Athletes, what's harder riding up that hill or running up that hill?

[Biciclista]

I'm not a runner, so I am curious to hear from those of you who run AND ride.
There's a 6% grade ahead, is it going to be worse running up it or riding up it.
A 12% grade?

[limewave]

I don't know why, but riding up seems harder to me.

However:
I try to never ever get off my mntn bike on a hill if I absolutely don't have to (i.e. I fall or my bike starts rolling down the hill backwards).

I walk up hills a lot more often when I run.

My mental state is much different when I'm riding in a race as opposed to running. I actually have a chance to place mntn biking and I know that any time I get off my bike I'm going to lose precious time.

When I'm running, there's times I can walk up the hills faster than I'm running--so why waste the energy?

[Possegal]

My own take has been finding it harder to ride. I started running at about 10 and ran on track teams for many years. I always passed lots of people when it came to the uphill. So much so that it drove my coaches nuts. If I had that much energy up the hill, why didn't I use it over the whole course. (cause I didn't know I had that energy :) )

I have yet to be yelled at for having too much energy riding up a hill. ;)

[OakLeaf]

Running.

I have pretty limited flexibility in my ankles, so I wind up having to sidestep anything over about a 10% grade, especially when it's steeply crowned as most rural roads are here.

On that 6% grade, it's shallow enough to stay in the saddle and, well, not exactly spin, but maintain a cadence of at least 80-85 rpm. But I think if I were trying to get up it fast, it'd still be easier riding than running.

Either way, on the bici I can shift gears and increase my cadence in anticipation of the hill. I know Chi Running talks about having "gears," but although I get the concept, I don't have clearly defined gears, it's more like a CVT. ;) If there's a way to "lighten up" at the bottom of the hill in anticipation, while running, I don't know what it is (and hopefully someone in this thread will tell me! :D).

Maybe part of it's just mental - on the bike I'm used to my speed varying a lot with the terrain; on foot if I'm not maintaining at least a 10 minute pace I feel like something's wrong.

[Eden]

I think it really does depend on the gradient.

On a less steep to moderately steep hill I think it is easy to ride quicker, but when the gradient really turns up, I think the added weight of the bicycle becomes more of a liability.

[sfa]

Running is much harder for me. In either case, I turn into a big slug when I hit a hill, but on my bike I'm a big slug who maintains a relatively decent heartrate, and I know I could push myself harder if I wanted to get up faster. Running, I'm a big slug whose heartrate hits the "aren't you dead yet?" stage pretty quickly and I have to slow down to a walk to make it up the hill.

Sarah

[TrekTheKaty]

I was never a fast runner, but I'd say running up a hill is easier. There's something about gravity and wheels. I've had the problem of going so slow up a hill on my bike, that I didn't know if I could clip out and get my foot down before drawing blood!

[kaybee]

I'd rather run a hill than ride it any day.

KB

[alpinerabbit]

To me, it's the same - on a different scale. Don't look up, pace yourself, and after a couple times doing the same hill, you will eventually make it.

[Grog]

Depends on the gradient and length.

The steeper the hill, the more likely I'd prefer to run up it.

However, anything longer than 2 km I prefer spinning my way up in a low gear.

[Possegal]

I was never a fast runner, but I'd say running up a hill is easier. There's something about gravity and wheels. I've had the problem of going so slow up a hill on my bike, that I didn't know if I could clip out and get my foot down before drawing blood!

If there are tricks to the getting out rather than falling or going backwards, I'd love to hear them. :) My first year clipped in, I did a "controlled fall" on a hill. Got to the edge, found some soft leaves, TIMBER. Figured it was the lesser of all evils. That may be one issue with riding vs running. I feel like I have to commit to the hill on my bike, where running I can just stop and walk. THough I can say, even growing up in Pittsburgh with some wicked hills, I've never not kept running up a hill. Same can NOT be said for biking. :)

[andtckrtoo]

I bike much steeper and longer hills than I run. I love the challenge of hills on a bike, but give me flat on a run any day.

Funny how we're all different.

[Andrea]

It depends on the riding situation as to whether or not it'd be harder than running. If I'm in a race and wanting to drop people (or chase someone trying to drop me), then I'll be going up as fast and I can physiologically tolerate. If I'm just riding along and relaxing, then I'll shift and slow down to where it'd probably be easier than running up the hill.

[Veronica]

Gears baby! On my road bike I've never met a hill I couldn't climb and I've climbed some steep, sustained puppies.

On my mountain bike... trail conditions can really make a big difference.

