How well does road cycling translate to backpacking

[Transient Being]

I started road cycling after doing my 700 mile hike last year to try and keep in shape. I actually like doing it. I feel like I'm flying averaging 17 mph after two months of hiking at 2.5 mph, lol. Anybody else use a bike to stay in shape for the trail?

[middle to middle]

I bike a lot. have saddle bags and camp out. Bike clubs offer great local info.

[hikathon]

It works the legs...that's for sure..

Obviously, while riding a bike, you usually wouldn't be carrying a heavy backpack (you could of course, but most probably wouldn't). Most of whatever weight you'd be carrying is supported by the frame of the bike via a rack that the saddlebags mount to (if doing long-distance touring).

Hiking to me seems like more of a total body workout, especially if you use poles...whereas biking is a lower body and core workout, without much at all being implemented as far as muscles from the upper body (shoulders/arms).

Rotating between the two can give certain sore areas a break and also gives you a break from the same activity day in and day out, which might get boring for some people.

[tarditi]

I section hiked with my buddy who rides a lot - it helps you keep your wind, but your muscles work so very differently. The shocker for him was that on our training/prep hikes I went at AT 3-4 day load, he had daypack weight. His lesson learned was to do more prep hiking at full load.

[Venchka]

Bike = 750 mile 12 day circle around Yellowstone. Roughly approximating the CDT from Yellowstone's south entrance to Mack's Inn, Idaho.
Bike = San Juan Skyway. Roughly approximating the CT from Silverton to Durango.
Bike = Cross country travel. Pavement optional.
Bike = Co-Motion Americano.

Wayne

[Pedaling Fool]

I've heard some people say it's a very good activity to keep your hiking legs somewhat in condition, but that hasn't been my experience and I ride a lot; have been for over 25 years as my primary form of transportation. I have no idea how many miles on bikes I have, but just with the three I have laying around I got over 50,000 miles on them, but clueless of all the other bikes I've had in the past.

Despite being a very fast cyclist I don't feel the benefits of converting cycling to hiking as much as running to hiking. However, I would disagree with other posts that say cycling does not do much for the upperbody compared to hiking; if you cycle long enough you will feel pain in your triceps, because you are supporting your weight somewhat (that's assuming you ride a road/hybrid, does not include things like beach cruisers and recumbents).

You just don't have much of a choice in that, but in hiking most people don't support their weight nearly as much with hiking poles, simply because they don't have to. You learn as you hike to become very efficient at using your hiking poles to simply check you balance and to get into a rhythm.

However, this is all kind of a moot point, because despite all that, neither hiking nor cycling really works on the upperbody the way it needs to be worked. You just simply must do weights of some sort to work your upperbody.

I say keep cycling, especially if you can use it as your form of transportation (I save tons of money on gas and don't even know how much gas costs), but you gotta throw a bunch of things at your body to keep it healthy and strong.

[Ewok11]

I don't road cycle but I do mountain bike and have a fluid trainer set up in my living room for those days I just can't get away. I can't definitively say that it has or hasn't helped with hiking. While they both work the legs, they are targeting different muscle groups. It certainly can't hurt, unless you injure yourself and then of course, it's going to hurt anyway.

[Marta]

Road cycling didn't translate well into hiking for my husband, especially on steep terrain. After one miserable hike, he vowed to run at least once a week before undertaking another. The mixture of a lot of cycling with a little running worked quite well to get him into hiking shape.

[garlic08]

I can't add much to what the smart people above have said. But I'm both an avid cyclist and hiker. After many seasons of long distance hiking, I finally made a coast-to-coast bike trip last year (and met fellow WBers Marta in MT, and Chin Music in IL, along the way, as well.

Transitioning from hiking to cycle touring was easy--same camping gear, much the same clothing, same daily routine, same diet. My cycling kit was probably half the size of most others I saw (but the same was true of my pack when I hiked the AT).

I also love road cycling and always have--it's so damn fun. It's so difficult to compare it to hiking, which I also love for completely different reasons. Many folks don't road bike because of the risk of major trauma and I sure can't argue with that--cycling is not for the risk-adverse. Traveling by foot is generally easier and simpler, I found, just a lot slower. It sure is easier to find places to camp when you're hiking.

Like Pedaling Fool, I don't own a car (but have easy access to my wife's). Bicycling is very important to me. For my entire engineering career, I commuted to work by bike, and to school before that.

I like to combine the two activities. I bicycle to trailheads for overnighters, and to trail work events, one of which was 125 miles away.

All I'll say is if you love doing something, you'll be in shape for it.

[Tuckahoe]

I do not have the years or the miles that Peddling Fool or Garlic have, I dont even consider myself a cyclist. But like them, my bike is my only means of transportation. It has been a big part of my physical activity and getting myself into shape.

What I have found is that biking has improved my stamina and greatly improved my breathing and biking or hiking I dont find myself breathing heavily when working to get uphill. On the other hand biking is a different set of movements than walking and only walking can really prepare you for hiking.

The best benefit though is that I now have one hell of a set of toned legs.

[Cookerhiker]

When I lived in Western Maryland, I regularly cycled my hybrid on the Great Allegheny Passage which, at that location, was a gradual uphill from Cumberland to the Eastern Continental Divide, rising a total of 1,700' over 23 miles. That seem like nothing for hiking but cycling it was an aerobic workout and I noted that my time improved at the summer went on.

