rsbob 

It’s no secret that many runners enjoy endorphins. As a former runner, I only sporadically had the pleasure. As a cyclist, there are times, where I find myself “in the zone”, but rarely get that endorphin bliss. What brought this up was an hour long Zone 2 session today. After finishing the session I laid on my back to do some stretches and did have that kind of blissed-out experience.

Is the endorphin sensation illusory to most cyclists, or do they/ you experience it? If you do, what is your technique?

pbekkerh

I've never tried that. Neither running nor cycling. The faster/longer I go, the more I want to vomit at the end !

I've had a few "flow" experiences while rockclimbing though.

I've often wondered if people start climbing because they never get any thrill sensations in normal life. I don't like roller coasters as well. Climbing, freediving and motorcycle racing does it for me but still no "runners high".

Troul 

not that i've ever exp. i'd need to find the perfect route to see if it can happen. Unlike running, cycling is easily impeded by a variety of interruptions.

jpescatore

I find that on long rides I'll hit that zone (like 60+ miles, for me 3.5 to 4 hours), and also on shorter high intensity workouts - like climbing the "Alpe d' Huez" simulation route on Zwift, about 100 minutes of solid climbing for me. Longer casual rides or shorter more intense sprints and I'm just fatigued!

2ndtimeAround

"Is the endorphin sensation illusory to most cyclists, or do they/ you experience it? If you do, what is your technique?"

As a runner I find after the run I'm high as kite for quite along time.( every time) Just a 20 minute run.

After a training ride , about the same feeling but less intense but more duration.

BobbyG

I ran in my teens but don't remember experiencing a runner's high. In my 20s I swam daily and would experience it most days at about the 20 minute mark. A warm, relaxing pleasantness would wash over me and last for a while after the 40 minute swim.

I've been commuting daily with spirited, longer rides on the weekends in my 30s, 40s, 50s and now 60s without that runner's high...

...except about three years ago on a sustained intense ride I felt that familiar warm, pleasantness wash over me after so many years. Haven't felt it since.

But, I'll say, there is an elevation of mood after almost every ride, even my commutes...but it is a gradual build-up, not as sudden or as intense as those "highs" that would wash over me while swimming in my 20s and that one time a few years ago.

BTinNYC 

This, and also the inverse; feeling a little blue when I don't get a ride in.

Garthr

Long deep breathing, slow but steady. Do it for awhile, and you'll experience it. The longer the more it lingers. You can do it anywhere, anytime. No certain type of activity is required, even right where you sit. Don't doubt, don't think, breathe ! It's the most natural thing in the World

I experience this when I was travelling to place without my bike, and I had strained my ankle trying to run instead. Running is not something I ever do. Dumb idea ! So even walking was difficult. In my hotel ,rain pouring all day, I really wanted to exert my lungs, but with nowhere to go, I just started breathing like I do on the bike, deep long breaths. It's very natural actually. I did this for about 20-25 minutes each day. Your body will feel warm, almost glowing-like, the same as when riding hard and breathing deep. By the time I got home some 3 weeks later, when I got on the bike, I had no sucking wind sensation I would have before from not breathing deeply in a while, and resuming the same mileage was easy. So the breathing activity was beneficial to the whole body, not just the lungs. Go figure. Yeah... don't think ... BREATHE !!!

seypat

About the only thing I notice after long bouts of exercise is my body core temperature inceases for around a day. Now if you're talking about a certain mental state, that happens all the time with all forms of exercise. You just have to clear your mind and not really think of anything and you can get into a zone as 1 with the things around you.

Chuck M 

I’ve had a runner’s high a few times. But only on solo runs, never on group runs or organized events. They were an amazing feeling. I’m not sure that I can recall the euphoric feeling while riding though.

jadmt

My endorphins kick in pretty much anytime i get exercise, might not be a high in the true sense of being high but I like the feeling.

79pmooney

Along those lines - I stumbled on a breathing routine that works well as a mantra for meditation. 2-4-6-8. (It is actually 4-6-8-2 since we typically start on the inhale.) 4 seconds of inhale, 6 seconds of hold, 8 seconds of exhale, 2 seconds of rest, repeat. (The seconds can just be uniform whatevers in your head, no loud clock needed.)

