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calories burned

Submitted by Stupefying Jones on Sun, 06/14/2009 - 22:06

How many calories does one burn riding a bicycle?

Saturday: 62 miles, 3:27, 17.8mph avg
Sunday: 62 miles, 3:44, 16.3mph avg

My fancy schmancy GPS calculates calories burned, claiming 5600 calories burned for Saturday and 5850 calories burned Sunday. That seems pretty high to me -- is that even possible? A couple other online calculators estimated just over 4000, but that doesn't factor in hills. What are some guidelines for calorie burn estimation, any decent online calculators that you trust?

‹ Stolen blue - white bike with no name/labels on it - Brooks saddle Bike Travel Case ›
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fathom's picture

is it shmancy enough to have

Submitted by fathom on Sun, 06/14/2009 - 22:11.

is it shmancy enough to have a heart rate monitor in it? any accurate measure would have to take into account your own fitness.

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in reality, its only fancy

Submitted by Stupefying Jones on Mon, 06/15/2009 - 00:35.

in reality, its only fancy compared to nothing -- which is what I used previously. no heart rate monitor, no cadence....

but now i have lots of data from rides, so i'm trying to figure out if its useful data. (i rode out-and-back, yet somehow the hills changed height according to the graphs....)

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fathom's picture

erosion

Submitted by fathom on Mon, 06/15/2009 - 10:29.

the hills are actually getting smaller.

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Alex's picture

Emily rode over them

Submitted by Alex on Mon, 06/15/2009 - 18:53.

they cowered in fear.

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ckdake's picture

if you eat enough bacon you

Submitted by ckdake on Sun, 06/14/2009 - 22:33.

if you eat enough bacon you won't have to worry about any of this.

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toekneebullard's picture

'cause dead people don't burn

Submitted by toekneebullard on Sun, 06/14/2009 - 22:49.

'cause dead people don't burn any calories.

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i'm trying to calculate how

Submitted by Stupefying Jones on Mon, 06/15/2009 - 10:29.

i'm trying to calculate how many corn dogs i need to eat. the answer, of course, is "more".

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Alex's picture

Easy

Submitted by Alex on Mon, 06/15/2009 - 07:51.

Incinerate yourself before the ride, measure how much water boils as you burn
Ride
incinerate yourself again after the ride, measure how much water boils as you burn
The difference in the amount of water boiled before and after the ride should give you the basis to calculate calories burnt.

You gotta do the burns nekkid, though, lest differences in fabric confuse the calculation.

I have that function turned off on mine. Strikes me as a bit of voodoo. Having said that, biking does burn a shitload of calories. More than one would expect.

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j.lucas.mckay's picture

for a good time call

Submitted by j.lucas.mckay on Mon, 06/15/2009 - 12:54.

for a good time call http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Respirometry

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