QUESTION: Why am I so slow cycling? I’m a competitive soccer player and I’m very fit. But recently some friends who are cyclists invited me to go on a ride with them, and I was unable to keep up. Why is that? They don’t seem particularly fit otherwise, and I’m pretty sure I could outrun any of them. —Harry M.
RBR’S STAN PURDUM REPLIES: Though your cyclist friends “don’t seem particularly fit,” they likely are, but in ways that are tailored to cycling, where they use their legs to “spin” and “crank.”
Both terms refer to pushing the pedals around to propel their bikes, but spinning means the emphasis is on maintaining a consistent cadence (revolutions per minute) and cranking (sometimes called “grinding”) means the emphasis is on torque and power production. While cycling over varied terrain, riders may switch from spinning to cranking and back, depending on whether they are climbing, going for speed, riding into a strong headwind or dealing with other conditions or goals. When riding with others, cyclists will at times pedal casually to maintain a conversational pace, but most of their pedaling contributes to their cardiovascular fitness and leg strength. And many cyclists ride at least three times a week, so they are keeping their fitness up.
At the same time, your fitness is likely tailored to the demands of soccer, where you do a lot of sprinting, kicking and jumping, activities that develop your leg muscles differently from the demands of cycling. With all that developed leg muscle, you may well be correct that you could outrun your cyclist friends, but when you enter their field of distance riding cold, they will usually have the advantage.
That’s not to say that you can’t improve your cycling endurance and speed while also continuing to play soccer, but simply that athletic proficiency in one sport does not necessarily translate to equal proficiency in another without some disciplined effort.
Stan Purdum has ridden several long-distance bike trips, including an across-America ride recounted in his book Roll Around Heaven All Day, and a trek on U.S. 62, from Niagara Falls, New York, to El Paso, Texas, the subject of his book Playing in Traffic. Stan, a freelance writer and editor, lives in Ohio. See more at www.StanPurdum.com.
Yes I can relate to exactly that too for my age 63 yrs young older guys than my self are passing me and yes you do need to ride more than 1 or 2 days a week ?♀️
I have a similar story. I was a runner, half and full marathons, one year when injured I tried cycling to keep fit. I could not believe how hard it was, a different set of muscles completely. The injuries eventually made me give up running and now I love cycling.
The answer would be just the same if a fit cyclist asked why they couldn’t keep up with experienced runners. Notice I said “experienced” because those folks would have all the efficiency and muscle memory built up over years of running and the cyclist would have none of it. You get good at what you work at and there’s more than cardiovascular fitness and muscle strength involved. Some folks think “how hard can it be” to “just ride a bike.”
SAID principle at work. Specific Adaptations to Imposed Demands. Your systems at both ends need to be trained. Great cardio/respiratory delivers to well developed-for the specific tasks-muscle, other connective tissues and terminal circulatory systems.
Agree 100% that specificity of training still applies in endurance athletics. It was clear to me back when I was training for triathlons (inc an ironman), and I saw it yet again last year. As I cut way back on cycling to seriously train for a Fall marathon I started getting regularly getting dropped by my usual riding buddies. Then ran my best ever (age-adjusted) marathon despite sunny & humid race day temps in the 60’s-70’s (HOT for a marathon).