From my little experience, and this is just non-scientific, observation. Running helps for cycling. Cycling does sweet nothing for running. How did I get to this? I have two serious runner friends, guys who do things like the Puffer, Fish River Canyon (running the canyon in one day), various desert marathons and obviously Comrades and the likes etc. Currently my one friend is logging about 120 to 150 km a week. Both of them have on occasion got on a mid level bicycle and rode 100 km or did a 3 day cycling tour or rode for a team who needed a replacement rider in a race. No cycling training in most cases. No, non of them won the race. They were about mid-field But They did not die. Mostly complained about the saddle, nothing about the legs. Yes, I still cycled faster than them, and "looked" better the next day. I do consider myself an ok cyclist. BUT . . . . This is the same as me getting of my bike and jogging something like measly half marathon. There is NO WAY IN HELL I will make it (before I started jogging) Even at my best ever cycling fitness I could not even jog 10 km (possibly not even 5 km ) and not be dead and possibly sustain serious injury. When I started my jogging in October, doing just 2km, I could about not walk the next day. I would limp over to my bike, but once on, no pain or nothing in the cycling muscles. My riding buddies did not even know I started jogging till I got of the bike at the end of rides, limping to my fridge for a beer. Seems if so much extra muscles is used for running. Maybe its the pounding effect. . I can ponder the reason for this at length. Others may have the answer as to why. That is just my observation. (2cent)
