Cycling question

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ChubbieTubbie
ChubbieTubbie Posts: 481 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I've been riding my bike for exercise around the neighborhood for the last few weeks and I've got some questions on speed. I don't have a mountain bike, I have a single speed bike that I use. I have a HRM that tells me how many calories I burn, and I'm burning enough to be in the '10-12.9 mph' category on MFP's exercise tab, although I've been timing and mapping my rides, and I'm really only going about 6-7 mph. Am I just THAT out of shape? Or is it because of the type of bike I have? I don't see why I'm burning enough calories to be in the 'faster' category--although they call 10-12.9 'leisurely' and I'm pushing myself as hard as I can on the bike. I was thinking about this and just curious if someone knows.

Replies

  • jrich1
    jrich1 Posts: 2,408 Member
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    Because MFP grossly overstates the calories, its not an accurate tool to judge your speed.
  • sillygoose1977
    sillygoose1977 Posts: 2,151 Member
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    It is possible that its because you have a single speed bike which is much more challenging to ride than a bike with gears. Go and pick up a bike computer. You can get a cheap one at Wallmart for about $15. It will track your speed and your mileage for you.
  • megamom
    megamom Posts: 920 Member
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    I ride a hybrid and usually ride on gravel. It takes a lot more effort then a road bike. I go by my bike computer which shows a more accurate reading of my calories burned because it takes into account my weight and my bike plus my average speed. However, I usually only put down half of what MFP and my computer says I burned. I would rather be way under then way over. And I never eat all my exercise calories, well, rarely.....:blushing:
  • SoonCee
    SoonCee Posts: 10 Member
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    Funny, cause my husband & I had this very conversation last night! I've been going through the same thing & downloaded an app on my iPhone called RunKeeper. I tried MapMyRide, but it's a big waste of time because it doesn't track how many cal. you burn...RunKeeper does & it's free! It also tracks GPS, avg. min/mi.,total miles, & Current Pace. I've only used it a couple of times, but so far I like it.....If I find anything better, I will let you know!
    I also noticed that MFP seemed way off w/ how many cal. burned...Even though I liked seeing over 500, I was like "Um, this can't be right." Sure enough....
  • kymburle
    kymburle Posts: 2
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    Hi -

    I just started using MFP this past week regularly. As far as bike riding goes, I have a road bike and a computer on my bike that tells me avg speed, length of time riding, etc. I also run cyclemeter on my iPhone which also tells me these things plus how many calories it thinks I burned. I would come home and plug it into MFP, which always showed fewer calories burned than MFP, so I would use MFP calories burned. I felt the same as some of you, that the calories burned were way overstated in MFP (even higher in cyclemeter), so I bought a Polar F6 heart rate monitor yesterday and tried it on my ride this morning. MFP is actually showing fewer calories burned than the HRM. MFP can't take into consideration that strong south wind that was blowing for 5 miles of my ride, which increases my heart rate!

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