bike ride - moderate?

La5Vega5Girl

i ride my bike every day and pull my daughter in the little bike trailer. although i don't ride really fast, i feel that it is moderate since i am pulling my daughter and she weighs 45 pounds + the weight of the trailer. do you think that is correct? it's definitely not leisurely! LOL

julia_v1

I would venture a guess and say that is hard not moderate exercise. I cycle too and if I am able to get up to 12mph consistently I would say that was hard but others who do 15mph would consider that hard and my speed probably moderate. I guess it's all relates to physical fitness and perception of how hard you had to exerciise or do something. As you are cycling and pulling 45 pounds behind you I would definitely think that ups the ante. I would be interested to hear what others think. Moderate and Hard are so difficult to quantify. Not sure if any of that made sense but in my head it did

La5Vega5Girl

I would venture a guess and say that is hard not moderate exercise. I cycle too and if I am able to get up to 12mph consistently I would say that was hard but others who do 15mph would consider that hard and my speed probably moderate. I guess it's all relates to physical fitness and perception of how hard you had to exerciise or do something. As you are cycling and pulling 45 pounds behind you I would definitely think that ups the ante. I would be interested to hear what others think. Moderate and Hard are so difficult to quantify. Not sure if any of that made sense but in my head it did

i guess i would rather put it in as moderate and it is really hard, than put it as hard and it's really moderate. LOL:laugh:

bwogilvie

First of all, MFP's exercise database seriously overestimates the calories burned in cycling. I'm a 155 lb. guy, and to burn 500 calories an hour on flat terrain I need to be bicycling at 16-17 mph. If I plug that into MFP, it will tell me I have burned 842 calories. That's  nearly 70% more than I really burn!

Second, weight doesn't matter too much for cycling energy expenditure unless you're going uphill. What matters most on flat ground at speeds over 12 mph is wind resistance. Pulling a trailer at high speeds can generate a lot. Pulling a trailer at low speeds, not so much.

Third, two cyclists of the same size, on similar bikes, riding at the same speed in the same conditions, will burn about the same amount of energy. Being more fit doesn't mean you work less hard, it means you can work harder without exhausting yourself. If Lance Armstrong and I were cycling together at 20 mph, we'd be burning the same amount of energy, but I would be dying and Lance would feel like it was easy.

A good gauge of exercise intensity is the talk test. Can you sing easily? Then your exercise is light. Can you talk in complete sentences with a bit of effort, and sing with difficulty? Then your exercise is moderate. Can you say a few words, but you can't sing? Then your exercise is hard. And if you can't say a few words, you're at your limit.

So, when you're pulling your daughter in the trailer, how do you do on the talk test? Use that to gauge your cycling intensity, and then log 50-75% of the calories that MFP tells you.