Frenemies abound in the cycling world. Wind. Hills. Bad riding surfaces. The trick is to find ways to turn something bad to your advantage.

I\’ll start with wind, since it\’s the one I know best. It\’s also the one that any cyclist in any location is bound to encounter.

We all know the groans of having to turn into a strong headwind; especially on the second half of a long ride. Riding hard into a headwind is way to turn that enemy wind into a training opportunity, i.e. a frenemy. If you need to train for a hilly event, but live where the land is flat, such efforts are one way to get your \”hill training\”. Even if you aren\’t training for hills, this is a way to build better strength.

Getting too tired to push hard into the wind? Shift to an easy gear, and work on your spin. Souplesse is worth developing. It\’s satisfying to watch, and allows you to pedal more efficiently.

Let\’s move on to hills. Some cyclists love them; some cyclists hate them. Others love to hate them.  To complicate matters, there are many different types of grade; length of climb; and I don\’t know what all else.

My accustomed riding route has a few humps to get over, as well as the access ramp. Since Easter, my \”climbing\” technique has changed. All of a sudden, while getting over a hump, I was pulling upwards on the handlebars and pushing my feet harder against the pedals. I\’m not actually rising out of the saddle, but you could say that I\’m \”light in the saddle\”; my full weight isn\’t on it. Where did that come from?

Bad riding surfaces are all but inevitable. While they aren\’t fun, they can give us a chance to practice our bike handling skills; especially if we\’re into mountain biking and can\’t easily get to the single track to practice.

So there you are. Three frenemies of cyclists!