A local tradition is to ride up Mt Diablo on New Year's Day. I guess it's also a tradition for runners to run it. I'd rather ride. The runners get picked up at the top and I want that descent I just earned. :D

Veronica

[Crankin]

I voted "other," but I think riding may be harder for all the reasons stated, plus a couple of personal ones. I am a new runner and I've been riding for 9 years. Because I'm in pretty good aerobic shape, running is more of an issue of leg strength and avoiding injury for me. I am not fast and don't want to be. Well, I've improved my speed, but every little injury/illness sets me back, as opposed to cycling. I have to run/ride *up* a 6-15% grade on my street every time I come home. Usually, on a run, that's where my cool down begins, so I walk. However, I have run up it and actually felt better than I thought I would. It's slow, but I am running. And I think cycling is what helps me here. I live in a hilly area and routinely climb grades that are tough. I spin on all climbs, sometimes very slowly, but I get up. The only time I have walked was last summer on a hill that was a mile or more of 18-22% grades. In retrospect, I could have done it, but my friend walked and once i saw that, it did me in.
As others have stated, it's easy to slow down and walk up a hill when you are running. Even though I am only an average rider, I have confidence on hills, since that is all I've ever known. I haven't run up anything steeper than my street, so no 20% grades to speak about for running. There's some mechanical advantage to the bike, but as I said, you can always walk on a run.

[Skierchickie]

Running - for me, it's harder both mentally and physically. I don't remember ever walking my bike up a hill (well, except when I've lost it on my mountain bike, but I'm just talking about steepness-related walking). I walk up hills I'm supposed to be running all the time.

Ooh - gotta go watch the Tour! :D

[malaholic]

For me, running is harder. Running up a hill will give me shin splints no matter how much stretching I've done beforehand. Depending on the grade, biking a hill can hurt, but I usually recover a lot faster than I do when I run.

[TrekTheKaty]

If there are tricks to the getting out rather than falling or going backwards, I'd love to hear them. :) My first year clipped in, I did a "controlled fall" on a hill. Got to the edge, found some soft leaves, TIMBER. Figured it was the lesser of all evils.

Yep, I'm always eyeing the shoulder. Nice to know where I'm going to land :)

[pfunk12]

For me, running is harder. Although I was a pretty successful runner(sponsored by a shoe company and successful at distances from 5k to the marathon), I absolutely hated hills. I never stopped to walk up a hill but that's not to say that I didn't slow down to a crawl! But on the bike, I love climbing. For some reason, it just seems so much easier to me. When running up a steep incline or long steady climb, I would think, "Gosh...this really sucks." But on the bike, I am sometimes sad when the hill is over.

[emily_in_nc]

Running is much harder for me...maybe because it takes longer than riding up the same hill, and I get hotter. I have very low gears on my road bike, so there would be very few hills I couldn't ride up, albeit very slowly. There are definitely hills I couldn't run due to their length or grade.

[colby]

This is a tough one. There is a point early in the season when I have been running outside but riding indoors that running up the hills actually feels easier. But... after I build outdoor and hill endurance on the bike, they start to even out, and then I think riding up hills might actually be easier than running up them.

With either one, it seems the only way to get better is to just do more of it... I get sick of running a lot sooner than riding, so maybe that's why riding comes out easier in the end ;)

[kenyonchris]

I ride because I love it, run because I have to. I would rather ride up the steepest mountain pass on my road bike or the rockiest climb on my mtn bike than run up a nice, well paved slope. Run, for sure.
Having said that, while I can pretty much spin up any hill on my road bike (with an exception once when I shot out of an alley onto the middle of a really steep hill, totally unprepared and geared way too high...I pulled it off and didn't fall, but it was UGLY) there comes a time on my mountain bike where I just have lost my momentum and hit a rock and topple over. I usually can unclip, grab something, or tuck and roll.
If I ran up the same hill, I would have to stop and do CPR on myself.

[salsabike]

I ride because I love it, run because I have to.

Yup. I have been riding much longer than I have been running, and have much more of a base, including for hills. I would not be able to run up many of the hills that I ride up.

[smilingcat]

on a bike, I can take 2 second rests. Running up a hill I can't. The other thing about riding is that you can change yuor position and use different muscle groups to climb. Running, you don't have that luxury.

running is harder. Even on a 15+% grade. This is just me though.

[kenyonchris]

Yup. I have been riding much longer than I have been running, and have much more of a base, including for hills. I would not be able to run up many of the hills that I ride up.

Chasing someone up is easier. But still not easier than riding.

