Is Cycling similar to Running?

[NotaNuffian]

I made my MC have the ability to run at 30 mph flat without breaking a sweat for a couple of hours. So as an author I am trying to make him go faster and my selection boils down to cycling.

Fyi the ability is actually a skill from the system, so far the guy can no problem run front, backwards and sideways at that speed and I am planning for him to go faster as his skill grows. The scene requires him to do a car chase and all he has is a mountain bike, I am planning to handwave and say something like pedaling = running, thus he can cycle for speeds up to 50 to 60 mph, which in a city is quite fast.

So does the pedaling = running thing makes sense or I need to change/ alter things?

 

[AliceShiki]

This is something that should be pretty easy to handwave IMO, it's probably safe to do it the way you want~

 

[NotaNuffian]

This is something that should be pretty easy to handwave IMO, it's probably safe to do it the way you want~

Yeah, i am planning to just say "same way in moving your legs, but this time pedaling."

 

[oblueknighto]

Cycling isn't similar to running. They use different muscles and people good at running don't magically become good at cycling, vice versa.

However, cycling at 50 mph would be much easier than running at 30 mph. Running at 30 mph is just insane. That's faster than Usain Bolt and you're saying this dude can do this for hours without breaking a sweat. It's also insane how you're saying the MC can even move sideways... what? This person clearly isn't human anymore.

 

[NiQuinn]

Like @oblueknighto said. Different muscles for each. One is not synonymous with the other. In terms of stamina, running would burn more calories as it's more labor-intensive. Cycling is fatigue over time. I don't think cycling has a connection much to running. Honestly, your description is making me cringe but that aside, I don't know why there's even a need to connect the two together like that.

 

[NotaNuffian]

Cycling isn't similar to running. They use different muscles and people good at running don't magically become good at cycling, vice versa.

However, cycling at 50 mph would be much easier than running at 30 mph. Running at 30 mph is just insane. That's faster than Usain Bolt and you're saying this dude can do this for hours without breaking a sweat. It's also insane how you're saying the MC can even move sideways... what? This person clearly isn't human anymore.

Well one, if you have the ability to literally surpass human limits, do you still consider yourself human? Later in the plot, he finds people with similar abilities but obviously cooler than his, like firing fireballs and telekinesis.

Like @oblueknighto said. Different muscles for each. One is not synonymous with the other. In terms of stamina, running would burn more calories as it's more labor-intensive. Cycling is fatigue over time. I don't think cycling has a connection much to running. Honestly, your description is making me cringe but that aside, I don't know why there's even a need to connect the two together like that.

Like I said, plot demands him to do a chase, and he just found out that running 30 mph is not fast enough. Though he might grow to become a Flash expy, but right now he is still slow as hell. So my initial point hangs on the fact that the ability actually allows him to have little to no fatigue when just utilizing his lower limb muscles to its limits because the ability was created by him. The ability is a literal "now you can run faster and use less stamina, the ability grows with time."

So similar to @oblueknighto 's comment, using a different groups of muscle and for yours is the same logic, so at least I get the pedaling =/= running portion, I will now probably try to twist the ability's term of "running" into "exponential usage of the lower limbs" instead.

 

[Jemini]

This is something that should be pretty easy to handwave IMO, it's probably safe to do it the way you want~

As someone who runs and also cycles, I strongly disagree. I also strongly recommend the author NOT hand-wave such a thing, because hand-waving something like this is exactly the sorta thing that breaks immersion.

Actually, it kinda makes things more interesting when you have limits rather than making your character able to do anything. I would say have him try cycling, and then discover the system doesn't cover it. The shock would make for some interesting story telling opportunities.

 

[AliceShiki]

As someone who runs and also cycles, I strongly disagree. I also strongly recommend the author NOT hand-wave such a thing, because hand-waving something like this is exactly the sorta thing that breaks immersion.

Actually, it kinda makes things more interesting when you have limits rather than making your character able to do anything. I would say have him try cycling, and then discover the system doesn't cover it. The shock would make for some interesting story telling opportunities.

I dunno, if someone moves fast, it would be pretty intuitive and logical to me that they cycle faster... It just... Makes sense I guess?

It's the kind of thing that even if you know is wrong, it should easily be covered by the suspension of disbelief. Because like... Will I really bother with worrying about rather someone that runs fast magically is also able to cycle fast or not? You can do that if you want I suppose, but I certainly wouldn't.

 

[NotaNuffian]

As someone who runs and also cycles, I strongly disagree. I also strongly recommend the author NOT hand-wave such a thing, because hand-waving something like this is exactly the sorta thing that breaks immersion.

Actually, it kinda makes things more interesting when you have limits rather than making your character able to do anything. I would say have him try cycling, and then discover the system doesn't cover it. The shock would make for some interesting story telling opportunities.

Duly noted, after all the guy has a gym membership where he fucks up the treadmill, might as well make him get a trainer who will acts as his mentor for awhile to teach him the benefits of cycling.

So using different muscle groups... maybe I can evolve the skill so that it does not just encompass running as it grows...

Fyi the guy isn't gary stu, because all the other system users are while he just got lucky and has an inferior version.

I dunno, if someone moves fast, it would be pretty intuitive and logical to me that they cycle faster... It just... Makes sense I guess?

It's the kind of thing that even if you know is wrong, it should easily be covered by the suspension of disbelief. Because like... Will I really bother with worrying about rather someone that runs fast magically is also able to cycle fast or not? You can do that if you want I suppose, but I certainly wouldn't.

To be truthful, I am rather lazy about how reality works in the work, considering I only do minute checks in google as and when I think of the meat onto the skeleton. So I am really inclined of just putting pedaling = running and call it a day.

Then there is democracy with three people already disagreeing as cycling uses different muscles, so I will need to go back to the training episodes again and do some tweaking.

 

[AliceShiki]

Duly noted, after all the guy has a gym membership where he fucks up the treadmill, might as well make him get a trainer who will acts as his mentor for awhile to teach him the benefits of cycling.

So using different muscle groups... maybe I can evolve the skill so that it does not just encompass running as it grows...

Fyi the guy isn't gary stu, because all the other system users are while he just got lucky and has an inferior version.

To be truthful, I am rather lazy about how reality works in the work, considering I only do minute checks in google as and when I think of the meat onto the skeleton. So I am really inclined of just putting pedaling = running and call it a day.

Then there is democracy with three people already disagreeing as cycling uses different muscles, so I will need to go back to the training episodes again and do some tweaking.

Well, the story is yours, so do what you feel is best! \(^^)/

I just figured I should give my opinion at the very least~

 

[NiQuinn]

So my initial point hangs on the fact that the ability actually allows him to have little to no fatigue

'Little to no fatigue' doesn't really equate to fast cycling though. Also, not all bikes are fast. There are a lot of things to consider besides the physical stuff. He could try a car chase and fail. Then maybe he can find shortcuts along the way that would allow him to run after them. Or, riding on a bike and illegally hanging on to trucks just to be able to chase after the target since speed isn't working for him.