Walking vs Cycling fitness

secretsam

I'm signed up to do a 20km walk in the Lakes in October, and was wondering - how "fit" for walking does cycling make you? Not done much walking recently (used to do quite a bit) but can easily do 40+ miles on the bike

mudcovered

SecretSam wrote:

I'm signed up to do a 20km walk in the Lakes in October, and was wondering - how "fit" for walking does cycling make you? Not done much walking recently (used to do quite a bit) but can easily do 40+ miles on the bike

Aerobically you will probably be fine although 20k of walking equates to a lot more than a 40mile bike ride. However walking and running don't use the same muscle groups as riding so you may end up with a lot of very sore muscles the day afterwards (this is speaking from experience of doing much shorter walks on the coastal path in Cornwall last year ).

So if you can manage it I'd do at least a little bit of walking before then to get legs used to the concept of walking distances again.

Mike

slowbike

It doesn't ...

Well - if it's a pace then your heart will be able to sustain it - but walking/running uses muscles in a different way or different muscles - which they're not used too if you just ride

fenix

Yeah completely different muscles and no impact/friction on your feet.

Sure there's aerobic benefits to cycling but you'll not be noticing that when your legs ache, your feet are blistering and everything aches.

You need to get out and get some walks in pronto.

20km might not sound much but whats the terrain ? Up and over mountains will be a hell of a lot harder than 20km on the flat.

I did a 37k walk recently - that was tough and i'm used to marathons and stuff. Walking takes forever ! :-)

singleton

As others have said, your cardio should be fine but your leg muscles and feet will take a pounding unless you take some time to prepare and condition them.

essex-commuter

I'll let you know, I'm off to the Lakes next weekend!

elbowloh

Just make sure you have decent shoes / boots, especially if it gets wet.

I did the Oxfam Trailwalker a couple of times over the South Downs, 100km with a 28 hour limit, walking all through the night and it's the hardest thing I've ever done. Lost 6 toe nails the first time as it was so wet (pissed it down for basically 24 hours), even with supposedly waterproof shoes and double layer socks.

N0bodyOfTheGoat

It will be a lot harder on your joints and muscles compared to cycling, that's for sure!

smokey_bacon

Ive used cycling as the main training for all of the treks that I have done and suffered no problems. Added a few walks in to test kit/break in boots butthat is it and nothing terribly long.

essex-commuter

I done a 20 mile walk a couple of years ago, I felt more knackered than I do when I ride 100+ miles.

jspash

Walking and running cause me great pain in the hips. I've been told it's due to the shortening of the hip flexor muscles. Also I have a desk job which doesn't help. Over time they become very inflexible (not actually shortened as far as I understand), and walking tends to stretch them quite a bit. Doing a 5k will put me on the sofa for the rest of the day!

The heart is fine though. Which probably allows me to push myself harder than my legs(hips) will allow. Which exacerbates the pain.

note to self: need to stretch more

mrfpb

Walking is hard on my feet, but not on my hips (running is definitely hard on my hips). Any idea of pace? At 2 mph that's six hours of walking, so I expect you'll be carrying some kit and food. The cycling gives you a good "engine" so it's a case of getting decent walking shoes and socks, and finding a nice cake stop or two.

And of course, no freewheeling on the downhills!

tgotb

several people wrote:

walking and running don't use the same muscle groups as riding

Well...

Walking briskly up steep hills actually does seem to use very similar muscle groups, so you'll probably be fine on those bits; it's the flat and downhill bits where other muscle groups come into play. For those of you who like looking at the numbers, it turns out that you tend to achieve a very similar VAM (vertical rate of ascent) walking briskly up a steep climb as you will cycling up a road climb.

At the risk of looking like an octagenarian, walking poles do a surprisingly good job of reducing leg fatigue on the downhill bits; I often carry my telescopic ski poles on the back of my rucksack, and bring them out for steep descents.

A couple of years ago I did the Langdale Horseshoe fell race (12-13miles, lots of vertical) on the back of a total of ~15 miles running (and negligible walking) over the previous month, though I'd done lots of cycling. There weren't many flat bits, and my descending was pretty atrocious, but I gained a lot of places on every climb.

prawny

I did 7ish miles in a couple of hourse down the canal the other week, so obviously flat but I could have happily carried on all day. My feet were hurting the next day though, cycling doesn't help those muscles at all.

mtb-idle

Cycling loads prepares you for walking much better than doing nothing.