[aicabsolut]

I was only really good at sprinting (or hurdling) as a runner, and I couldn't stand even very mild grades. It needed to be a flat and fast track. So with that in mind, I say running up hills is always harder. The only times I've been forced to walk my bike, the gradient was too steep for running. In fact, in cycling shoes and pushing up my pretty light road bike, walking was difficult. The grades were over 20%.

[kenyonchris]

I was only really good at sprinting (or hurdling) as a runner, and I couldn't stand even very mild grades.

Does hurdling involve running at speed over large gates that I would consider jumping only on a horse? I tried one (yes, one) ONCE. Pain, embarrassment, laughter from the peanut gallery, and a permanent branding that would follow me through high school ensued. Not pretty.

[VeloVT]

For me, running is easier, especially as the incline increases.

[arielmoon]

I can't run period so to me biking is easier for everything!

[witeowl]

I don't know if this is definitive, or even if he wasn't just trying to make me feel better, but I have this story to share from yesterday's ride:

I began a long ascent yesterday and passed a runner at the bottom. I started dropping gears and finally landed in my lowest gear, concentrating on breathing, remaining upright, and continuing on up the mountain (and not passing out, if I must be completely honest). After a while, the runner caught up with me. Then he passed me. I smiled, chuckled, and decided that it was a good thing that I was wearing my "Team Hill Slug" jersey.

At the top, I finally caught up with him as he rested before beginning the descent back. I jokingly called out, "Sure, you may beat me up the hill, but just wait until I race you back down." He smiled and informed me that he almost always beats bicycles up the hill. Only one guy beats him up, and he's "hard core".

As he sees it, it's faster to run than bike. I don't know about easier, but I'd say that faster would be easier. Chatting about it, we discussed how - looking at the physics of the sports - mechanical advantages a cyclist has on flats and downhills is lost on uphills. As a runner, he has a one:one ratio; everything he puts into climbing translates directly into his motion. It's not quite the same with a bike.

I dunno. I walk up hills when running, but I'm not exactly a stellar runner.

[aicabsolut]

Does hurdling involve running at speed over large gates that I would consider jumping only on a horse? I tried one (yes, one) ONCE. Pain, embarrassment, laughter from the peanut gallery, and a permanent branding that would follow me through high school ensued. Not pretty.

Yes, that would be the hurdles :p

[OakLeaf]

Hmmmm, I don't know about that.

You still have a mechanical advantage on a bike whenever your chainring is bigger than your rear cog. Which it's rare to find a road bike with lower gears than that - mountain bikes, yeah.

Plus, it seems to me that the body mechanics of standing to climb is hard to differentiate from a slow motion run... except that you're creating forward progress on the up-stroke as well as the down-stroke, and using your arms to generate more force.

I think that guy who passed you was a freak of nature. :p

[Possegal]

I'll repost this picture I posted some time ago. Biking/running up a street near where I was born. The runner won.
http://forums.teamestrogen.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=5167&d=1199922660

[OakLeaf]

No fair, that's snowy/icy, and the runner is in stocking feet. :eek: He's obviously got way better traction than the cyclist. Even on dry pavement, I do have to work to keep my weight back, or my rear wheel will slip. Let's take traction out of this discussion I think! :p

[Possegal]

And it's on cobblestone. Oh I don't miss the cobblestone. :)
They do this 'ride', if one can call it that, up 13 of the wickedest hills, around Thanksgiving. Cause you don't want to have it be too easy or anything, need to add in the cold and snow potential.

[witeowl]

I'll repost this picture I posted some time ago. Biking/running up a street near where I was born. The runner won.
http://forums.teamestrogen.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=5167&d=1199922660

Well, I think that settles it.* Just look at the calm smile on the runner, compared to the scream of determination on the cyclist. :D

* Not really, of course.

[Eden]

That's a 34% grade hill..... like I said I think there is a steepness at which the bike becomes a liability, and I do think it is before you hit the 30's .... I'd say in when a hill hits the high teens a runner might begin to have the advantage. I also think the distance you are talking about makes a difference. Have you ever seen the rabid fans that run along side the riders on mountain climbs. They can usually run faster than the racers *but* for a short time only.

Bicycling Science (a neat geeky book) goes into great detail and appears to come to the conclusion that equilibrium is reached at around an 18% grade (but also assumes you are pushing the bike)

[Owlie]

I'm not at a point yet where I have enough muscle power to overcome the bike's tendency to want to roll backward. I'd say running, except that I can't run either. (No, really. I walk a mile faster than I run one.)