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Hike or bike?

litterbug

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
Back on topic - thinking about it, if I'm out road riding for 50 miles - that to me tends to be totally enjoy the scenery type of activity. A little different if I have traffic to contend with or am maxed out climbing a mountain, but, for example when I'm road riding in Moab - like along Potash road, it's all immersion in the scenery.

That's exactly why I like road riding! It's more like driving--keeping a defensive lookout but still being able to look at what's around me. I won't be riding any trails on this bike, so the half-n-half pedals should be nice. If I become a mountain biker I'll need something lower with wider wheels. But never say never, right?
 

whitewater girl

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
right now (for several years now) I'm way out of shape for biking, so I'd pick the hike...

...in the past, when I was biking regularly? Would depend on the terrain, the weather and probably the company as well (oh, and possibly the cost difference)...

(aw, geez, just realized the last good bike trek I did was over a decade ago - around the north fork & shelter island...awesome day...were does the time go?)
 

snoWYmonkey

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
Why choose? How about combo bike amd hike!
 

BethL

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
Along the lines of a hike...

I would choose a 10 mile trail run. That's what I'm looking forward to when the snow melts.
 

altagirl

Moderator
Staff member
On the same day?:noidea:

We used to do ski/bike/hike in the same day to call it our little triathlon, mostly for novelty's sake, but now I tend to just do whatever I'm inspired to do in a day.

I do definitely trail run and bike in the same day though now. Which is usually a way to get some good exercise for my dog and ride with DH.
 

snoWYmonkey

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
Yes, same day. Though probably not a 50 mile MTB plus hike, but rather a road ride and hike. It is all about pacing. Either way as long as the scenery is lovely and the company fun, I could go on for a while.
 

altagirl

Moderator
Staff member
I wouldn't want to do a 50mile MTB under any circumstance, to be honest. The longest we do, even with a shuttle is 32 miles. I'd probably do a short hike with the dogs after that, but can't really see wanting to do a whole lot more than that on a mountain bike. But a 50 mile road ride and a couple mile hike sounds reasonable.
 

snoWYmonkey

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
Altagirl, I suspect you are surrounded by equally nutty friends, who change our perception on "normal" two and three sport days. Riding "Around the block" is a 100 plus mile ride that starts and ends in Jackson, and "the picnic" is a ride to Grand Teton national park, swim across the lake, hike/climb to the summit of the Grand and back to town in a day. A bit too much for me even on a good day, but staying active off season is key to having the mojo to keep skiing hard all winter. Here is to biking, hiking and everything in between that keeps us all smiling year round!
 

altagirl

Moderator
Staff member
Altagirl, I suspect you are surrounded by equally nutty friends, who change our perception on "normal" two and three sport days. Riding "Around the block" is a 100 plus mile ride that starts and ends in Jackson, and "the picnic" is a ride to Grand Teton national park, swim across the lake, hike/climb to the summit of the Grand and back to town in a day. A bit too much for me even on a good day, but staying active off season is key to having the mojo to keep skiing hard all winter. Here is to biking, hiking and everything in between that keeps us all smiling year round!

Yeah - I know for me - it's a solid day to ride up Big Cottonwood Canyon on my road bike. It's not that many miles (14 I think) but it's over 4500' of climbing, and somewhere around 5500-6000' of climbing is about the max I've done in a day. (That also shows what a difference elevation gain makes. I'm fine with 100 miles on a road bike, but we did like the Moab metric century, and the 65 miles or so with 5500' of climbing (almost all in one climb) was quite a challenge to finish.) But I know people who do all the canyons - like up LCC, back down, up BCC, back down, up Millcreek, down... you've got to be kidding me.

But yes - I work on staying in shape through the summer, but there are people around here who are way, way out of my league in terms of fitness!
 

geargrrl

Angel Diva
What about hike AND bike, otherwise known as hike-a-bike? We do mountain bike rides in the backcountry that routinely involve hiking/pushing our bikes on steep or otherwise unrideable sections.
 

abc

Banned
What about hike AND bike, otherwise known as hike-a-bike? We do mountain bike rides in the backcountry that routinely involve hiking/pushing our bikes on steep or otherwise unrideable sections.
Hahaha!

