Any ex-runners here into cycling?

I do it mostly as injured. I am also a climber. You can train for PBs on big climbs, hill climb races or travel to do epic world climbs. Could also try time trialling if you find road races too dangerous (me too).

For trainer winter I use Zwift. This is fun and motivating and also has comps.

I started MTB about 20 years ago when I was living in Asia. After moving back to the USA I switched to road biking. As I am a retired from competitive D1 athlete, I focused more on cycling in the warmer months. I don't race bikes or run races. The two sports have some similarities but they are still different. The bike is much more forgiving to the extra weight you are carrying as you get older. I can ride a bike pretty well and it does make me wonder how well I could have been back in my 20's if I hadn't been so focused on running.

He's probably not on here, but Daniel Lincoln got into cycling.

You can start out doing time trials, where you race by yourself against the clock. Typically distances in the 10 to 25 mile range. Very safe unless you miss a turn or something like that. Do group rides to get comfortable riding in close proximity to others, but stay at the back at first so you don’t crash them out. Tell people you’re a noob and they’ll typically give you good advice on how to ride, train, and race.

Mike Woods made it happen

When I moved to a new state, I decided to try out triathlon. At that point, I was in a rut with running and wanted something different. I've enjoyed triathlon for the most part. Cycling can be very enjoyable. This year, I did a century. Training for it really helped improve my aerobic fitness. You could do some rallies or grand fondos - it's a way to see new places without it being a race.

Trainers can suck, but there are several platforms (Zwift, Trainerroad, etc.) that can make it more enjoyable. Plus, you'll get a big boost in your cycling fitness. Make sure you have a fan blowing on you, it makes a massive difference.

I'm now swinging back to a focus on running. I've found that I miss a lot of the training.

I don't think I'll get into racing. I maybe competitive in climbing TTs but I'll probably just burn myself out doing those things. I've been tracking my progress on strava and that seems to have a competitive element to it.

Just be careful on Strava... I am a former DI runner, started riding due to injury in my late 30's, and started taking out all the big climbs within a 50 mile radius of my house and then everyone came out of the woodwork wanting me to ride for their respective teams, but I have a young family and can't commit to that, train mostly solo, and only ride with one or two local "pros"/Cat 1... which turned into anger from most of them and now it's a weird tension with the communities. Someone is spot on about the travel... looking forward in the future to attempting Mt. Ventoux and some major Euro climbs in the future. Would love to try cyclocross and MTB, but don't have the trails/races.

Get in on your local hard group rides and learn to ride in a peloton, then give some road races a try before you dismiss them as too dangerous.

Stay away from crits. I was a fairly fast on the open road and regularly rode the hot group rides with the local cat 2/3 guys. They were trying to get me to race with them, I think mostly because I could be a good domestique...pull hard on the front and set up their sprinter. So, I jumped into a local cat 5 crit. BIG MISTAKE! This was a 1 mile square block in town...every turn was 90 degrees. Unless you are short, have incredible bike handling skills, or are fearless, forget about it. I was getting dropped by overweight HS girls. No kidding. I was so frustrated because I was way fitter aerobically but they knew how to corner. I was like a yo-yo...catching them on the straight, but falling behind on the corners. There was a lap rule, so I was out if the race after about five miles, but there were guys who clearly got lapped, but just pulled over on the far side of the loop (out of date of the official), let the leaders go by, and then tucked back in. They did this several times and ended up placing in the overall. Totally crap.

As far as my journey into cycling goes, I started 4 years ago when I entered grad school fresh off an injury that ended my senior track season. At first I could put down some power, especially uphill, but I was a terrible bike rider. I DNFed the very first race a did which was at the lowest level of collegiate cycling. However, I kept training and learning how to race and by the end of the season I broke away for a solo victory in my first race as a cat 3. For a couple years I tried to live in denial about what type of cyclist I was, thinking I could be a Tom Dumoulin type, but I eventually resigned to the fact that at 6'3" 147 I want going to be much more than a climber. I look for races with uphill finishes to target as my A races for each year, and take pride in the pact that there's no more than a handful of amateur cyclists that could drop me on a climb. Also, I've only crashed 3 times over 4 years of a pretty heavy racing schedule. I've probably crashed just as many times in training.

lkjbiker wrote:

Just be careful on Strava... I am a former DI runner, started riding due to injury in my late 30's, and started taking out all the big climbs within a 50 mile radius of my house and then everyone came out of the woodwork wanting me to ride for their respective teams, but I have a young family and can't commit to that, train mostly solo, and only ride with one or two local "pros"/Cat 1... which turned into anger from most of them and now it's a weird tension with the communities.

BS, or you live in the middle of nowhere.

How many pro riders are there on the local leaderboards?