In early September 2008, I did a section hike in the White Mountains and had no problems ascending the steep climbs even though my only workout was 3 months of cycling. So aerobically, cycling gets you in shape for hiking if you're able to bike a lot uphill. It doesn't necessarily help with other muscles as others have noted.

[garlic08]

I agree cycling helps with any sort of hill clilmbing. Once on a snowshoe trip, during a time I was cycling a lot and hadn't hiked for months, the guy I kept waiting for said, "This feels a lot like bicycling."

[DandT40]

I'm not much of a biker, but I am working on sectioning the IAT and I do a lot of bike and hikes to avoid shuttles. I usually bike first and then hike back to the car. Like others have said it really is a different motion where one does not affect the other. Because I hike much more than I bike in general when I get off the bike it feels so good to be hiking. I have started biking during my workouts on my arm days instead of running just to give my ankles and knees a break. But like others have said, other than to stay in generally good shape it really doesn't translate over to carrying a pack for days on a trail.

[Just Bill]

It's not a standalone activity- but a good addition- especially for flatlanders. I get ankle tendonitis flareups from walking on flat, and frequently paved trails by me. The bike lets my ankle get some motion in it and helps keep that problem down. When training- there is also the tremendous mental benefit of suddenly flying along at 3-4 minutes a mile and completing your 30 mile all day training hike in a few hours on a bike. When training intensively- I did 2 days a week on the paved trails, 2 on the bike, and 1 day on a trail. If I had my choice- I'd train nearly everyday on the trail- but the longest trail by me is 7mi long, and is still covered in loose limestone chips. Anything longer than a few miles is generally a bike path.

[Just Bill]

Oh- You know you can wear your pack while you bike... not perfect training but it helps.

[Pedaling Fool]

I get ankle tendonitis flareups from walking on flat, and frequently paved trails by me. The bike lets my ankle get some motion in it and helps keep that problem down...Here are some great leg exercises and each one, despite looking basically the same are vastly different in what is required by the body.

However, with respect to the ankles, jump to the 2-minute point of the video and that will show you one very good ankle workout http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TWvIu7s-vIM

[quasarr]

LOL a thru-hiker told me that bike touring is "practically RV-ing compared to this!" You can eat at a restaurant every day if you want! He also said he got tons of trail magic (road magic??) all the time on his bike trip.

[Two Speed]

I ride to the bus station and back two or three times a week as part of my commute, and get out on the Silver Comet - Chief Ladiga Trail every chance I get for longer rides on the weekends when I can.

The two major benefits I get is greatly improved cardio-pulmonary conditioning, and it's far easier to control my weight.

Hiking legs? Not as much, but some benefit.

Due to work and school I can't get enough hiking in these days to stay in any kind of reasonable backpacking condition, but cycling makes getting on the trail so much easier. I'm certain that actual hiking with a pack is much better preparation for backpacking but that isn't in the cards for me, so I hike when I can and cycle regularly to keep some kind of conditioning going.

Besides, my favorite dive bar is within cycling distance. :)

[chilln]

The only way bicycling translates to backpacking for me is as a mode of transportation. I park my truck at end of my section, then ride my bike to the trail head and walk back to my truck. It is a good warm up to the day. This being said any exercise is better than nothing

[Cookerhiker]

I'm not much of a biker, but I am working on sectioning the IAT and I do a lot of bike and hikes to avoid shuttles. I usually bike first and then hike back to the car. Like others have said it really is a different motion where one does not affect the other. Because I hike much more than I bike in general when I get off the bike it feels so good to be hiking....


The only way bicycling translates to backpacking for me is as a mode of transportation. I park my truck at end of my section, then ride my bike to the trail head and walk back to my truck. It is a good warm up to the day. This being said any exercise is better than nothing

My AT section hikes included several bike hikes like these. Since they were all day hikes (no heavy pack), I felt the biking was much harder than the hiking so I was glad I did it first.

[stumpknocker]

I started road cycling after doing my 700 mile hike last year to try and keep in shape. I actually like doing it. I feel like I'm flying averaging 17 mph after two months of hiking at 2.5 mph, lol. Anybody else use a bike to stay in shape for the trail?

I bicycled the Trans Am from VA to OR, then continued on the Northern Tier from WA back to Millinocket, ME....about 7,500 miles in four months if I recall right. I thought my legs were in the best shape of my life. I climbed Katahdin the next day and could hardly walk for the next few days because my leg muscles hurt so bad.

[Engine]

Cycling is excellent for cardio and you can develop significant quad and glute strength if you train with some intensity. One of the nice aspects of cycling is the lack of impact on the joints, but that's a problem when it comes to specificity of training as there is a constant impact factor when hiking, especially on steep descents. I would mix it up with running and/or a stair climber or even a treadmill on a steep setting to hit more of the specific muscle groups. The other thing to keep in mind when cycling is the time you spend coasting. People coast far more often than they realize and one thing is for sure, there is no coasting on the trail or you're in for a hard landing. :-)

[MuddyWaters]

Its complementary.
When you are tired of hiking, go ride.

You can ride 200 miles per day. I have an aquaintance that did 500 mile charity race in 24 hrs once.

Plenty of people have ridden bikes across the US multiple times. Just as enjoyable as a long hike, just different.

[JAK]

Start with Unified Field Theory, then go from there. Then you can hike, bike, paddle, sail, and cross-country ski, all with the same jack-knife. Mind you, it's only a theory at this point. I am still working on putting it into practice.