Cycling vs Running

I ran daily for about 20 years and gave it up about 8 years ago in favor of
cycling (long distances in both sports). I'm a much better cyclist than I
was a runner, and it's much less punishing to my body. Too bad it took so
long for me to figure this out.
"Number 9" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
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Quoted message said:

Can poor runners become excellent cyclists? What is the
relationship between the two sports?

Thanks ahead of time!

Number 9

How did the exchange of excercises go with you? Did you
compete at running? Do you compete now in cycling?

"Bill" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
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Quoted message said:

I ran daily for about 20 years and gave it up about 8
years ago in favor

of

Quoted message said:

cycling (long distances in both sports). I'm a much better
cyclist than I was a runner, and it's much less punishing
to my body. Too bad it took so long for me to figure this
out. "Number 9" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:7KDFc.-
[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Can poor runners become excellent cyclists? What is the
relationship between the two sports?

Thanks ahead of time!

Number 9

Number 9 said:

Can poor runners become excellent cyclists? What is the
relationship between the two sports?

I'm a poor runner -- I look like a freak while running,
which isn't a problem because I can't do it for long, nor is
there any purpose, as I can walk faster. I couldn't run away
from a giant carnivorous snail.

I'm a mediocre, at best, bicyclist. I can bike 40 or 50
miles at 14mph pretty easily nowadays, and even without
putting in lots of miles, I do seem to be improving. I can
bike away from the snail, unless I'm going uphill.

I can't say if they're related.
--
Rick Onanian

"Number 9" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Can poor runners become excellent cyclists? What is the
relationship between the two sports?

Thanks ahead of time!

Number 9

I have done both for many years.

I find that cross-training is much better than specializing
for physical fitness. The muscles are used differently for
each exercise, so I am able to do more. I include for
stretching and resistance exercises at my local Goodlife
fitness gym.

Cordially,

Churchill

It depends on why one is a poor runner. I know some
excellent cyclists who are poor runners because of their
weight or their tendancy to get injured.

I do both and find similarity in the aerobic conditioning.
The main difference is muscles used. Cycling is mostly
quads, running is hamstring and calfs. So, to transition
from one sport to another will require some adaptation.

"Number 9" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:<7KDFc.4686$o-
[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

Can poor runners become excellent cyclists? What is the
relationship between the two sports?

Thanks ahead of time!

Number 9

Thank you for your response. Do you race your bike? My
running never achieved race quality, and I am hoping I can
develop my cycling to do it!

"Rick Onanian" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Number 9 said:

Can poor runners become excellent cyclists? What is the
relationship between the two sports?

I'm a poor runner -- I look like a freak while running,
which isn't a problem because I can't do it for long, nor
is there any purpose, as I can walk faster. I couldn't run
away from a giant carnivorous snail.

I'm a mediocre, at best, bicyclist. I can bike 40 or 50
miles at 14mph pretty easily nowadays, and even without
putting in lots of miles, I do seem to be improving. I can
bike away from the snail, unless I'm going uphill.

I can't say if they're related.
--
Rick Onanian

I am w/o question a poor runner and a farily good cyclist,
and yes, you can do well at cycling even if you were a
lousy runner. I do triathlons every once in a while (only
because of friends that pressure me). I usually end up
reasonably high after the cycling part. During the run,
everyone passes me.

Even though I hate racing, I can do bike races and finish
ok. In a 10k I'll finish among the last runners.

I think that leg length is very important in running while
it is slightly less important in cycling. If you have
proportianately short legs in relation to torso you'll be a
lousy runner. When you are running, sometimes you are next
to a friend that is barely jogging and
s/he is dropping you. You move your legs really fast to keep
up but your friend keeps dropping you. That is because
s/he has a naturally longer stride.

Andres

"Number 9" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:<7KDFc.4686$o-
[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

Can poor runners become excellent cyclists? What is the
relationship between the two sports?

Thanks ahead of time!

Number 9

"Number 9" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

Can poor runners become excellent cyclists?

I think it is possible. It depends on why someone is a poor
runner. If you have poor running mechanics but good
cardiovascular capacity, probably so, if you are determined.
I think there might be some interplay with how much cycling
you have done over your lifetime, including as a child.
Despite doing a lot of running myself I never felt like I
was able to run at the same level that I can ride. I think
there are tools like a fixed gear (for which there is no
equivalent in running) that can force a cyclist to develop
their biomechanical skills.

OTOH, if someone is a poor runner because they are basically
out of shape and have not put the effort yet into getting
into proper condition, they are not going to become a good
cyclist either until they commit to the work.