I hate walking, it's like slow cycling (a bit like when Neil of the inbetweeners said he tried reading a book once but it was just like slow TV).

Me and the wife did the Marsden March, 13 and a bit miles of very flat walking from Chelsea to Sutton. We trained a fair bit beforehand. I found it easy, cos like I cycle a lot (see my first point above).

She found it very difficult cos she usually does nothing.

cooldad

Take your bike and ride it.

itboffin

remember to say "are we there yet?" loads and "its quicker by bike"

tangled_metal

It's 12 miles. Enjoy it and don't worry. If you're a fit cyclist that distance shouldn't be too hard.

A few tips that might help. First uphill tip, guide's pace, that's a slower pace than you think you should do. Reason for it is that it allows you to keep going for longer. Hares might leave you behind but when they slow you'll still be going strong.

It's possibly steeper and rougher terrain than you're used to. Where in the Lakes? If you can tell me where and what hills you're doing I'll probably be able to tell you what it's like.

My personal experience of walking 12 4 miles is it's easy. Guess it's what 40 odd years of walking for leisure does for you . I start to feel it above about 26 miles, a bit less of I'm trying to beat a target time. 40 plus miles I'm starting to get wrecked and I've yet to do more than approximately 50 miles. Although that 50 miles was over rough terrain so easier routes I guess 60 miles is doable.

Or at least it was almost 6 years ago when personal circumstances meant I had less time for walking. You need to do a lot of it the further your walks get. You need to build up to long walks. If you're not used to walking then even short distances could be hard. Do a few walks before to get used to it fitness might be good from cycling but muscle utilization is different. You need to train them for walking and a few walks before will help.

It's fun BTW so you'll do it OK and I hope you get the bug. I might meet you on the fells in the future. It's my patch as I like to say. I'm 45 minutes drive from Ambleside but I know it better than the actual town I live in.

One last point, where are you walking in the lakes?

timbo_tim

To echo most of the points here, I consider myself relatively cycling fit (60 miles plus climbs and can sustain a brisk pace) and cycled the South Downs last month. However, the last bit of the challenge was to run the seven sisters (13 miles) and my legs were really sore the next day. So yeah cardio wise you'll be fine, muscle side perhaps less so

secretsam

It's the Kentmere Horseshoe. I used to walk a lot, so bit if experience.

tangled_metal

A good 15 mile walk, done it a few times. Which way round? I like the way over Yoke, Ill Bell and Froswick first. The other leg I'm not as keen on so happy to make it the homeward leg of the horseshoe.

If gets wet in places but the lakes is like that especially if it is raining. At least it's not the ridgeline from High Tove. I've done that on a dry day one summer and by mistake lost the path and ended up on a kind of island in a bog. Couldn't retrace our steps and ended up wading almost knee deep through a bog that was halfway between land and water, you could call it either!

Some parts around Kentmere can be like that but most of the horseshoe is dry from memory. I've done it a few times in all seasons. I've climbed some of the hills on it by less trod routes too. A nice collection of hills especially the Froswick side. Interesting cairns on one of them. Plus Thornthwaite Beacon too. BTW it's actually Thornthwaite Crags, the beacon is the cairn.

Enjoy your trip.

cougie

Oh nice. I did that this year. We followed the route of the fell race and that has steeper slopes. The path is a bit more gentle. Hope you can navigate well - of the cloud comes down on the tops it's a bugger. It's not the easiest 12 miles to walk but should be fun. Fingers crossed for nice weather.

msmancunia

I started walking last summer ahead of a trekking holiday to Everest base camp (and a nag off my GP telling me I was at risk of osteoporosis because all I did was ride a bike. Had a bit of a shock after my first walk - High Raise from Grasmere - I could barely get out of the car after I'd driven the 90 mins back to Mcr.

The main problems I had were tight hamstrings, and really aching knees. Decent walking boots, Bridgedale socks, and short toenails on the day. Do some walking or running before that - just to get your knees used to the harder impact. Take walking poles - they aren't the most fashionable things in the world, but all our Sherpas used them in Nepal - and one of ours had summited Everest seven times - he won't walk without them. So if they're good enough for him, they're good enough for me.