cyclists - i keep getting fatter and fatter
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Off topic, but there are several tools online to merge two .tcx etc. files together.NorthCascades wrote: »I didn't notice that. Those numbers are crazy. A 50 mile ride comes out to about 1,800 kilo-Joules for me every time, measured with a power meter. Example:
https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/1116892278
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[quote="Hornsby;36645225"
"Might" have hit 1k if it was an actual 50. [/quote]
Off topic- I'm in Oklahoma too. Ardmore. Jealous of the trails and lake Heffner.
Regarding the hunger- I've not kept up on the biking, and do more running. Eating within 30 minutes of your ride should help. I stop at the store and get muscle milk, or pack picky bars. I'm not much of a planner so it's always easy foods. Like fruit, and the frozen fruit bars. Cal's aren't horrible.0 -
I eat tootsie pops while I ride
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[quote="Hornsby;36645225"
"Might" have hit 1k if it was an actual 50.
Off topic- I'm in Oklahoma too. Ardmore. Jealous of the trails and lake Heffner.
Regarding the hunger- I've not kept up on the biking, and do more running. Eating within 30 minutes of your ride should help. I stop at the store and get muscle milk, or pack picky bars. I'm not much of a planner so it's always easy foods. Like fruit, and the frozen fruit bars. Cal's aren't horrible. [/quote]
Just bought a puppy from Ardmore on Sunday
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NorthCascades wrote: »I didn't notice that. Those numbers are crazy. A 50 mile ride comes out to about 1,800 kilo-Joules for me every time, measured with a power meter. Example:
https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/1116892278
Which translates into about 1720 calories to fuel the ride, correct? Assuming 25% efficiency on the engine...0 -
RollTideTri wrote: »
Maybe a little high, certainly not grossly overestimated. He's talking about 50 miles. 3-4 hours of continuous exercise. 3000 calories definitely isn't out of the question
I would say grossly based on experience but could be off. I know I'm lucky to burn 1200 on a 50 mile ride and that's at a 21+ average. I can agree to disagree though. Just something for them to watch.
3000-5000 sounds pretty high.
If one is averaging race pace watts, HR just at sub-threshold with some bursts into Zone 5...okay, well now I'm talking about mountain bike racing. I just did a 4+ hour marathon race two weeks ago. 38.7 miles at 4 hours and 37 minutes, about 3000 feet of climbing and my "gizmos" claim I burned 4330 calories. My diary and Training Peaks says I ate a total of 5000 calories for the day (less than the race burn plus my daily needs).
I did a nearly 5 hour gravel race in April pushing it pretty hard for 61.9 miles and my gizmo said I only burned 4829 calories in 4 hours and 52 minutes.
I burn 38-43 calories a mile in easier effort road bike rides. The more I bump it up, the higher the burn. Where I ride, I wouldn't be able to burn 5000 in 50 miles on the road bike, or gravel bike on the hilly gravel roads in my county.
It's all about the effort, zone, wattage, wind, elevation, duration, etc. which may or may not mean our "gizmos" are 100% accurate. Mine is based on a few years of tracking what goes in and what goes out (CICO), so I guess if all my gizmos were inaccurate my body weight would be much askew from what it is.
Curious what gizmo DTTrain uses to measure that burn.0 -
Since this thread has been derailed into a thread on how many calories cycling burns, I'll just chime in that at 15-18 mph, I burn 25-35 calories per mile depending on wind and terrain. I weigh 150 lb. and my bike, with a couple water bottles, food, tools, spare parts, fenders, etc. about 35 lb. On flat ground, weight doesn't matter a lot, but once you start climbing, that changes quickly!
My estimates are based on (1) my Garmin Edge 800, and (2) Strava's calorie estimates. The two numbers are usually within 10% of one another, except when I'm cycling slowly with my wife (and not burning that much, since there's not much wind resistance at 10-12 mph).
My old Sigma cycling computer used to estimate 50-60 calories per mile! Granted, I weighed a bit over 200 lb. when I had it, but I still think it was overestimating. MFP's database also seriously overestimates cycling calories.0 -
On that note: I find I need about 2/3 more watts to hold the same speed on dirt or very light gravel as I do on pavement. Obviously that depends a lot on the specifics (chip seal requires more power for the same speed, and there are a billion flavors of dirt). What happens for me is that I go a slower on dirt, but not enough slower, so I work harder and burn more calories at the end of the day.
