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! ).

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

[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 onene 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.

[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.

[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/attac...7&d=1199922660

[OakLeaf]

No fair, that's snowy/icy, and the runner is in stocking feet. 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!

[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/attac...7&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.

* Not really, of course.