Quoted message said:

What is the relationship between the two sports?

There's been a lot of stuff over the years about the
incompatibility between the two sports. I'm not completely
convinced of it. My feeling about running is that it is good
for strengthening your cardiovascular system, like the "base
miles" that cyclists go for before harder training. The
thing you don't get is the leg strength and the power that
you need to be a good cyclist. That comes with hard work,
but if you have been doing a lot of running you are probably
in a good place to start and may be surprised at how fast
you improve if you push yourself. Contrary to what some
people say, I think that an important part of "getting up to
speed" is to challenge yourself frequently with relatively
big gears.

There is something about cycling that for me is less
aversive than running. For the same heart rate, I find
cycling less painful. I'm not sure why this is, but my
theory is that the pounding your body endures while running
adds to the overall discomfort in a subtle way. However,
this is based on my personal observation and ability-
despite the fact that I used to run 30-40 miles a week at 10
miles a pop, I always noticed with a certain amount of
jealousy people who looked a lot more comfortable running
than I felt.

JP

andres muro said:

I think that leg length is very important in running while
it is slightly less important in cycling. If you have
proportianately short legs in relation to torso you'll be
a lousy runner. When you are running, sometimes you are
next to a friend that is barely jogging and
s/he is dropping you. You move your legs really fast to
keep up but your friend keeps dropping you. That is
because s/he has a naturally longer stride.

Many top runners are quite short, so they have short legs.
For instance, Kenenisa Bekele, recent world record setter in
the 5000 and 10000, and zillion time world cross country
running champion, is only 5'3" (160 cm). His leg to torso
proportion looks average to me (maybe a bit torso long?).
Why should it matter how long the torso is? Wouldn't weight
be more important? Anyway, I'm a runner, follow the sport,
see lots of pictures and don't see any trend towards high
leg length to torso length ratios. Sure there are runners
who are "all legs", but I can also recall many top
marathoners with relatively short legs. Some elite runners
are impossibly thin, others are very strong looking, though
of course none are fat.

As for myself, my proportions are around average, maybe
slightly torso long: 5'10", 32.2-32.4" cycling inseam. I'm a
decent runner and a better runner than cyclist. As a
cyclist, I'm very strong in climbs. My running stride rate
(full left and right cycle) is pretty much the same as my
cycling cadence. It's about 92-95 for most of my regular
training pace from say 10 minutes per mile to 6 minutes per
mile. At slower speeds, people sometimes say that I have a
short stride or an unusually high stride rate, but that's my
natural stride rate and it's not any different from a
cyclist pedaling at those cadences at low speeds. At 4:45 to
5:30 per mile, my stride rate is around 100-110. When doing
strides at 14 sec/100m, my stride rate is 120-125. I think
my running stride rates are pretty much the same as my cyc
ling cadence at the same intensity (except for hills in
cycling, but I still run a 42/24 low).

Good observation, I used to run 12-20 miles a week, 7 years
ago. I noticed that I didn't necessarily get faster at that
sport, but my cardio did not cut me off, and was in quite
good shape. Cycling seems to be more directly Quadracep or
whatever intensive than running.

Thanks "JP" <[email hidden]> wrote in
message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

"Number 9" <[email hidden]> wrote in message

news:<[email hidden]>-
...

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Can poor runners become excellent cyclists?

I think it is possible. It depends on why someone is a
poor runner. If you have poor running mechanics but good
cardiovascular capacity, probably so, if you are
determined. I think there might be some interplay with how
much cycling you have done over your lifetime, including
as a child. Despite doing a lot of running myself I never
felt like I was able to run at the same level that I can
ride. I think there are tools like a fixed gear (for which
there is no equivalent in running) that can force a
cyclist to develop their biomechanical skills.

OTOH, if someone is a poor runner because they are
basically out of shape and have not put the effort yet
into getting into proper condition, they are not going
to become a good cyclist either until they commit to
the work.

Quoted message said:

What is the relationship between the two sports?

There's been a lot of stuff over the years about the
incompatibility between the two sports. I'm not completely
convinced of it. My feeling about running is that it is
good for strengthening your cardiovascular system, like
the "base miles" that cyclists go for before harder
training. The thing you don't get is the leg strength and
the power that you need to be a good cyclist. That comes
with hard work, but if you have been doing a lot of
running you are probably in a good place to start and may
be surprised at how fast you improve if you push yourself.
Contrary to what some people say, I think that an
important part of "getting up to speed" is to challenge
yourself frequently with relatively big gears.