@SingingSingleTracker, @Hornsby - are you noticing the same thing?0 -
How many calories would I be burning? I'm 140lbs, female, 30. My bike is 18lbs and I ride an old rail line so generally no more than a 2-3% grade in some places. I ride around 17mph. I was estimating about 25/mile just to keep the math easy. Is that too high? Thx.0
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Charlene_72385 wrote: »How many calories would I be burning? I'm 140lbs, female, 30. My bike is 18lbs and I ride an old rail line so generally no more than a 2-3% grade in some places. I ride around 17mph. I was estimating about 25/mile just to keep the math easy. Is that too high? Thx.
I think I slept through that portion of high school algebra class...0 -
I bike too but I only go 50 miles a week. Try this, eat light before your ride. Then snack lightly while you ride (ie, granola bar or energy product). Then after the ride have a meal. For my 50 mile ride I can burn 3000-5000 calories depending on terrain and cadence. I consume about 300-500 calories before my ride and about 400-500 calories during. Afterwards I resume normal eating according to my plan. If I'm hungry late night I consume a casein protein drink and that fills and holds me over til the next morning. My goal is to drop body fat and maintain muscle or maintain my weight. You shouldn't be starving after your "after ride meal." Eat normal and avoid feasting at night...easier said then done:)
The bold is highly unlikely. Likely way less than half that.
I hear you guys! Not to take the convo away from Cinflo...my apologies.
Today I rode 30 miles at a 20mph average on rolling hills. I ran Strava, map my walk and ride GPS all in parallel on my phone. At the end of the run they all guesstimated I burned just shy of 3000cal. I've eaten right up to my plan of 3000cal but there's no way I can "eat back" another 3000 for the ride. I only ride once a week and do a lot of other work throughout the week. For example, In my pic (hard to see) im doin a 505lb deadlift for reps. I think I have another pic of me pushing 1400lbs on the leg press. So, eating 3000 a day gives me the opportunity to "eat back" later in the week. I know these numbers sound really high but eating 3000cal a day keeps me right at 230-235lbs with lowish BF. About 15%. I used to ride a tri bike at 5000 foot elevation and got just about the same figures. Someone made the comment of if it works keep at it which is the plan. However, if someone can point me in a better direction as to how to better measure calorie expenditures I'd greatly appreciate it.0 -
Charlene_72385 wrote: »How many calories would I be burning? I'm 140lbs, female, 30. My bike is 18lbs and I ride an old rail line so generally no more than a 2-3% grade in some places. I ride around 17mph. I was estimating about 25/mile just to keep the math easy. Is that too high? Thx.
Like I said before ... I use the formula 100 calories for every 5 km, and that might even be just a little bit high now that I've lost weight. In the old imperial system that works out to 100 cal/3 miles or so ... 33 cal/mile. If you went with 25/mile, you're probably in the right ballpark.
(I'm a 49-year old female who is a little lighter than you ... and my real first name is Charlene too.
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Charlene_72385 wrote: »How many calories would I be burning? I'm 140lbs, female, 30. My bike is 18lbs and I ride an old rail line so generally no more than a 2-3% grade in some places. I ride around 17mph. I was estimating about 25/mile just to keep the math easy. Is that too high? Thx.
Honestly, I have no idea.
A quick google search yielded this article. Not as sciency as some, but it's probably a reasonable starting point given that all this talk is just about estimates and approximations.
http://www.livestrong.com/article/135430-calories-burned-biking-one-mile/
Personally, I use 10cals per minute as my sanity check. That's based of years of Garmin and Suunto HRM-based estimates, and it lines up well with how I log and the weight changes I see as a result.
It's really hard for me to sustain that kind of effort over longer stretches of time. A quick 45 minute mountain bike ride at high exertion could very well be 10cals per minute. A 4hr road ride, not so much.
It's all just guessing, and that type of guessing is good enough for me.0 -
NorthCascades wrote: »On that note: I find I need about 2/3 more watts to hold the same speed on dirt or very light gravel as I do on pavement. Obviously that depends a lot on the specifics (chip seal requires more power for the same speed, and there are a billion flavors of dirt). What happens for me is that I go a slower on dirt, but not enough slower, so I work harder and burn more calories at the end of the day.
@SingingSingleTracker, @Hornsby - are you noticing the same thing?