When I had two stress fractures in 2016, I got back on my bike because it was the only cardio I could do. Literally shook cobwebs and dust off my Trek 1.1. I hooked up with some former running friends who got into cycling years before, and started riding with their squad. The key is to find a good local bike shop and get a quality bike that fits you, and to ride with people who know what they're doing. You'll learn a lot by riding with experienced people and find out that you're better than you think. My cycling is mostly endurance (century +) but between running and cycling, I put in about 30-40 MPW running, 200 cycling. Get in on some group rides and push your limits.

Former d1 runner here, about a 15:00/31:30 guy.

Got into cycling after finishing an injury-filled college career. Like many on here, my aerobic engine transferred well to cycling. I’m now in my third year of serious cycling and racing. First two years were spent making massive gains in power (n00b gainsz) and for lack of a better term, shredding the lower categories out of sheer strength. Am now a Cat 2 and while I am holding my own and have had some good results this year, what is evident now is that at the top of cycling is how much work you have to put in to be competitive in longer races (crits are a different story as they are more skill-based). I’m putting in 25 hour training weeks and at a recent stage race I felt like I needed every. last. second. of the hours I put in to be in the top group when the selection was made. It really comes down to the fact that many distance running races are 4 mins to 1 hr in length (not inc. marathons) while road races are 3-5 hours in length so if you want to be there at the end you HAVE to put in the saddle time.

One thing I have noticed is that running ability doesn’t necessarily correlate to cycling ability 1:1. Seems to me that the runners that were good but got injured a lot (i.e. had massive aerobic engines but poor biomechanics) are better cyclists than those with solid engines but really efficient strides. Since cycling removes the biomechanical efficiency aspect for the most part, it becomes a contest of aerobic engines. And the really small, thin, 125lb ex-runners shell people on 14% grades but get bashed to pieces on flats and in TT’s.

It also takes a while for your muscles to adapt. For the first 2 years, I was riding like I was running – out of the saddle a lot mimicking a running motion. It feels more natural for us ex runners but is much less aerodynamically efficient than sitting and it definitely takes some getting used to to adapt.

I was a ~15min 5k/31min 10k runner in college who was mostly plagued by injury post-college. I'd go through boom/bust cycles of solid training then nagging injury with no good results. I should have started cycling earlier but didn't until my mid thirties, by which time I was 40 lbs overweight.

Road cycling seemed very intimidating both in cost and it seemed kind of douchey (to an outsider at least), so I dabbled in mountain biking. After a few years of crashing into trees, a friend turned me on to cyclocross, so I bought a bike to race the local CX series. I was terrible at bike handling, but having fun. It rekindled my competitive spirit that had been missing since college. I went all-in and bought a road bike and subsequently won my first cat 5 road race.

I'm now mid forties and have been racing cat 3 for cyclocross and road for the past six years. I'm not great but not bad. I've won a handful of races and been DFL. My bike handling has improved so that I can hang in most crits, but I mostly chase primes or try to stick in breaks. You'll never find me in a field sprint!

What I enjoy about the sport is that I can push myself hard on weekday group rides, follow up with hard intervals on the trainer, and still have the ability to do long rides on the weekend. After hard training blocks I am usually rewarded by higher fitness, not injury or chronic soreness. Running was always a battle to stay injury-free. I don't miss that at all!

jayjay1991 wrote:

Am now a Cat 2 and while I am holding my own and have had some good results this year, what is evident now is that at the top of cycling is how much work you have to put in to be competitive in longer races (crits are a different story as they are more skill-based). I’m putting in 25 hour training weeks and at a recent stage race I felt like I needed every. last. second. of the hours I put in to be in the top group when the selection was made. It really comes down to the fact that many distance running races are 4 mins to 1 hr in length (not inc. marathons) while road races are 3-5 hours in length so if you want to be there at the end you HAVE to put in the saddle time.

I have a hard time believing 25 hour weeks are necessary. Don't get me wrong, I'd love to get to ride that much, but I think a well structured plan of around 18 hours per week should be enough for most domestic racers.

smells like bs wrote:

lkjbiker wrote:

Just be careful on Strava... I am a former DI runner, started riding due to injury in my late 30's, and started taking out all the big climbs within a 50 mile radius of my house and then everyone came out of the woodwork wanting me to ride for their respective teams, but I have a young family and can't commit to that, train mostly solo, and only ride with one or two local "pros"/Cat 1... which turned into anger from most of them and now it's a weird tension with the communities.

BS, or you live in the middle of nowhere.

How many pro riders are there on the local leaderboards?

Completely believable. There are a lot of pro/cat 1 guys out there that most people have never heard of .

No. Stop asking invasive questions. You seem like a creep.