DOES WIND AFFECT TIME TRIAL TIMES?

WHICH IS FASTER, WIND OR NO WIND? If a rider goes 10km in 15 minutes with the wind and 10km against the wind in 20 minutes, a total time of 35 minutes for the 20km, then how long would it take her to ride 20km with no wind? A popular misconception is that the advantage given by wind assistance and the disadvantage of riding against the same velocity of wind will cancel each other out.  This in fact is incorrect because she received wind assistance for only 15 minutes but rode against the wind for 20 minutes.

If she can go 10 km with the wind in 10 minutes, then it is clear she can cover 13.3km in 20 minutes. So this gives a total of 23.33km in 40 minutes. Therefore, riding 20km with no wind (with a similar effort) will take her (40 X 20)/23.33 or 34’20”. This is 40 seconds faster than in windy conditions. In fact, as the speed of the wind increases, the time will increase

On the Nanaimo River Road course however, another significant variable is introduced by the turn around being more than 200 feet above the start/finish. It would seem that a light westerly breeze might produce the fastest times. Of course, the riders always hope for no wind on the way out and a rising gale back to the finish!