Before I stumbled on that mantra, I took beginning swimming when I returned to college in my early 30s. Instructor was a phys-ed grad student. She stressed over and over that for freestyle, breathing was all about the exhale; that the inhale didn't matter! (If we exhaled 100% of the air deep in the bottom of our lungs, even if we only got a 1/4 breath because we just got slammed by a wave, the whole 1/4 breath was completely used. But if we exhaled only 50%, our best oxygen receptors at the bottom of our lungs never saw that new air and got nothing, The 1/4 breath fellow comes out way ahead.) So swimming is more like 2-6 (no holding your breath here when breathing every stroke!) or maybe 2-10 if you can do two strokes per breath. I find every time I remember that hill climbing, it pays off! Top in sight - time to go anaerobic - exhale! As deep as I can. And keep doping it until my wind is down on the other side.

To the runners' high - that breathing doesn't magically produce it for me but its deep association with meditation helps.

I wish I knew the name of that instructor just to thank her for that wonderful life gift she passed on.

Yan 

Ride harder. It comes when you do multi-hour climbs.

wolfchild

The same for me, any type of exercise or physical activity especially when done outdoors can release those feel good hormones... I even get it sometimes at my physical labor job.

Polaris OBark

Usually on a particularly long and vigorous ride, I find that I need to pull off to the side of the road and read some beatnik poetry.

Rick_D

Back when I could run, never once experienced anything more than the relief of the run being over. If there's a cycling equivalent it's myth copying myth, as far as I can tell.

Either that or I've been really cheated!

WaveyGravey

This is so true for me also. If I am in a funk, a long run or bike ride brings me out of it.

50PlusCycling

If you ride often enough, with enough intensity (it doesn’t take that much), your body will produce endorphins. Over time you begin to get hooked on them. When I am riding regularly (300 miles per week), even during a long and hard ride, I am already looking forward to my next day’s ride. And no matter how tired and sore I am in the morning, I can’t wait to get back on my bike and ride.

I’ve never been a “gym junkie” but I imagine it’s the same for them.

Turnin_Wrenches

I don't get "runner's high / cyclist's high" in the traditional sense, but I definitely get into a meditative state when I'm on the bike. It's part of what I really enjoy about long-distance / ultra-distance events. The feeling of being connected to nature while moving through space at the speed of a bicycle is pure bliss for me.

Toadmeister

Hell yes. It’s one of the many reasons I bicycle. It’s like free drugs man!

I get it best if listening to some longer jam music on a nice sunny day.

Kapusta

I ran a bit when I was much younger. The runners high I experienced a few times was a thing that happened during the run, not afterwards. I've never experienced that riding a bike.

I've gotten other sorts of "highs" on a bike, but not the same thing as runners high. I think part of the running high was sort of zoning out, not something I do on a bike. Similar to what someone above said, ti happened when I was running alone, usually at night on quiet deserted roads/paths. The running became seemingly effortless.

Random11

I had a nine mile route I used to run regularly and would get that runner's high every time. I don't get that same feeling on the bike.

Kapusta

I don't think anyone who has not experienced a runners high can say whether they have experienced the same thing on a bike.

gringomojado

Careful while in the bliss zone! I have had some accidents or near misses while there!
I can't get there on a trainer!
gm

Sierra_rider

I occasionally get something resembling a "high" when cycling. I wouldn't necessarily attribute it solely to a hard effort, or at least in my case. Mine seems to be a combination of moderate effort along with the right scenery. When I'm riding my winter routes, down lower in elevation, I don't get nearly the same sense of euphoria. However, with the "dramatic" scenery on most of my summer routes, I do get the "high." Oddly enough, at higher effort levels, the feeling is very much diminished.

I also do get what I consider "being in the zone." It's a different feeling for sure and something that usually happens in higher-stress environments like when I'm mtb racing, descending a technical descent, or spirited riding on one of my motorcycles. My thought processes don't become automatic like some people describe. Rather, time seems to slow wayyyy down and I feel like I have the ability to analyze every turn, or section of road, trail, etc. To me, it's like extreme mindfulness...no thought processes are being wasted on stuff that doesn't pertain to the current situation.