calories cycling (no powermeter or strava)

yirara

I want to take out the racebike a bit more in the coming time and wonder about calorie burns. I don't have a powermeter and I can't use an app like Strava because my phone runs out of juice too quickly. Fitbit is useless: it gave me 460 calories for being out for an hour yesterday. Mind you, I only cycled 24km, but stopped regularly for directions, a few photos and for finding a geocache. Plus I'm not used to cycling over sandy paths with superthin tires. Thus was a bit slower over those.

Machka9

I go with 100 calories for every 5 km.


But regarding Strava on your phone, an external battery doesn't cost much. I've got several and bring them with me wherever I go, including cycling.

yirara

Well, of course I have an external battery. I just don't want to put a phone holder on my bike, and something to hold the battery, etc. Or use a backpack to transport all this stuff. The phone fits into my trouser pocket, but nothing else. I just don't want to take all this stuff along. That's the thing.

Machka9

yirara wrote: »

Well, of course I have an external battery. I just don't want to put a phone holder on my bike, and something to hold the battery, etc. Or use a backpack to transport all this stuff. The phone fits into my trouser pocket, but nothing else. I just don't want to take all this stuff along. That's the thing.

Just pop it in your jersey pocket.


Or go with the 100 calories per 5 km thing I mentioned.

yirara

I have no jersey. Just a normal shirt without pockets. I never wear functional clothes. Feels icky for me.

Tbh, 100 calories per 5km is pretty much what fitbit gave me (not linked with phone). I think it's a lot too high for me to be honest because I know that fitbit grossly overstates calorie burns when I'm active (high maxHR). I might go with half of that. Flat landscape, hardly any wind, easy to get to speed without much effort.

sijomial

460cals for 24km / 15miles / one hours doesn't strike me as at all unreasonable.
But I may well not be the same size as you (I'm 77kg) and obviously different sized people need different amounts of power to accelerate their mass, fight gravity, overcome aero drag....

A typical gentle pace riding for an hour on a flat course would be about 26kph and net 500cals (power meter measured). 19.2 cals per km / 96 cals per 5km.

Halving your estimate sounds rather extreme if you are trying to get a reasonable estimate rather than just a low estimate.

yirara

sijomial wrote: »

460cals for 24km / 15miles / one hours doesn't strike me as at all unreasonable.
But I may well not be the same size as you (I'm 77kg) and obviously different sized people need different amounts of power to accelerate their mass, fight gravity, overcome aero drag....

A typical gentle pace riding for an hour on a flat course would be about 26kph and net 500cals (power meter measured). 19.2 cals per km / 96 cals per 5km.

Halving your estimate sounds rather extreme if you are trying to get a reasonable estimate rather than just a low estimate.

Wow, thanks a lot for this data. Really fascinating. You might be right with cutting too rigorously as my heart rate wasn't that high compared to other activities. I am likely a lot smaller, and certainly lighter than you though. My wee bike is probably heavy compared to other race bikes, but at 9.5kg still a lot lighter than my everyday bike. Thus your 500 calories above would indeed be net?

sijomial

Yes I use a power meter to get net calories, my bike is at the comfort end of the range for race bikes (Specialized Roubaix).

My last ride was my more typical medium intensity ride, about 17mph / 27kph, a bit of elevation change and 626 net cals for an hour.
For low paced rides 450 cals/hr would roughly be my minimum burn.

Couple of examples:

On a fairly gentle paced century last year when I injured myself in a big crash and was just aiming to complete the distance I averaged 455cals/hr for 7hrs.

Pushing hard (for me!) for a 5:30hrs century I averaged 572cals/hr.

helen_goldthorpe

Measuring with a power meter I tend to be around the 500 calories per hour mark for z2/3 endurance rides outside so I’m in a similar ballpark.

Machka9

That 100 cal/5 km thing fits right into the measurements here.

If I'm doing a moderate pace (for me) at about 20 km/h, I estimate about 400 calories for an hour.
If I'm pushing it and manage 25 km/h, I estimate about 500 calories for an hour.

Of course, these days, I'm riding with my husband who is recovering from a severe brain injury so we're doing about 15 km/h and I estimate about 300 calories for an hour.

NorthCascades

You can use Golden Cheetah to estimate power (after the fact) based on everything Strava would use. Probably get a more realistic estimate that way too.

yirara

Thanks a lot guys. Exactly what I needed

mjbnj0001

NorthCascades wrote: »

You can use Golden Cheetah to estimate power (after the fact) based on everything Strava would use. Probably get a more realistic estimate that way too.

I hadn't heard of this. Just went to their website to check it out. Looks promising. I use Ride With GPS and typically export to a GPS plotter; this Golden Cheetah analysis is something that has been missing for me. I'm not one to futz with the phone/tracker during the ride much (I use a basic bike computer for T/D/S info while the phone is tucked away in a small handlebar bag), but I like to analyze afterwards. Thanks for the tip.

mjbnj0001

yirara wrote: »

Well, of course I have an external battery. I just don't want to put a phone holder on my bike, and something to hold the battery, etc. Or use a backpack to transport all this stuff. The phone fits into my trouser pocket, but nothing else. I just don't want to take all this stuff along. That's the thing.

the most minimal carry thing i can think of is called a "feedbag" (because it resembles a horse's feedbag) and it is mounted on your handlebars. Or a compact handlebar bag, there are tons available. i can't speak for your experience, but the relief in riding by eliminating most everything in pockets is terrific. or there the potential for a small top tube bag. I put links below for some examples.

i use my iphone xr with the ride with gps app for tracking - but i don't futz with the phone during riding itself. maybe for photos. it lives in a small handlebar bag while i ride, but i analyze later. with the tip that @NorthCascades provided, i might be able to use the golden cheetah app to post-ride-analyze my performance data from ride with gps. i'm not a performance rider, but it's good to know the stats to help on your fitness program. i enjoy my rides; but at age 65yo and definitely a "super clydesdale" every ride is also a training ride.

you mention it was a tough slog in sand with skinny tires; if you make progress at all, that's all effort and will affect your numbers.

pic is from the local national recreational area - sandy hook, nj. i see plenty of sand, but don't ride in it. my tires are balloons (29x2.35) but they're not treaded for unpacked sand. phone lives in the handlebar bag.

Good luck with your riding!



https://www.revelatedesigns.com/index.cfm/store.catalog/Cockpit/MountainFeedbag

https://www.bicycling.com/bikes-gear/a22666766/top-tube-bags-bento-boxes-reviewed/

yirara

Nice! Nah, I keep things simple and I have to stop to look at the map anyway as I wear rather dark sunglasses and can only see the map/route properly if I hold the phone right in front of my face. Or take the sunglasses of. Both of which requires stopping anyway.

Hey, thanks for the discussion. This really helps me.