Training & Nutrition - Legs cant' push?

I just started riding the bike again after maybe 4 months or so; I was doing a decent amount of XC and pavement running daily in those 4 months though (decent pace avg 6:30 mile with the longest run being 15 miles each week)

But today I went 20.5 miles on my road bike (I cleaned it up pretty good I thought lubed the chain and everything got most of the large gunk out).. it took me an hour and 2 min to finish and the entire time my breathing didn't seem to be pushed that hard but my legs just wouldn't push? (time and distance from computer that I calibrated last night)

I didn't have a heart rate monitor but I could easily tell my breathing was steady and much deeper and easiar then when I'm running but everytime I tried to pedal faster my legs just didn't want to go?

I don't understand how this could be if I've been running so much (uses quads and calfs just like cycling) is it a muscle issue or am I ******** or a bit of both... or is it something that I'm missing here?

The other weird thing was I got salt deposits on my head like strips of white from the dried up sweat that never happened before :/ actually I think the salt deposits might be worrying me a little bit more ... I know it was salt because I licked it after taking some off with my finger.

4 months off the bike and your legs can't push? You've just lost bike fitness i'm sorry to say. About the salty sweat thing - I often see this when I get back on the bike after a layoff. I guess your body just stores up more electrolytes seing you aren't training so much. Of course there could be other factors, likely relating to what you have been eating and/or drinking - I wouldn't worry about it.

????...

Of course your legs can't push, you've been off the bike for 4 months.

Come on man. Jeez.

Sick and I have our disagreements, but yeah, I mean duh.

Running and cycling do not translate very well to each other. The aerobic fitness will be there but your legs will not be happy, as you found out.

Even though I speedskate all winter, it still takes awhile in the spring before I can ride at a high cadence.

Yea guess im just ********. Guess I just figured that all the running would translate over since the running used a bit of my quads as well.

Thanks for clearing that up.

You would think, but it doesn't.

Yea guess im just ********. Guess I just figured that all the running would translate over since the running used a bit of my quads as well.

Thanks for clearing that up.

I must admit, I remember years ago I stopped cycling completely for 2 months or so & started running, doing repeated hill sprints for that duration instead.

I'm back on the bike 2 months later, hit the 1st usual hill that guaranteed to put a demand on my aerobic fitness, VO2 & HR when I cycled it. My aerobic fitness absolutely sailed it. I certainly developed a greater VO2 just running that hill.

Hell I told myself, I ain't gonna stop running them hill sprints.

IMO running is very different. you are quite fit but you now need to work on the cycling muscles.

I find it even worse going back to running at the end of cycling season. Legs and feet of lead.

been riding all winter - not a lot but enough to keep everything up and firm. started to include some treadmil runs of one mile with my weight training sessions. 1/2 before and 1/2 after. the snow finally cleared and I got on the track and was very disappointed in how difficult two miles was for me. I'm fine now and can do the 2 miles as I expect, but it was an eye opener.

Well first off running is not the same as cycling. Your running will give your legs a good work out and it is aerobic, so there is a certain amount of carry over but it will not be 100%. The motions in running and cycling are different enough. Shoot, I recall one year I was doing a fair bit of wind training on a stationary bike. After my first road ride of the year, my legs were sore in a few places. I was hitting parts of my muscles on the road in a slightly different way than on the wind trainer. Doing a bit of 20 mph for an hour is not bad especially given the fact that you have been off the bike for 4 months.