Fun v. Workout

[highpeaksdrifter]

Skiing is far and away my favorite sport. I go 50+ times a season and would do alot more then that if work didn't get in the way. That said the snow is melting and it will be time to take out the bike soon.

I don't feel nearly the same about biking as I do about skiing. On a beautiful sunny day, sometimes I can't wait to get on my bike. However, most of the time I have to push myself to do it. I mostly do it because I know it's great exercise.

On a scale of 1 to 10, skiing being a 10, I would rate biking a 5 on my enjoyment scale. I was wondering how other bikers here felt about their riding time and if anyone had any tips on something I could try to make biking more enjoyable for me.

BTW, I usually ride a rode bike, but I have an older Mt. bike I use sometimes.

 

[Marc]

I would rate skiing at 10 and biking at 9 on my enjoyment scale.

That being said, being a human and therefore a rather complex creature, biking satisfies me in a far different way than skiing does.

Skiing is an instant gratifying, adreniline filled, constantly engaging type of enjoyment.

Biking is different. Sure there is instant gratification when you ride a technical section cleanly or there's adreniline cruising down a long hill at 45 mph. But it is also incredibly painful and monotonous at times. A long clime can be excruciating. Your legs start to give after a long rocky section and you still have another five miles back to the trail head. But at the end of a ride, and periodically throughout, I feel satisfaction. I'm not sure why and I can't thorughly explain it, but pat of it is accomplishment, how you stomped out that climb a few ticks faster that last week. Pain reminds you you're alive. Sometimes life can be so repetitive, that pain can clear your mind for you. And it takes away your troubles.

As painful as it is I just keep coming back for more. It's total addiction. It just does it for me, and for some (most) people it doesn't. My father was sure once I had my driver's lisence I would all but give up riding bikes. I've been driving a car for eight years and I ride now more than I ever have. Go figure.

 

[skibum1321]

Biking is fun for me as well. I don't view it as training so much as another sport for me to obsess about in the off-season. It would be an awful expensive thing to get into if I didn't enjoy myself. I find that road riding and mountain biking fill 2 different niches for me - the speed of the open road vs. the technicality of mountain biking. I find that mountain biking can approach the adrenaline of skiing for me, but it still doesn't quite fill the void. During ski season, I find myself wanting to go biking and during biking season I find myself wanting to ski. As they say, the grass is always greener on the other side (or the snow is always whiter).

 

[Marc]

Solutions for skibum:

 

[Greg]

Biking is different. Sure there is instant gratification when you ride a technical section cleanly or there's adreniline cruising down a long hill at 45 mph. But it is also incredibly painful and monotonous at times. A long clime can be excruciating. Your legs start to give after a long rocky section and you still have another five miles back to the trail head. But at the end of a ride, and periodically throughout, I feel satisfaction. I'm not sure why and I can't thorughly explain it, but pat of it is accomplishment, how you stomped out that climb a few ticks faster that last week. Pain reminds you you're alive. Sometimes life can be so repetitive, that pain can clear your mind for you. And it takes away your troubles.

Probably similar to hiking in some respects...

 

[andyzee]

Love my skiing, used to love biking almost as much. Now things have changed a bit, I no longer have the passion for biking that I used to have. The reason for this is not that I don't like it as much as I used to, it's just that I don't have the time to dedicate to biking like I once did.

I used to work as a machinist, if I got to work a bit sweaty, it didn't matter too much. Now I work in IT, can't be all sweaty in the office and no showers on site. Used to be I would ride my bike to work, depending on the job, that would have been 15-25 miles each way. One job, I would get out of work and ride 50 miles after work, can't do it anymore, besides the sweaty thing, I also got married, have to give the wife some time.

Still ride the bike when I get the chance, but without the time for long distances, it's no longer as easy. A 30 mile ride for me is now work, previously I didn't even want to do anything under 30 miles. Guess what I'm trying to say is, biking is kind of like skiing, in a sense where if you have time to dedicate to it, it's much more interesting. You push yourself, you achieve, you feel better. If you don't have the time, it just becomes a chore. It becomes an hour of excersize as opposed to the 5 hour challange of a nice century ride. I miss my biking

 

[Charlie Schuessler]

...During ski season, I find myself wanting to go biking and during biking season I find myself wanting to ski...

I hear you brother...my feelings exactly...

For me the best of times of year are late fall & early spring where it is possible to ride a bicycle outdoors, go skiing, hiking, or sailing...

 

[SKIQUATTRO]

bottom line is that there just too little time for passions,,,,mine are skiing, sailing, surfing, road/mtn biking and spending time with the fam....

 

[Skier75]

I love to ride my bike, when it doesn't become fun anymore is when it's 90 degrees.....I ride my bike for both fun and exercise. Granted after a long ride and legs start to get tired, then it doesn't become fun anymore. I think the longest I've riden my bike was about 20 miles, after that my legs get tired, then it becomes work. I could probably work up to more than that if I had the time to ride more often, but living out where we do, I don't feel safe riding my bike near high speed roads, so I end up driving to a specfic destination to a place where I feel comfortable riding.

 

[Greg]

Biking is different. Sure there is instant gratification when you ride a technical section cleanly or there's adreniline cruising down a long hill at 45 mph. But it is also incredibly painful and monotonous at times. A long clime can be excruciating. Your legs start to give after a long rocky section and you still have another five miles back to the trail head. But at the end of a ride, and periodically throughout, I feel satisfaction. I'm not sure why and I can't thorughly explain it, but pat of it is accomplishment, how you stomped out that climb a few ticks faster that last week. Pain reminds you you're alive. Sometimes life can be so repetitive, that pain can clear your mind for you. And it takes away your troubles.

Probably similar to hiking in some respects...

Looking back on this I think I get it now since I started riding again. Pushing to the top of a techy climb can be grueling, but also very satisfying and you know the whole time you're doing something good for yourself.

I would rate skiing a 10 and MTB an 8 or 9. Actually, I probably should just rate it a 10 as well since it's not like there's a better option in the off (ski) season.

 

[RootDKJ]

Skiing = Eleven. Exactly. One louder.
MTB = 7.

 

[bvibert]

Skiing = 10 and MTB = 10 as well.

 

[2knees]

the few times i've ridden its been fun. to compare it to my enjoyement of skiing would be laughable though. it simply doesnt come close. but nothing does.

 

[Greg]

the few times i've ridden its been fun. to compare it to my enjoyement of skiing would be laughable though. it simply doesnt come close. but nothing does.

Better gear and if you built some wind up and you would find it a lot more enjoyable. You on something like this would be scary:

 

[JD]

Ride you Mountain Bike on good single track.

 

[tjf67]

I try to keep execise and fun seperated. I run for exercise.

I Bike and ski for fun.

Been doing a decent amout of road riding this spring and find it very satisfying. It great being 40 miles deep into a 60 mile ride and feeling strong. Looking around seeing what you can do with only your own power. Riding with a couple other people that know how to draft is freat to.

 

[boston_e]

Skiing/Boarding = 10
Mt Biking = 10
Road Biking = 8 (but with a "ride out the front door" benefit which is huge)

 

[mattchuck2]

Skiing = 10
Biking (Road) = 6

The more I bike, the more I enjoy it . . . It will never get close to the level of enjoyment that Skiing offers, though.

 

[Greg]

Skiing = 10
Biking (Road) = 6

The more I bike, the more I enjoy it . . . It will never get close to the level of enjoyment that Skiing offers, though.

Shoulda bought an MTB...

 

[mattchuck2]

Do I have to tell you again how I don't like driving to bike? :-D