Done plenty of those back then! Though nowadays, I don't do much hard off-road rides any more (no time) so hike-a-bike happens less often.
 

abc

Banned
I wouldn't want to do a 50mile MTB under any circumstance, to be honest. The longest we do, even with a shuttle is 32 miles. I'd probably do a short hike with the dogs after that, but can't really see wanting to do a whole lot more than that on a mountain bike. But a 50 mile road ride and a couple mile hike sounds reasonable.
I think the longest mtn bike ride I've done were only 26 miles. And it's not very hilly (though a lot of little ups and downs). Although in my more stupid days, I raced a 20 mile xc once. The course was flat but with a lot of "power climbs" which took a lot out of the racers. I wanted to puke so many times! Boy, was I glad to see the finish. Lots of DNF's that race.

I have no problem with 50 mile (road) ride, it's the 10 mile hike that I have trouble with, with or without the bike ride!

Granted, I don't care for "walking in the woods" for 10 miles. I'd probably get bored and turn around by mile 3! But a hilly 10 mile hike after a 50 mile ride? Not for me.
 

abc

Banned
Yeah - I know for me - it's a solid day to ride up Big Cottonwood Canyon on my road bike. It's not that many miles (14 I think) but it's over 4500' of climbing, and somewhere around 5500-6000' of climbing is about the max I've done in a day. (That also shows what a difference elevation gain makes. I'm fine with 100 miles on a road bike, but we did like the Moab metric century, and the 65 miles or so with 5500' of climbing (almost all in one climb) was quite a challenge to finish.)
It also depends hugely on how steep the climb is!

When living out west (California), I did 5000-6000' climb all the time. The maximum grade is "typically" 10-12% and only occasioally. The rest were just 5-8% slow and steady upward march.

Coming back east, here the grade routinely exceeds 15%! Even our lowest level "new comer" rides involves climbs of up to 12%. Hike-a-bike on the road are a common sight on those rides!

So here in the east, we consider 5000' as the max for "mere mortals" in a day!

Every year, I participate in a death march called D2R2 (Deerfield Dirt Road Randoneer) which, the metric version ("whimp's version") is 65 miles and ~8000' of climbing! But it wasn't so much the number of feet climb, it's how steep those climbs are: multiple >20% sections, interspersed by 10-15% "relief" that goes on for up to 2 miles! I trained and trained and trained, but never was able to get into good enough shape to contemplate the full metric version which has 13,000' of climbing! So why do we do it? It's not for the suffering. The scenary is breathtaking! (if there's any breath left after the climb, that is)
 

altagirl

Moderator
Staff member
The elevation is a big factor too. When we have climbs of like 5000' and more - that usually means that you're at somewhere between 8,500'-10,000' in elevation at the top (highest I've road biked is 11,300'). Which is hard to breathe and pedal! Not to mention, it usually gets steepest at the top too.
 

bounceswoosh

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
I'd rather hike ten miles than bike 50 miles, but I'd wayyyy rather road bike 50 miles than mountain bike 50 miles. In theory. In practice, 20 minutes in my knees are aching from road riding. I have done multiple fits and things just don't seem to be working for me. After my ankle is healed, I might pay for yet another bike fit, this one with my PT.
 

abc

Banned
The elevation is a big factor too. When we have climbs of like 5000' and more - that usually means that you're at somewhere between 8,500'-10,000' in elevation at the top (highest I've road biked is 11,300'). Which is hard to breathe and pedal! Not to mention, it usually gets steepest at the top too.
True. When you start at a not too low elevation, then a big climb puts you on an elevation that's hard on the lung!

I've only live on the two coasts. So even a 5000' climb on the Santa Cruz mountain only got me to elevation of ... 5000! Not enough to matter in terms of oxegen content in the air I breath.
 

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