Does anyone actually choose cycling over running if they have the choice?

Can you walk? I was injured and couldn't run or bicycle for 3 months so I walked. While walking 3 miles didn't give me that super relaxed after effect running does it was surprisingly enjoyable and kept my aerobic fitness at a high level. When I came back home I typically felt very good, and actually more relaxed than before I started. Lunch tasted god, too. But running is the king! Get well soon!

Same frustration here. Sports hernia with massive amounts of pain running. But no pain cycling. Good friend gave me a bike and after he met shoes with clips and padded shorts Was pretty reasonable. The absolute worst part is not feeling the same fatigue like after a run. Still gets hard rate up but it’s easy to coast on the bike and accidentally recover. Hope to God a can run again and if I do then must work in the bike to avoid injury. But yes. Cycling sucks compared to running

Too Bad wrote:

PCTHiker wrote:

Yeah but those same goofballs are suckers who routinely spend 5K+ and then some on bikes. How the world of cycling has come to accept the extreme amounts of $$$ needed to get involved is beyond me.

Sure, you can spend crazy money on a bike but it isn't mandatory. You can get a very good quality road bike with solid components for $1,200-1,500. That's 5-6 pairs of alphaflys, and it will last you a decade. Better yet, buy it used and save a few hundred.

There are very serious diminishing returns starting around $2,000-2,500. The difference between a $5k and $6k bike is almost nothing.

This is true. I ride a 2003 Trek aluminium road frame. I have tens of thousands of miles on it. Of course, I have upgraded the wheels and I have completely replaced the drive train, shifters, and brakes, but I still have less than $1200 in it. I paid $400 for it new on clearance. Wheels were like $350 on clearance. I bought a complete 105 group set on clearance for like $300 and rebuilt it a few years ago. If I would spend $2500 on a bike like this today. I am 45 but am contending with guys half my age on the Strava climbs in my area. I hate Lance Armstrong, but he was right about one thing: it's not about the bike.

Does anyone actually choose vanilla when chocolate is available?

Does anyone actually choose apples when oranges are available?

No one would voluntarily choose something different than what I choose, because what I choose is objectively the only good choice. People who are different from me are losers.

Common Man wrote:

This is true. I ride a 2003 Trek aluminium road frame. I have tens of thousands of miles on it.

I spent less than $300 on my bike. In 1977. It works great. I ride about 100 miles a week on it. Not a lot of riding or super serious, but it's a fun hobby. I have fixed and upgraded a few things, but over the years I've spent way more on running shoes.

I’m injured right now, so I’m planning on taking two weeks off to recover. I’ve been cycling to try to maintain fitness but I really have no idea what I’m doing, and it definitely makes me less excited to go on my rides.

I wonder if Runners are less inclined to cycle because we don’t know how cycling training works. Does anyone have a cycling training plan that a runner might be able to use or a good resource for getting started?

Alternatively, is there a way to roughly convert a running training plan into a cycling plan. I.e. a 20 minute tempo effort becomes a a 1 hour tempo effort on a bike. Mile repeats become 5k repeats on the bike. Etc...

sounds like an electric bike if he can do it like that. they're sometimes quite indistinguishable, like this one:

simplebikestore.eu/en/watt-electric-fixie.html?id=175288655

20 minute run tempo = 2x15 minute tempo W/4:00 easy spin between

5x1K = 5-6 x3-4 minute W/2:00 easy spin between

10x200 = 10x 30s Sprint 1:30 recovery

Some other classic cycling workouts:

20/40s 20s sprint, 40s recovery for 6 rounds. Rest 4:00 and repeat 3x

4x8-10 Minute threshold w/4 minute rest

Cycling uses a different concept than running with regard to pace. Everything revolves around FTP, or your threshold power. Intervals are either designed to push from below, or pull from above. A pulling workout is anything above FTP I.e. the 5x3:30 at VO2 or hard and then recover, while a pushing interval might be 3:00 at FTP followed by 20 minutes at 85% FTP and then repeat.

The roads are 100% the worst part of cycling. It’s gotten progressively worse the past 8 years. I started cycling competitively in 2012 after running competitively all throughout college, and the run ins with cars have only gotten worse. I was lucky to be that runner turned pro cyclist for a few years. Raced in North America, Europe, Australia and Asia-has some decent success in Europe and usa.

