Headwinds & Tailwinds

Or road biking as an analogy for life.

26 May 2023__Updated 11 June 25

Riding in headwinds is definitely less joyous and raucous then riding in tailwinds.

And of course, bike riding and life will have a mix of both.

And if that was not enough contrast between them, then add uphill and downhill to the mix. Now you have 4 possibilities, the two extremes being headwind and uphill versus tailwind and downhill.

All to say there are conditions outside your control that are part of the terrain and path you need to go in life.  Your effort need adjust and attitude is everything, it does no good to rail against the wind in your face and the hill you have to climb.  It wastes effort and takes away from focus, better to embrace it and go deeper and find the energy and commitment to ride through it at your best possible tempo.

And then of course there are the tailwinds and downhill – whoo hoo now you are flying along with little to no effort.  There is even time to look around and take in the whole around you – not glued to the path.  It is joyous and exhilarating and the headwinds and uphills are forgotten, such is life.

Last, we have the two other conditions a headwind with a downhill and a tailwind with an uphill.  For me these are ambiguities of sorts, you are downhill but with a headwind and have a tailwind with an uphill.  It’s like damn…a kind of cancelling effect takes place.  Both are frustrating, and I would have to say I prefer the tailwind with an uphill – you have momentum and are being aided up the hill by the wind at your back.

Can you see this in your life, can you sense when you have headwinds and tailwinds, do you know if you are going uphill or downhill?  

Seems to me the Zen of this is being present to all of it and embracing what is around you, taking on the challenges of the uphill and headwinds side, and enjoying and taking stock on the downhill and tailwind sides.

What can be debilitating is fretting over headwinds and uphill’s and fighting the circumstances. Damning the fates that would bring you such hard times.  Instead of recognizing this too shall pass and one just needs to put their heads down, relax the shoulders and drive through with the legs, all the while keeping as high a tempo as you can.  Willing yourself to 2nd and 3rd efforts fully allowing the challenge to transcend to pleasure in taking it on and triumph in its conquest (yell “Helheim”).  Human spirit and resolve over adversity and resistance!

HELHEIMER (the battle cry of JRR Tolkien and his fellow Oxford classmates, in their club, called the Tea Club, Barrovian Society (TCBS).  

Additional note, about how negative anticipation plays out for the uphill with headwinds condition:  The fretting leads to revving your engines with anxiety before you get to the hill.  I can see my heart rate on my head unit as well as my cadence and power when I am biking.   And I know I get my best effort when I am calm and focused.  Better to let your body respond to the upcoming uphill in the moments of the actual uphill, and not before the uphill arrives.  The negative anticipation, that is anxiety, just goes to up your heart rate and needlessly expends energy.  When I sense this I intentionally relax and focus on my breathing – getting it more even and under control and my heart rate and focus follow at more optimum levels.  And for me personally I try to relax my shoulders and not over grip and tense up my neck and shoulders.  Try and take the tension into your legs for the down and around (peddling).  Translate the power within you to the point of attack, more power, more watts into the peddles.  More ease and flow in life.