In uk.rec.cycling CoyoteBoy <
[email protected]> wrote:
> On 6 Sep, 18:09, Artemisia <[email protected]> wrote:
>> Peter Clinch wrote:
>>
>> > I recall one incident when a pal and I were taking our MTBs up a fairly
>> > steep grassy field. I got bored at walking pace, and decided I'd walk.
>> > While walking, I soon overtook my pal, still spinning happily in 1st...
>>
>> So isn't it actually more efficient energy use to walk uphill than to
>> pedal, even if you do have unimaginably low gears and no topple-over on
>> a trike?
>>
>> I'm thinking perhaps the only advantage of trying to pedal up my hills
>> is the inconvenience of trying to stand up out of a recumbent...
>>
>> EFR
>> Ile de France
> Was there a conclusion to this thread? Did anyone find evidence that
> cycling at walking pace is in fact harder than walking at walking
> pace? I only ask as a friend with back problems ends up in severe pain
> trying to walk more a distance with his wife, but needs to do the same
> quantity of exercise - I was trying to work out if cycling next to his
> wife would pose the same energy/heart rate requirements etc and so be
> equally beneficial. I know cycling in a straight line is extremely
> easy in the granny ring at walking pace but then i dont find walking
> hard either so i cant judge, im sure that after 3 miles of granny-ring
> riding I'd be knackered lol.
I often have to cycle up long smooth steep hills while carrying a
heavy briefcase on which I'm uncomfortably over-exerted if I exceed
4-5mph for long. I also sometimes choose to walk the same route
carrying the same weight just for a change, and I suspect I can't
comfortably exceed 3mph on foot. It's certainly the case that when I'm
on foot I'm often overtaken by younger quicker walkers, whereas on the
bike I slowly but surely pass even the fastest walkers.
And of course when I'm on the bike I'm lifting its weight up the hill too!
One of those megarange granny gears greatly improved my comfort, and
slightly improved my speed, on those hills, because without it I
either struggled more slowly with an inefficiently slow cadence,
e.g. standing on the pedals, or I got off and pushed.
Incidentally, I can push the loaded bicycle up a hill a lot faster
then I could carry it, and can push it up hills carrying loads I'd
find it almost impossible to carry on my shoulders up hill. There's
clearly a saving in having the weight on wheels, regardless of how the
wheels are turned.
So my guess, based on these experiences, is that cycling up hill at a
walking speed in an appropriate gear is a bit easier than walking,
because the extra bicycle weight is more than swallowed by the wheel
effect, and the more weight you carry the bigger the
difference. Incidentally I weigh 130lbs.
--
Chris Malcolm
[email protected] DoD #205
IPAB, Informatics, JCMB, King's Buildings, Edinburgh, EH9 3JZ, UK
[
http://www.dai.ed.ac.uk/homes/cam/]
