Let’s have a little debate here. Which is the harder or more difficult sport, running or riding? The arguments could start with the basics.

Going Solo

1. In running you cannot coast. Every step you take is one of self-propulsion.

Yet in cycling, you always carry with you the burden of 17-20 lbs. of machine. When you go up hills, you must push the bike as well as your own weight.

Which is more difficult? Consider these other factors.

Wind Drag

2. In running, the draft effect if minimal. Sure, it helps to run behind someone when the wind is in your face. That’s only natural. But you’re largely on your own on a windy day.

In cycling, there is a pronounced draft effect of up to 30% when riding behind another cyclist. Yet the wind can also be your enemy from two sides at once when riding in a crosswind. That means you’re not just pedaling against the wind going forward, but there is also a sideways pressure and additional resistance created in a crosswind. A vexing challenge indeed.

Impact

1. The most difficult aspect of running is minimizing the impact of your own weight striking the ground. Premiere distance runners accomplish this with a smooth, “over the ground” stride rather than a thumping heel strike. But the challenge remains that running involves a lot of pounding, which results in fatigue. The jostling of your innards can also lead to profound stomach upset. Never a fun moment in running. Barfing can turn you into a coward, and quick.

2. Cycling would seem to minimize impact in many ways, yet there are still effects of sitting on the bike for hours at a time. Those effects can be magnified when riding on rough roads or worse, the cobblestones of Europe. Fatigue builds up in the hands and shoulders, for example.

Endurance and oxygen intake

1. Breathing is an absolutely critical aspect of efficient running. Learning how to breathe in a manner that delivers the most oxygen to your body is critical to any runner, and at any distance. Whether you are racing 5k or running a marathon, getting enough oxygen into your body can be a challenge. It is one of the facets of running that makes it a most difficult sport.

2. Cyclists seldom need to think about their breathing on the same par with runners, yet bike position and good form dictate how well the cyclist can take in oxygen. There is also a keen relationship between pedaling efficiency and oxygen use. On the flat a rapid cadence can conserve valuable energy while climbing requires good technique or aerobic debt can quickly set in.

Uphill and downhill

1. Climbing hills in running is obviously no treat. The strain on a particular muscle group can result in cramping that slows a runner to a turtle-like pace. I have known several runners who could not climb well, however, that developed an incredible ability to run downhill, making up for lost time, as it were.

Cycling is a sport that categorizes itself by types of riders, and the most specialized are the climbers. Usually slight of build and long in frame, or else equally small and compact, as in many of the Colombian or Spanish climbers, these riders love to tear up hills as if they were on the flat, leaving others dying in their wake.

Yet it is the descenders who are the bravest of all road cyclists, and the difficulty in becoming a good descender is how hard it is to ride in spite of the considerable fears creating by hurtling downhill at speeds ranging form 50-70 mph. If you are a cyclist that has ridden that fast, you know there is little room for error in your bike handling skills.

2. Cyclists must learn how to climb or risk being dropped on

Hitting the Wall or Bonking

1. Runners who “hit the wall” are reduced to a crawl. Depleted of fuel in their bodies, runners who hit the wall can often proceed, but only at a greatly diminished rate. Any runner that has experienced the feeling of hitting the wall and been forced to literally sit down by the side of the road in an anguish of overwhelming fatigue knows how tough the wall can be. No amount of will can help you break through the wall. Only preparation can do that.

2. Cyclists who bonk speak of surreal moments when you are pedaling the bike and literally nothing’s happening. It is as if your legs have no strength at all. You get spacey and devoid of will, pedaling only to stay upright, and even that can be difficult. The rapidity with which your group suddenly rides away from you is astonishing. When you bonk you are on your own, perched atop a silly machine that no longer seems to work.

Pain

1. Developing pain tolerance is a key part of being your best as a runner. If you want to perform your best you must accept and learn to compete while in pain, out of breath and fighting against the effects of lactic acid in your body. Running “through the pain” is therefore one of the hardest aspects of being a runner.

2. Cyclists often talk of the pain they experience while riding because there is no such thing as “good enough” when training or racing. In other words, there is always a way to go a little harder, ratchet up a couple miles an hour or increase the cadence. This almost existential reality dogs the cyclist every mile, an effect compounded when riding with a group of competitive or serious riders whose pace puts you in the red zone even when you are firmly planted in the peloton. The pain one feels in cycling is most humbling because you are in direct and immediate comparison to every other rider around you.

Willpower

1. The worst three letters in a runner’s lexicon are DNF. Did Not Finish. It can be so tempting when things are not going well to give it up, trot to the side of the road or hitch a ride back to the start. Running through those bad days can be tough. But runners also know it is going to take intense willpower to manage the good days as well, to not screw up a good effort by drinking too much or letting your form go lax and getting a side ache. Then there’s the last mile when the entire body screams to stop and you must force yourself to go on. Running is hard because there is no aid, even a tailwind mocks you.

2. Cycling is willpower defined in 3 phases; the will to pedal efficiently at all times, the will to keep pace with fellow riders and the will to go beyond throw your energy into a machine that sometimes seems to fight back when you are trying to sprint, climb a hill or fight a wind. It’s all about the will, or lack of it, that makes a better cyclist.

Culture

1. The culture of running has changed in some interesting ways over the years. The popularity of the marathon has created novel assistance such as pacing groups that guide runners to their goal in a race. To some degree, there is greater tolerance and respect for runners who simply complete a race versus those who win. It is both a charming and forgiving aspect of the sport.

2. The culture of cycling is clearly delineated in the categories of riders. Each level of cyclist has a skill level or age category in which they can compete. There are pro cyclists at a couple levels, World pros and Continental. Then come Category 1, 2 and 3 riders who dominate regional and local races, followed by Category 4 and 5 riders trying to become better cyclists. These categories are at once forgiving and humbling. Because the minute you begin winning races at one level you are called to a higher category where you will get your ass kicked unless you are an exceptional talent like Matthew Busche, now of RadioShack, whose talent enabled him to convert from college cross country runner to world class cyclist and US National Champion. That’s a rare individual that can do that, eclipsing the culture of cycling in many ways that says you must slowly climb the ladders of categories to get to the top.

So what’s you’re take? Is running the harder sport, or is cycling?