnmower would run out of gas towards the end, but it kept going and going and going]).

I prefer the wind to be from the East and South in the Spring/Summer/Fall since the places we go tend to be South & East (and of course North & West on the return trip).  Also the longest hill is the last one going West.  Plus I am less tired or more fresh at the beginning of our trips.

Our house area is higher then most of the places we go, so we usually get the longest/steepest hill on the way back.  This means we get the potential energy at the beginning of our trips and vice versa we build up the P.E. on the return trip.  (Note to self: if possible when you move look for the reverse, but not in a flood plain.)