rec.bicycles and calories

[garote]

Though the information is almost 20 years old, I haven no real reason to doubt the chart posted in the rec.bicycles FAQ that details the average calories burned while bicycling.

But if these numbers are accurate, I have been burning about 500 calories an hour with every hour of my bike riding. Probably more, since when I'm inching my way up a hill I tend to pedal a bit harder, requiring rest breaks every 20 minutes or so.

There's always been a huge disparity between what the GPS tracker tells me I've burned, and what the Ascent map program tells me. I've always picked the lower number just in case. But could the GPS tracker be telling the truth? On my long eight-hour wilderness bike rides, do I actually burn four thousand calories or more? That seems crazy. A full day of biking would have to be sandwiched by full days of constant eating just to break even. No wonder people lose weight doing this.

Comments

[paramatma.livejournal.com]

As you no doubt have read I think a lot of people do something called carb loading, i.e. stuffing face with pasta before and after a ride. Spending a day in the saddle will do that though, burn burn burn. Be sure to eat hearty and not deplete your fat reserves!

[garote]

mmmmmmmmmmmmmm fat :D

My favorite delivery method: Pot stickers fried thoroughly in olive oil.