There is something about cycling that for me is less
aversive than running. For the same heart rate, I find
cycling less painful. I'm not sure why this is, but my
theory is that the pounding your body endures while
running adds to the overall discomfort in a subtle way.
However, this is based on my personal observation and ability-
despite the fact that I used to run 30-40 miles a week at
10 miles a pop, I always noticed with a certain amount of
jealousy people who looked a lot more comfortable running
than I felt.

JP

Number 9 said:

Thank you for your response. Do you race your bike? My
running never achieved race quality, and I am hoping I can
develop my cycling to do it!

No, although I never tried, so I don't know how well I'd do.
--
Rick Onanian

"Number 9" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

Can poor runners become excellent cyclists? What is the
relationship between the two sports?

I was never much of a runner. I ran track & field in high
school. I usually did 100 yd dash, quarter mile, mile relay,
and occasionally half
mile. I was even worse at longer events never even managing
a 7 minute
milf. Luckily I was a much better discus thrower than
runner as I never placed in any running event but I
managed to score a few points for my team in discus.

The bike racers I met when I was in high school in the
1970's seemed impossibly fit and talked casually about 100
mile rides. Based on my lack of success running I assumed
that I'd never be able to successfully race bicycles. Even
when I ran a lot I always carried an extra 10-15 lbs. and
the bike racers I met looked like they lived in a
concentration camp.

In college I continued to run on and off but just for
exercise not sport. I rode bicycles for transportation as
well. I worked at a bike shop and nobody there ever
expected me to ever get fast. I was getting dropped from
medium (~16 MPH) training rides. When Winter arrived and
you had to leave early to have enough light to ride I
stayed behind to close the bike shop since everyone else
who worked there either already raced or planned to. After
locking the doors I rode the turbo trainer for an hour. I
hit the trainer pretty hard and managed to get fit even
without many road miles.

I did ride with everyone on Sundays and every week I was
stronger and after one ride where I went off the front with
a strong Cat II racer they talked me into sending off for
my license.

I was always a rank amateur but I got fast enough to have a
lot of fun. I raced 2.5 years before the pressure of paying
bills and finishing college made me quit. At my fittest I
was pinching below 5% body fat and looking at myself in the
mirror I realized that I was as lean as the bike racers that
seemed impossibly fit to me when I was in high school. I
don't know that I'd ever call myself an "excellent" cyclist
but I certainly saw a lot more success and fun on the bike
than I ever did running.
--
Bruce Jackson - Sr. Systems Programmer - DMSP, a M/A/R/C Group Company

Thanks, I am a rank beginner, and your story does help, I
never really rode. Just started about 2 weeks ago, I can
maintain 14mph right now, but hope to get alot better. Is
14mph good for a rank beginner?

"Bruce Jackson" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

"Number 9" <[email hidden]> wrote in message

news:<[email hidden]>-
...

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Can poor runners become excellent cyclists? What is the
relationship between the two sports?

I was never much of a runner. I ran track & field in high
school. I usually did 100 yd dash, quarter mile, mile
relay, and occasionally half
mile. I was even worse at longer events never even
managing a 7 minute
mile. Luckily I was a much better discus thrower than
runner as I never placed in any running event but I
managed to score a few points for my team in
discus.

The bike racers I met when I was in high school in the
1970's seemed impossibly fit and talked casually about 100
mile rides. Based on my lack of success running I assumed
that I'd never be able to successfully race bicycles. Even
when I ran a lot I always carried an extra 10-15 lbs. and
the bike racers I met looked like they lived in a
concentration camp.

In college I continued to run on and off but just for
exercise not sport. I rode bicycles for transportation as
well. I worked at a bike shop and nobody there ever
expected me to ever get fast. I was getting dropped from
medium (~16 MPH) training rides. When Winter arrived and
you had to leave early to have enough light to ride I
stayed behind to close the bike shop since everyone else
who worked there either already raced or planned to. After
locking the doors I rode the turbo trainer for an hour. I
hit the trainer pretty hard and managed to get fit even
without many road miles.

I did ride with everyone on Sundays and every week I was
stronger and after one ride where I went off the front
with a strong Cat II racer they talked me into sending off
for my license.

I was always a rank amateur but I got fast enough to have
a lot of fun. I raced 2.5 years before the pressure of
paying bills and finishing college made me quit. At my
fittest I was pinching below 5% body fat and looking at
myself in the mirror I realized that I was as lean as the
bike racers that seemed impossibly fit to me when I was in
high school. I don't know that I'd ever call myself an
"excellent" cyclist but I certainly saw a lot more success
and fun on the bike than I ever did running.
--
Bruce Jackson - Sr. Systems Programmer - DMSP, a M/A/R/C
Group Company