Long Tom

Great!

I was worried that anything from knee pain on the steep downhills, to weak "balance" muscles, to weak calves and Achilles would crop up on a difficult, steep hike, after a summer of (oh let's just be honest) obsessive riding and not much else. But nope! Legs felt awesome.

This hike basically takes me down a steep nasty-ass clearcut hillside, no trail (lost when they cut it), then I catch an old abandoned trail at the bottom, go horizontal for a half mile, and then it's up up up for several miles. Semi-brutal, even if you are in decent shape. Well, it seems I'm in the best aerobic shape of my adult life because I basically "stood up and cranked" and while I was certainly moving some oxygen, and sweating, I was nowhere near blowing up aerobically. I did this hike at least a dozen times last year to prep for a wilderness backpack trip and I'd have to stop and rest fairly frequently. Not today! Woohoo!

I like cycling even more now than I did before.

telebianchi

How do your legs feel the day after?

I love a good hike but spend the majority of my free time during spring and early summer on the bike. In late summer I tend to pick up hiking again. I can go and tackle a big hike (along the lines of 8 miles, 2400 ft with most of the elevation coming in the first 4 miles on a loop trail that starts at the bottom). I have no problems during the hike, but my legs pay the price for the next day or three. On the plus side, it only takes about three hikes to get the legs back into hiking shape so I know that the cycling helps. But there are still different muscles being used and the range of motion needed for hiking some trails (with some rock scrambles that put your knee up close to your chin to climb up) are different than the consistent non-varying range used in cycling.

DGlenday

I'm a big hiker too.

I do a lot of hiking and climbing in winter. In May this year, as a conclusion to my winter hiking, I did a 42-mile challenge hike along a rocky, hilly segment of the AT. Finished the 42 miles in 12.5 hours. (This is a bi-annual event organized by my mountain club.) I had trained for that like mad all winter and early spring, and after that big event, I got onto the road bike and within 5 weeks I was able to leverage that fitness into a 300-mile 18.5 mph ride.

So what I'm saying is - the two activities are excellent cross-training for each other. If I can't ride during winter because of snow and ice on the roads, I'll be on the hiking trails - often doing hill-repeats on some tough climbs in my area.

rideaz

That is awesome! I quit most all other forms of exercise (except Yoga) this past few months to try and get better on the bike. By not running or hiking, my legs have never felt better but I am wondering how they will feel when i add that back to my routine! The Fall weather is gorgeous here in AZ and I am itching toget back out and do some hiking! Hopefully my legs feel GREAT too, but I doubt it! :-)

Carbonfiberboy 

I agree - biking and hiking complement each other. I hike on the day after my weekly long hard road ride. Helps protect my legs from injuries and improves endurance. Biking is also very good for my skiing.

Hiro11

I find cycling also helps prevent injury in running. The two complement each other and result in tough, balanced legs.

However, cycling alone will not get you in running shape nor vice-versa. The best runner I know is slow on a bike. The guy holds 6:10 / mile on long-ish tempo runs and can barely hold 20 mph on a bike.

Seattle Forrest

To some extent, yeah. Powering up a hill with a heavy pack benefits from leg strength, just like powering up a hill on a bike. Cycling and climbing are decent complements, too, but climbing benefits a lot more from calf and upper body strength, neither of which cycling does a lot for. But all exercise is good.

rideaz

I agree. I wasn't running enough (only 2 times per week) so all that running was doing was making my legs sore. I do plan to add some running this winter because I need to do some sort of impact exercise for my bone health. I don't expect to be very fast at running though, which is fine.

Long Tom

I'm excited about trying my new toys (legs and cardio system, lol) skiing later this winter. I'm a pretty good skier and ski the steeper stuff and if I'm out of cardio shape- which in years past was the norm- it'd be that as much as leg fatigue that'd for e me to stop and blow.

My legs feel fine today. I'm headed up to elk camp Monday and am doing an ultralight pack-in Tuesday then spending the night to wake up exactly where I want to be opening day Wednesday. Just taking my good Marmot GoreTex bag and a small tarp. Anyway, there's a lot of hiking in my near future.