Benefits of cycling?

[stevefoster]

It's a very good twiddly gear.

Todays max speed was 33 mph

Uphill of course

[brett]

as with all things fixed - it felt like it

Uphill of course

[stevefoster]

as with all things fixed - it felt like it

Keep turning them pedals Brett, then again, you've got to on a fixed

[tele]

Sorry to confuse, I was meaning 2:1 in terms of time, which (given that cycling is faster than running) equates to about 5:1 in terms of miles covered. That's WITH the freewheeling of course!

I said I counted TT as 1:1 (like you do - time-wise that is) but on the road I've always said a 90 min ride is worth a 45 min run. I always think it feels harder, more like a 60 min run, so (because like I say, I don't freewheel) I'm asking myself if I've been doing my bike rides down all these years and trying to re-assess things.

Although however much you try not to freewheel, road biking can't be as intense as TT can it?

For me it's nothing like, 6hrs in the saddle is nothing like a 3hr run. I find that when I'm doing a 10tt it's my legs that hurt but lungs that can't keep up when I'm doing a 10k

Also I don't find that going well on the bike means I go well in my runners. I'm a decent climber on the bike but I can't climb for toffee when it come's to running uphill off road!

[TimW]

For me it's nothing like, 6hrs in the saddle is nothing like a 3hr run. I find that when I'm doing a 10tt it's my legs that hurt but lungs that can't keep up when I'm doing a 10k

Also I don't find that going well on the bike means I go well in my runners. I'm a decent climber on the bike but I can't climb for toffee when it come's to running uphill off road!

Guess it's a personal thing with what you're best at or find easiest. I remember Spencer Duval (leading XC runner turned duathlete) saying to count it as 3:2 (1 hours cycle = 40 min run). Must admit I've never known anyone else be that generous, although it feels about right to me - perhaps because I'm a non freewheeler (or a crap cyclist?) ?

[TimW]

Must admit I've never known anyone else be that generous

Apart from Chris Leigh who's saying it's 1:1 correct me if that's not the case Chris

[CL]

For me it's nothing like, 6hrs in the saddle is nothing like a 3hr run. I find that when I'm doing a 10tt it's my legs that hurt but lungs that can't keep up when I'm doing a 10k

Also I don't find that going well on the bike means I go well in my runners. I'm a decent climber on the bike but I can't climb for toffee when it come's to running uphill off road!

Tele would you mind answering a question for me? How much do you weigh?

I wonder if the higher speeds during cycling, drives air into the lungs at higher pressure, making breathing easier on the bike.

When I was a kid, I used to put my head out of the window of a Intercity 125 train(before the bridges ).If I faced the direction of travel, I just couldn't get My breath, and it wasn't as if there was a shortage of air.The air pressure was just to high.

During cycling it may well be that the breathing muscles are not worked as hard as when running, because of the above.Not completely sure though!

[CL]

Apart from Chris Leigh who's saying it's 1:1 correct me if that's not the case Chris

You're right Tim, provided the effort is the same.If a runner with an oxygen uptake of 4 litres a minute, converts to cycling, his oxygen uptake on the bike wouldn't be quite as high. This is because his quadricep muscles wouldn't be as developed.

After time though his Quadricep muscles will "catch up" with the other muscles, enabling the athlete to make use of the full 4 litres of oxygen.

Remember in the transition from running to cycling, the oxygen carrying capacity of the blood is unchanged. What is different though is the usage of this oxygen in the muscles(Quadriceps).

There is a way of working out calorie consumption, during endurance exercise.I'm going to include it, in the book I'm writing.


Regards

[tele]

Tele would you mind answering a question for me? How much do you weigh?

I wonder if the higher speeds during cycling, drives air into the lungs at higher pressure, making breathing easier on the bike.

When I was a kid, I used to put my head out of the window of a Intercity 125 train(before the bridges ).If I faced the direction of travel, I just couldn't get My breath, and it wasn't as if there was a shortage of air.The air pressure was just to high.

During cycling it may well be that the breathing muscles are not worked as hard as when running, because of the above.Not completely sure though!

I weigh 81kg at the moment, still carrying some festive flab. happy at 79kg, I'm 6'2"

When I say decent climber on the bike, I've placed above average in some hill climbs, and I've done a couple of road races and faired ok, I've done a 22.44 10m tt 58.04 25tt. also got under 7hrs for the etape du dales.

My hr maxs are different for the bike than for the run, my bike max is 188 and run is 194. When running a 10k I feel like I'm blowing out my ar5e but doing a 10mile tt bike I feel the burn in the legs.

[CL]

I weigh 81kg at the moment, still carrying some festive flab. happy at 79kg, I'm 6'2"

When I say decent climber on the bike, I've placed above average in some hill climbs, and I've done a couple of road races and faired ok, I've done a 22.44 10m tt 58.04 25tt. also got under 7hrs for the etape du dales.

My hr maxs are different for the bike than for the run, my bike max is 188 and run is 194. When running a 10k I feel like I'm blowing out my ar5e but doing a 10mile tt bike I feel the burn in the legs.

Tele the reason you struggle so much on the run is because of your size. I'm not implying you are overweight by the way.For your size you're a reasonable weight.

For running though it's a lot of weight to move, and a long way(6ft 2) for the heart to pump blood against gravity.During cycling, the gravity effect on the heart is reduced somewhat, because of your position on the bike.

Saying that, you've got a lot more to gain from your runs.You'll consume many more calories per mile than a 9stone champion.