ELI5, How am I able to go farther and faster on my bicycle than by walking, considering I have to move the mass of the bike, as well as the loss of energy to friction from the gears and wheels?
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Turning of the wheels is one continuous motion. When the wheels spin, they keep spinning and most of the kinetic energy is kept.
When humans run, when pushing off the ground then landing, human muscles not being elastic means much of the kinetic energy when landing is dissipated as heat or tear on the muscles.
Long-distance athletes wear shoes that specifically are elastic in the physics sense for their legs to be best able to recover energy.
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