Lately I’ve been spending a fair amount of time on the bike, relatively speaking.  In fact, my training log indicates that over the last 90 days (roughly since my last ultramarathon, Lake Sonoma 50mile), I’ve logged many more miles on the bike than I have running (478 to 272).  This has mostly because injuries have significantly limited my running capacity, forcing me into other disciplines to keep general fitness up and provide an outlet for energy.

But I don’t just bike as a matter of necessity, or only when I can’t run.  I actually like biking.  Right before I dove headlong into running in the fall of 2016, I had spent much of the previous spring and summer on a road bike.   I rode road regularly and participated in a few century gran fondos in the foothills of the Appalachians.  I enjoyed the group dynamic that comes with road riding.    And going back to high school and college, I mountain biked as a hobby and competed occasionally in some local races.   In the last 15 years, I’d occasionally revisit it and get back into it for a few months at a time, but never sustained it, and I never got back into competing.

Now, live in an area with world-class mountain biking.  Fort Ord is exactly 1.5 miles from my doorstep.  Fort Ord is an old army base that closed in 1994, and has since been converted to over 40 square miles of BLM land and designated as the Fort Ord National Monument.  It is the site of the annual Sea Otter Classic, one of mountain biking’s oldest and biggest festivals and race events.   Fort Ord has many (I want to say hundreds, but I can’t confirm that) miles of singletrack, which varies from fast and flowy to technical and rocky.   And if I hop in a car and drive 45 minutes north, I can access the Santa Cruz mountains, home to world renowned mountain biking trails and the birthplace and influence for the bike maker Santa Cruz.   There are plenty of folks I work with that ride, so finding groups to ride with is usually pretty easy.

So besides just keeping up the fitness, I have plenty of good motivation to get on my mountain bike.   But as enjoyable as biking is, it just doesn’t replace running.

This post isn’t meant to be a dig on biking, but more a recognition of a few fundamental differences.  For some, those differences steer them towards biking.  For others, running is the bigger draw.

I’ve broken these down into two categories: benefits of biking over running, and vice versa.  These are just Brad’s thoughts, I’m sure others may think differently or have some different perspectives.  And while the references to biking are written more specific to mountain biking, most are germane to road biking as well.   So, for what its worth, here are my comparisons:

Biking’s advantages over running:

1.  Easier on the body:  less impact on the joints = less wear and tear on the body.   Nuff said on that.
2. Skills:  Although almost everyone can ride a bike, you can always improve your technical skills.  No matter how good you think you are, there’s plenty of room to improve your riding.   If you don’t believe me, watch a youtube video of Danny McCaskill or Brandon Semenuk.   In mountain biking, subtle things such as line choice, body positioning, and center of gravity management can really make a difference in how smooth and fast you can ride a line.   And if you’re killing it on the trails, go to a bike park and be humbled.
3. Adrenalin:  Biking wins in the speed-based adrenaline category.  There is not much that can compare to a fast, flowy, edge-of-control, downhill line that pushes you just up to or just beyond your comfort zone.  The adrenaline rush that comes with this is similar to that in skiing or skydiving.   Fast is fun.
4. Gear junky-ness:  For those that are into gear or widgets, that like tinkering with components, or who like to try to optimize machine efficiency – biking is a better fit.  Bike technology is simple enough that anyone can learn it quickly and maintain and tweak their own bike, but complex enough that folks can get real deep into the tech side of the sport.
5. Can go longer:  related to advantage #1.   Because it is easier on the body, and isn’t acutely as difficult, most folks can go longer.  Even those relatively new to the sport, with a little build up and with the right pace, can probably go out for 2 or 3 hour rides.  The same can’t be said for running.  A three hour run takes a while to build up to, and until you have some good training time under your belt, is going to hurt and take a while to recover from.    Similarly, if covering ground is your goal, biking is a way more efficient way (both in time and effort) to get from point A to B.

Running’s advantages over biking:

1. Lower barriers to entry:  no special gear or skills needed.  Every able-bodied person knows how to run and has been doing it since they were a little kid.  As for gear…maybe running shoes, but you don’t even really need those just to get out there and run a few miles.  Also, there is a lower barrier to spontaneous runs.  Throw some running shoes and shorts in your car, and you have everything you need for spontaneous runs where-ever, whenever.
2. Endorphins:  Even on my best bike rides, I have yet to get a high like a good runner’s high.  Something about that primal, endorphin-fueled flow state that running brings on just can’t be replicated when you inject a piece of machinery (a bike) into the mix.   It’s called a runners high because you can only get it from running.
3. It’s harder:  Mile for mile, running is harder than biking.  Yes, this can be viewed as an advantage.  Running is inherently hard – most folks don’t like to do it because its hard.   But with its difficulty comes a proportional sense of accomplishment and reward.  We could go way down this rabbit hole but I won’t, but it was well articulated in this recent post on irunfar, “The Hard is What Makes it Great.”
4. Gear: The inverse of biking’s #4 above.  If you don’t care for dealing with a lot of gear or widgets, than running is about as basic as it gets.   Runners can still get their gear-fix by nerding out on shoes, hydration vests, GPS watches, training logs, etc.  Ultimately, though, running is extremely non-gear-intensive.   This fact also levels out the playing field in groups or competitions.
5. Falls:  Falling off a bike hurts or can injure you.  Road bike crashes are brutal.   Mountain bike crashes can be mellow, or they can be life-altering.   Conversely,  running falls are usually harmless.  If anything, they’re kinda funny.   Pride and feelings get hurt, but the body is usually ok.  Get up, walk it off for a few seconds, then resume the run.

For me, running wins out, mostly for running advantages 1, 2, and 3.   For me, it taps into a more primal part of our human physiology and psychology that biking can’t quite reach.   It strips us to our bare animal form, and is beautiful in its simplicity.

But biking is not a shabby alternative, and I can totally understand why some folks would pick two wheels over none.   And I’ll keep biking, because it’s good to mix it up, but mostly because I enjoy it.

What are your thoughts?  What have I missed?