Cycling vs Running

Mac9

This man in work reckons that 10 miles cycling is the equivalent to 1 mile running.

So a ride of 260miles would be like running a marathon.

Is he about right? Or should I rob his milk from the fridge tomorrow.

markread

Depends on how hard you do either... Though I have also heard that running is of higher energy output than cycling. I dont have enough experience in either to give you an informed opinion, but if I were you.... I've have his milk anyway

Peddle Up!

Does he drive a taxi, or cut hair?

sloppyschleckonds

I went for a run this morning and overtook a mtber struggling up a hill in the granny ring.

sloppyschleckonds

Peddle Up! wrote:

Does he drive a taxi, or cut hair?

Serves up burgers and fries

Mac9

Peddle Up! wrote:

Does he drive a taxi, or cut hair?

Haha, he's my parole officer!

rc856

I find that if I've managed to get out on the bike a lot, it helps my running loads.

Don't really notice the other way.

Don't know if that helps the argument at all :?

geoff_ss

If god had intended us to run he wouldn't have made our feet exactly suitable to pedal a bike.

Actually, I would say a marathon run was about the equivalent of nearer a 100 miles.

Woodsie

From what I hear it's closer to 4:1.
10:1 seems very high.

cougie

Yeah it's not 10-1. I'd say more like 4 or 5 miles cycled for a mile of running.

If you look at ironman races - it's 112 miles bike and then 26.2 miles run and they feel about as hard.

danowat

Its very hard to compare, when I was running, the longest event I did was a half marathon, which was quite hard, the longest cycle race I've done is a 100 mile time trial, which was hard too.

Which one was harder?, you can't say, because each event was hard in its own way, all I will say is, you can rest on a bike and still keep moving, if you rest while running, you stop, big difference there......

Monty Dog

Ironman distances aren't really a comparator as 112 miles is the length of the perimeter road around the island of Oahu which just happens to be about 4x marathon distance.

SLX01

Cycling is much easier than running for at least two obvious reasons..

a) you cannot freewheel downhill running
b) trainers do not have 20 gears

I would say its far harder than 4 to 1 I do at least one 100 mile ride a week with no problem if I was running a marathon a week I'd know it and have to have a few days rest afterwards.

danowat

SLX01 wrote:

I would say its far harder than 4 to 1 I do at least one 100 mile ride a week with no problem if I was running a marathon a week I'd know it and have to have a few days rest afterwards.

Depends how hard you do either,
Eddie Izzard "ran" a 43 marathons in 51 days.......
Mark Beaumont cycled 18200 miles in 197 days......

Personally, there is no comparison between the two, certain not one that can be paired down to a simple ratio.

desweller

It depends on what sort of cycling you're doing. On a bike you can tickle along at an intensity similar to walking and still make reasonable time.

My riding improves substantially if I add regular running to my training.

Herbsman

On the wayu back rfrom Loughborough university campus crits, I saw a guy on the train with a tshirt that said 'Running is shit'. I wanted to ask him where he got it from and take a photo, but a) the train was rammed and he was too far away for me to talk to, and (b) i feel taking photos of strangers is a bit creepy

Herbsman

Also, I think the minimum intensity for is quite high for running. When you cross the line from 'walk' to 'run' you have to work fairly hard, even if you're only running gently. Wherease on a bike you can cycle really slowly in an easy gear, probably doing less work than a brisk walk. So running a marathon even at the easiest pace you can manage without stopping or walking, could be harder than riding all day even at a moderate pace.

mask of sanity

There is no way to make a good comparison IMO. I find I can ride at a much higher intensity then I could ever run at and for longer periods but it's easier to ride at lower intensity then to run at low intensity. So I think you could make a 25TT harder then a marathon or a 200 mile ride easier.

borisvanhalen

i've ran a few half marathons this year and cycle 4 - 5 times a week with at least one of those being 50-70 miles and usually 100 once a month...

i find running a half marathon (race) to be about the same effort as a hard / fast 50 mile cycle

leyburnrunner

using my HRM i'll run a 7 miler with average 155-165 bpm and that will be a tough run. the only way i could sustain that level of exertion on a bike is by a long hill climb for 40 minutes or so.
i read somewhere that you can push your body harder on a bike than by purely running which kinda shhots my argument down in flames. i guess i'm just not doing it right...

borisvanhalen

the heartrate thing is tricky... running i'll max out at 175, but on the bike i can push to 190bpm at 40yrs old

alwaystoohot

I don't know about cycling but sports science experts rate swimming training at the ration 1 : 4.5 with running. So a 5 kms swim is the equivilent of 22.5 kms running.

markos1963

A lady in our club runs and cycles, she did the London marathon and reckons it's far harder than any 100miler she has done(she's a gold standard TTer so she knows her stuff) Roughly about 6 to 1 I think the figure is.

Headhuunter

Someone posted somewhere here a day or so ago that according to some sportsperson or other the ratio is 3:1 with an average cycling speed of 15mph. I should think that would be at gentle jogging pace...

izzy Eviel

On another forum we established that it was 1 bike mile to 4 running miles. 1 to 3 if on a hard route.

how much effort you put in will affect the ratio.

Hinzy9

Could I ride 100 miles tomorrow? Yes
Could I run 26 miles tomorrow? Not a chance!

cougie

I've got to do both on Sunday. :-(

Brommers76

Impact is the killer with running. I could cycle 100miles then cycle the next day. I couldn't run a marathon and then run the next day.

I find cycling is fundamentally easier as the discomfort under hard effort is focussed in the legs and you can rest. I would put cycling up Alp d'huez (flat out, racing similar ability mates) at a similar pain level to running a 5k. Muscle soreness would be apparent the day after the 5k but not after Alp d'huez.

dennisn

Mac9 wrote:

This man in work reckons that 10 miles cycling is the equivalent to 1 mile running.

I think the word "reckons" pretty much says it all. :roll: :roll: :roll:

Peddle Up!

Hinzy9 wrote:

Could I ride 100 miles tomorrow? Yes
Could I run 26 miles tomorrow? Not a chance!

Could a marathon runner ride 100 miles? Anyone know?

Pep

I ran 7 marathons.
I agree a marathon is much harder than a 100mile ride.

How many marathons do the best runner in the world do? Two a year, a dozen or two in their life.

How many 100mile rides do the best cyclist in the world do...?