Now I know I’m not the fastest of riders but not for the first time I had XC runners going faster than me around the local trails. It was a bit of laugh since we were see-sawing for an hour or so. They were faster on the climbs and me on the descents, but point to point I would say they were quicker. It was a bit dishearting I supppose but one was a nice looking lass so it made for a pleasant game.

Anyone else been humbled by people in trainers?….

Yeah they’re pretty fast off-road, or more accuractely we’re a lot slower than we think. When I’ve been out jogging i’ve overtaken mtber’s going uphill, and i’m a really slow runner, so don’t get disheartened if they beat you there. Of course if they start beating you on downhills then it’s time to get nervous 🙂 I was overtaken a couple of times by a fell-runner on dollywagon pike as I minced down bits he could run, and overtook him again on the less technical bits. But if he’d beaten me all the way to the bottom I think I would have given up cycling for good.
Having said that a decent fell runner can get up and down a mountain quicker than an mtber.

To follow up on another thread, the record for a complete ascent and descent of Ben Nevis – on foot – is 1:25:34. Anyone think that could be beaten by anyone, on any bike?

May be if Nevis had a chair lift!

its the riders who are closet runners you have to watch out for! they are the buggers that disappear off leaving you to wonder if you really do need a full susser 😀

when i was younger it was good fun to see the look on peoples faces as you passed them but even then i knew that even the fattest sweatest oldest peeps on a bike could go down hill a lot faster than i could ever run

even now some of the lakes stuff i’d rather run than ride – says more about my riding skills than running skills!

most pleasurable was passing a Discovery going up the Stanage Causeway – i could see the lad in the back telling his dad to go faster!

Anyone think that could be beaten by anyone, on any bike?

Glupton could.

We went round the seven hills of Edinburgh, plus a few ‘special points’ yesterday as an informal race. Four pairs on bikes, one guy running. Everyone was pretty fit, and the runner just edged the win. Certainly didn’t expect that, but getting bikes up some of those hills was a pain.

I ran a couple of laps at Sleepless last year, bike on shoulder. I was passing plenty of people who were trying to ride round.
This year I’m taking a pair of Walshes just in case the weather’s cack again.

Fell runners bunch of very fit nutters.

i got overtaken by some marines with full bergans on the quantocks once. they were shifting.

i did ask for a lift…

I was up on the west menddip way once and stopped a couple of runners to check on directions. One chap stopped to speak to me, he wan’t even out of breath ??

I was grovelling my way up Mont Ventoux on the road bike last year, and got passed by a group of six runners.

That I could probably have handled okay, but the fact that they all looked to be over 60 was a bit hard to bear!

I run and bike.

There’s nothing better than running past cyclists on the uphills, although uphill is one of the sadistic bits of running that is enjoyable. And TBH I find the difference between running uphill against flat less different than that for cycling, if you catch my drift.

A runner who goes as fast as you downhill is very good! I get scared of broken ankles running down some descents anywhere near the speed a bike would.

It’s strange i’ve got a mate who leave me in his dust on a bike DH but running it’s the other way round. I find I can see where I want to go and seem to bounce from on rock to another to the bottom.

You’ve got to compare like with like – on the vast majority of terrain Rob Jebb (top fell runner) would be quicker on a bike overall than running (also multi 3-peaks CX winner). The thing is, most fell runners are very fit, and most MTBers aren’t. Personally I’d certainly be quicker on the ups running provided it’s steep enough, but not by enough to make up for the flatter bits and downs on anything I’d normally choose to ride.

A superfit runner at work organised a runners vs riders round the East Pentlands and a couple of us were involved in the trial run and the race. There were about 50 people in the race, about half/half and the runners won. It’s the old hare & tortoise story, they’re dead steady.

The main thing I could not do at all, was push the bike up mad hills. My CALFS! OUCH! And I’m a singlespeed guy. I thought I had good legs, but there’s muscles in there I’ve obviously never been introduced to…

Tell you what though, we may well talk endlessly about kit, but so do they. At least there’s a fair bit of kit to talk about on a bike – our otherwise interesting and attractive runner frieds talked about SHOES for a very very long time. Shoes. really.

al.

Given the choice between riding all day and running all day I know what I’d choose