How much does natural physiology play into a successful cyclist?
Had this discussion with a couple of friends of mine. Let me set it up.
I play - and have played - soccer for over 15 years. I got into cycling 2 years ago. Despite playing/practicing several times a week, I never felt like I had an extremely high fitness level compared to others of the same ability, age, athleticism. To my surprise, it is the complete opposite when I'm on a bike. There are people that I play soccer with, run marathons, or play other sports that cannot touch me when it comes to biking. And, yes, I am speaking of like-minded people that bike quite a bit often. In other words, I'm not comparing myself to people that never get on a bike. For example, I have a friend that bikes as much as I do who ran a 2:00 half marathon that absolutely struggles to stay with me. There's no way in hell I could match him on my feet; however, when on a bike, I am constantly having to stop and wait for him. In a 3-mile time trial last week, I beat him by over 3 minutes.
My theory is that my physiology is a bonus when it comes to biking. I have short legs but a larger torso. I would assume this would be detractor when doing anything that requires running because it is putting quite a bit of weight-bearing on my shorter-than-normal leg muscles. It may be harder to cycle oxygen as I'm running due to the fact that my stride requires a tad more leg strength than other people per ratio. When riding a bike, my theory is that the weight-bearing is lessened and that I am more easily able to get oxygen to my legs and lactic acid out.
Am I way off? Thoughts?