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

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.

Where do you ride? Can you find scenic uncrowded areas?

I spent a summer riding through the Jura mountains and the Alps. It was more memorable and exciting than any string of runs I ever did. In the heat the wind in your face feels great on a bike.

Having breakfast in Evian France and dinner listening to music in Montreux, Switzerland was not a waste of 4+ hours.

It sucks cycling where I live and running is monotonous too but cycling gives you opportunities that running can't.

Yes lots of fat lazy people. It's easier to ride a bike in easy gear than go for a run. And remember you need to spend thousands on a lightweight bicycle even though you are 40lbs over weight.

I started doing Triathlons and switched to Duathlons.......(suck at swimming) I have had a few injuries .........hamstrings.........biking doesn't hurt, so I bike more , about 60 miles a week. Cycling gives me a great work out, Just have do over 17 mph! and crank up hills and be careful with the traffic.and I am 70 years old..

Cycling is for failed, rich hobby joggers. Just like the triathlon.

Someone was faster than you? Buy a more expensive bike.

Go and cycle up some hills. Long rides on flat terrain are boring but going out and finding some big hills and cycling up them is fun and is a much better workout.

You don't have to ride 4 hours to get the same workout. Go look into some cycling training plans.

And yes, some people do go cycling as their first choice. I agree with you, there are numerous downsides. But, as posters here have mentioned, there is a feeling on a bike you cannot feel running.

I fully relate to OP! I was injured last year and went for 2 long rides, the first being 50 miles the second being 60. The 60 miler took almost 4 hours!

The first ride was ruined when I got a puncture 45 miles in.

The second ride was ruined when I was cycling up a hill. I heard a fellow cyclist coming up behind me and my competitive spirit decided to try and hold him off. I pedalled as fast as I could but the guy flew past me. At first I thought "Wow, this guy must be super fit!" But as he came past I saw his face and he must've been at least 60. (I was 21 at the time and in pretty good shape). I was pedalling furiously while he was barely pedalling at all. Then we got to the top of the hill and began our descent. I continued to ride as fast as I could and the old man stopped altogether, allowing gravity to carry him down. He pulled away quickly and was out of sight within 2 minutes.

That's when I realised that cycling is pretty much 1% about fitness and 99% about how much you can afford to pay for your bike. My £300 bike never stood a chance!

Sounds like a lot of excuses for why an old man kicked your a$$.

Hmmm. If I could run like 20 years ago, I would definitely rather run. However, I am hurt enough that I cannot even hobby jog. That said, living in Florida with a bunch of designated biking trails around, I can get several hours of hard ride in, while running is not torture here for about 2 months a year. Also, I found that "second wind" on a bike is a lot easier to attain. On a run one is already beat up by the time second wind would come, on the bike all suddenly you are moving faster without anything falling apart. Plus it is fun that while a mediocre speed walker would pass me on foot, on the bike I can still move a lot faster than most other riders. Oh, and long course triathlons are super fun. Wish I tried them when I could still run.

About 5 years ago after someone did something stupid in front of me in a car, I bought one of those 5 mode LED flashlights and mounted it on my handlebar. The difference in reaction from oncoming traffic is significant. I also have a SuperFlash LED blinky on the back. I ride with both of these light in the strobe mode.

injuredrunner1371 wrote:

You don’t get that nice exhausted/satisfied feeling after a long ride like you do after a long run.

If that's the case, you're doing it wrong. Do some intervals, climb some good hills, push at harder-than-easy effort for a few hours and I guarantee you'll achieve that exhausted feeling.

Cycling done correctly can combine the feeling of freedom you used to get as a kid pedaling around the neighborhood with the exhausted long run feeling.

It should take more like two hours of cycling to get the equivalent of one hour of running. I raced triathlons for many years. It takes a higher perceived effort on flat roads with cycling to get the same heart rate as with running. On climbs it is much easier to get your heart rate up on the bike than on the flats, so find some mountains. Cycling can be very satisfying because you can go so much further and see so much more in a given day. I agree cycling is WAY more dangerous than running though, and that is a reason I would be reluctant to go back to it. Hope your injuries are behind you soon and you can get off the bike and back to running. The pool is another option for maintaining cardiovascular fitness (if they aren't closed due to covid).

I started cycling when I was in high school. Stopped both running and cycling in my 20s.

Picked up running again 16 months ago and have found that my body doesn’t really like more than 60 miles a week so I bought a trainer and have added 3-4 low impact cycling hours a week to supplement some of the lack of increased miles my legs were telling me I couldn’t handle.

So while I enjoy running more I really don’t dislike cycling and I’m arguably much better at it as I’ve been ripping 21 mph at 90 cadence on my easy running HR...it’s very difficult to do that in the heat during the summer running

I have always biked over the years but mostly just ran. Four years ago I got injured and started going to gym. Since they closed 4 months ago I really started riding. I don’t know if is just me but I thought biking was going to be a good cross training. I am feeling more beat up than my running days. Hip, knee and shoulder. Maybe it just comes from being 60.

Yes I would rather go for an hour run than a 2+ hour bike ride.

Here here!

hate this misconception about cycling and how people just buy speed. there is a lot of training that goes into being a good cyclist and while there are more things to buy if you want it really comes down to the training still

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3HmVQCAjBE0

a super bike, while better than a normal bike it really isnt that much better

now a super bike vs a cheap ebay bike you can buy for $100 is going to be a big difference but it goes to show you that you really cant buy speed

imagine its like if you have someone like Sean Mcgorty Next% and had kipchoge a pair of pegasus. Who would win? Kipchoge, buying speed only goes so far

Road cycling has become a cheating-of-death affair with distracted drivers.

MUT riding is crowded.

Cycling as a community draws too many gearheads and d!ckheads.

Cycling has become very expensive.

Cycling does nothing for bone strength.

Cycling allows travel. Scenery becomes a big part of the experience.

Running is so much better for grinding it out.

Running is one of the cheaper and simple sports.

Running draws nicer people, less aggressive and prone to comparing.

Running is very efficient as a workout and great for the bones.

Running can be brutally hard on the body over time.

Overall, I prefer running but will be pushed into more cycling as age and injuries take their toll.

I got into cycling as a low impact recovery form and a mode of transport. That very quickly progressed to racing. You do not need a 4 hour ride for the equivalent of a one hour workout. Most cycling workouts are very similar to run workouts when you look at what is called for in power zones etc. Most of my hard training workouts are 45 to 75 minutes. 2x15 minutes at FTP, 5x3 minutes at VO2, etc. Can be very similar to run training.

Long rides can be longer simply because there is no impact. I chose to go on 50 - 60 mile long rides that take 2-3 hours because I can actually go somewhere and explore.