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The 10 Differences between Running and Cycling
For the last couple of years, I have been running in the evenings and on weekends to get some exercise. Recently, I converted to cycling, partly to see if I could actually complete the Argus cycle tour again, but mainly to raise funds for the John Whiffen trust. So I can with honesty say that I have a little experience in both. While both are sports that you can participate in by yourself, or with a group of people, there are a few interesting differences between the two:
| Running | Cycling | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | You don’t need to exercise for very long to get benefit – so it is easy to go for a quick run before/after work. | You need to exercise for a long time to get benefit, so its better to exercise on the weekends (or get up early). |
| 2 | You don’t run very far. | You cycle very far. |
| 3 | You don’t have to worry about traffic. (much!) | You do have to worry about traffic. (a lot!) |
| 4 | The sport is not expensive – all you need is a decent pair of running shoes. A cheap pair of shoes is about R500, and a good pair about R1000. | The sport is as cheap or expensive as you like – depending on what gear you use. You can also spend lots of money constantly upgrading your bike. A cheap, entry level bicycle will cost about R2000, and you can spend far more that that (R20000+) on a really good bike. You can spend anything in between, depending on your budget. |
| 5 | You just wear a pair or running shorts and a vest. | You wear the brightest, most garish clothes that you can find. |
| 6 | You can listen to your iPod while running | You can (but shouldn’t) listen to your iPod while cycling. |
| 7 | It is more strain on the body, and you are more likely to injure yourself. | It is very little strain on the body, and you are far less likely to injure yourself |
| 8 | It’s just you and the road! | You can carry your own food and drinks with you. |
| 9 | When you finally get to the top of a really steap hill, it’s just as much work to run down the otherside. | When you finally get to the top of a really steap hill, it’s freewheeling all the way down! |
| 10 | It’s fun! | It’s fun! |
And yes – I did complete the Argus Cycle Tour!!!
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