Yes, average speeds drop way down, and wattage - well, we all have a limited amount of power that we can put out and sustain no matter if it is pavement or dirt. If I could hold the same speed on dirt as I do on pavement, I wouldn't be here posting. I'd be racing for $$$ on the MTB Circuit. Gravel - depending on if it is fresh drop or not - is much closer to pavement riding, but the rolling resistance difference does lower the speed for the same wattage. Best benefit - few cars/trucks, more dogs to chase you, and peaceful scenery.
Singletrack with tight twisty, ups and downs, short steep power climbs, screaming descents, switchbacks, technical sections, hellish climbs - has wattage jumping all over the map. That's why "over under" intervals are a great preparation for the pain involved in racing mountain bikes as you go over and under threshold so many times on the dirt.0 -
I know these numbers sound really high but eating 3000cal a day keeps me right at 230-235lbs with lowish BF. However, if someone can point me in a better direction as to how to better measure calorie expenditures I'd greatly appreciate it.
That partially helps explain your massive calorie burn. You're a big fella.
Most of us cyclist types are whippets that are 65 - 85 pounds less than you with much less muscle to fuel than you are carrying around.
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SingingSingleTracker wrote: »Singletrack with tight twisty, ups and downs, short steep power climbs, screaming descents, switchbacks, technical sections, hellish climbs - has wattage jumping all over the map. That's why "over under" intervals are a great preparation for the pain involved in racing mountain bikes as you go over and under threshold so many times on the dirt.
I bought Garmin's pedal based power meter instead of a PowerTap wheel with the idea that I could put it on a MTB and see what my output looks like on the trail. Actually renting a MTB a few times showed me what a dumb idea that was... Sadly, it's about a 100 mile drive to the nearest good single track that bikes are allowed on, so I have a gravel bike and occasionally rent a mountain bike on trips.0 -
SingingSingleTracker wrote: »I know these numbers sound really high but eating 3000cal a day keeps me right at 230-235lbs with lowish BF. However, if someone can point me in a better direction as to how to better measure calorie expenditures I'd greatly appreciate it.
That partially helps explain your massive calorie burn. You're a big fella.
Most of us cyclist types are whippets that are 65 - 85 pounds less than you with much less muscle to fuel than you are carrying around.
So that's why I get funny looks at organized bike rides!!! Most folks haven't seen circus animals on bikes before!!! LMAO1 -
SingingSingleTracker wrote: »I know these numbers sound really high but eating 3000cal a day keeps me right at 230-235lbs with lowish BF. However, if someone can point me in a better direction as to how to better measure calorie expenditures I'd greatly appreciate it.
That partially helps explain your massive calorie burn. You're a big fella.
Most of us cyclist types are whippets that are 65 - 85 pounds less than you with much less muscle to fuel than you are carrying around.
That still can't account for that massive of a calorie burn.
I don't know how long that 50 mile ride takes, but if we assume a modest 3 hours (16ish mph) then 3000 calories would require a 277 watt average. Even a larger guy is not going to be able to put out that much power, sustained, for 3 hours without being a well-trained cyclist.
Granted I only weigh 145lbs but my FTP is 290. I can sustain around that 277w mark for an hour (well, lets back that off to 260w for an hour) and still run a sub-40:00 10k coming off the bike, but at 277 watts I am rolling 25-26mph sustained. No matter how you slice it 3000 calories for 50 miles doesn't make sense no matter how big the cyclist is 2 -
This is all good...and forced me to do some reading. Most websites on the topic have 2 consensus. 1. There are to many variables in biking to accurately give a definitive answer. 2. To gain weight eat more, to loose eat less. Doesn't get any simpler than that. At livestrong and bicycling.Com I plugged my info in and they said the same thing as the aps I'm using. Around 3000 cal for that 30 mile bike run at 16-19mph. Livestrong, in an article, said a 180lb male typically burns about 1070 cal per hour at the 16-19mph average. No guesses as to how much a 235 pounder burns. Expotential increase maybe? Livestrong said a 145lb male burns half to 2/3s of what the 180 pounder burns. The bigger the body the more the burn at a given rate is what ive read. But in my reading, cal burn estimates are all over the place. I talked to a nutrionist friend today and she thinks my cal burn is probably higher than what the aps say. I guess there is a lot of research going into biking vs cal burn. All I know for sure is that 3000 cal a day intake supports and maintains my body in the training I am doing. I'm gonna buy a power meter and HR monitor and delve deeper.0
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