Sadly in 2018 my career ended as I was hit by a car who ran red and almost paralyzed. Bursted vertebrae, effed up discs-put me off the sport of road cycling very very quickly. It was probably time though to be honest. The sport of road cycling has been getting progressively less funding since 2015. Probably because of all the cars and the danger of it all.

I tried to go back to running again but the joy of just being on a bike has kept me a student of it. It’s so much more fun than running even if I have a bit of a bitter taste due to the accident. I ride on trails or bike paths these days. Maybe 10-15% of my riding (1-3 hours a week) is on roads but it’s a risk I’ll take considering I used to spend 20+ hours a week on them. It’s just so hard to let go of the wind in your hair, push until you can’t anymore type feeling. And then once you think you’ve pushed hard enough you can usually always give er a bit more.

I find myself on the mountain bike a lot more, but that’s a skill set that’s taken my whole life to develop. It’s never really an easy entry for that runner who wants to just ride, but I have no doubt most runners would thoroughly enjoy it once they got the hang of it. 1 hour of mountain biking feels easily like a one hour run with some weight lifting thrown in.

Common Man wrote:

... it’s not about the bike.

I mean... you put the same person on a 400$, 1500$, and 7,000$ bike, their times will differ by about 5-7 minutes over an hour between each upgrade.

That’s a lot if you’re truly trying to be competitive.

Where I live, 10 miles west of Boston, it is practically impossible to ride a bicycle on the street and get a workout in a reasonable amount of time that is equivalent to 45 minutes of running.

If I am unable to run, walk, hike or XC ski, I stay in and get on my Schwinn AirDyne.

If you don't think you can't get a solid workout on a bike you are not trying hard enough. As many have said, cycling up steep grades is the way to do it. I live in VT and have lots to choose from, just toss the bike in the back of the car and park on the approach to a major hill climb. Lincoln Gap is a classic , has a 16% grade for over a mile, 24% max, 1600 feet. Or head to a ski area access road (Bolton Valley, 1900 feet, 11% grade). Or Smuggler's Notch near Stowe. Or shorter climbs on gravel roads near home. If you don't liver near steep hills, then to repeats on the biggest you can find.

True, I'd rather be running up a mountain trail than biking up a mountain road. But for cross training and after an injury, you can definitely get a great workout on a bike.

Agree that for time put in, you get more out of running but for fun factor, especially mountain biking, I much prefer biking over running...road cycling can be a bit boring but on a nice mountain road, it’s good too.

Where do you live? I have been doing really nice 20 and 40mi loops from Wellesley, both on weekdays and weekends. I agree with the overall sentiment that the roads present some challenges, but this is a pretty great area for both running and cycling.

zzzz wrote:

You are doing it wrong. I don't do much now, but cycling was the first active/outdoor activity that I chose on my own to love to do. Exploring backroads was great as a kid... my first taste of freedom, doing 20-30 mile rides in junior high by myself or with my brother. Maybe I had nicer roads to ride than you (northern CA, then canyon roads out of L.A. in college). I remember a lot more "nice exhausted/satisfied feelings" after long rides than running.

I haven't ridden my road bike in years though. Smartphone distracted drivers is a thing I didn't have to deal with in the '80s and '90s. I mountain bike, and stayed on multiuse paths when commuting.

Same here. Rode alot of mileage during HS, up in the Bay Area. I don't but ride a motorcycle but I imagine it's close to the same experience riding through and exploring the best roads, climbs. It's not the same when you just ride through multi-use trails, You can cover alot of ground in 4-5 hours.

Lol. 5-7 per upgrade? You really think a $7000 bike would make me 14 minutes faster per hour over my $400 bike? You my friend are either completely ignorant or completely nuts.

In a pack, the riders power and skill are all that matter. Mark Cavendish would destroy pretty much everyone even on a crappy bike. When climbing, the rider's fitness and weight are the only thing that matter. Weight is not a huge factor when riding solo on flat. It's all about fitness an getting aero and your position on the bike is the biggest factor there.

The point is you can't buy 14 minutes per hour. A few minutes sure, but not 14.

Rollerskating is better than both of these, because its got the best of both.

Not this guy