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feethanddooth
05-21-08, 05:14 PM
been using cyclistats lately to calculate calories burned and need a double check. here is a ride i had and the numbers it gave me....
ride;
26.36 miles
1:24:34 time
avg speed 18.7
calorie info;
total 1195
45/mile
848/hour
225 watts
this is with 893 feet climbed in the total ride which i entered in the "elevation gain" box.
my stats that it took into consideration for calculation;
weight 185lbs
bike weight 18lbs
dahoss2002
05-22-08, 12:08 AM
That looks reasonable. Alot more reasonable than some of the calculators posted on here. I see you came up with 45 cal/ mile and you rode at a good pace with some climbing. I use 40 cal/ mile as an estimate but I ride mainly on flat ground and usually around 17 mph.
been using cyclistats lately to calculate calories burned and need a double check. here is a ride i had and the numbers it gave me....
ride;
26.36 miles
1:24:34 time
avg speed 18.7
calorie info;
total 1195
45/mile
848/hour
225 watts
this is with 893 feet climbed in the total ride which i entered in the "elevation gain" box.
my stats that it took into consideration for calculation;
weight 185lbs
bike weight 18lbs
Hmmmm...that seems a little high to me (and, as the author of CycliStats (http://www.cyclistats.com), I ought to know :)).
At your weight, 848 calories per hour should feel pretty hard, but both your climbing and speed don't seem quite enough to account for that rate of burn.
Here's a few of things to look at in the calculation:
http://cyclistats.com/images/caloriecalculator.gif
1) Body position / frontal area
This has a large impact on the calculation, especially as speeds increase. Make sure that the default value chosen by the program represents your average position on the bike for the ride. For your ride, it should probably be "Semi-aero" (on the hoods), or "Racing" (in the drops). If you were drafting for some of the ride, you may need to switch from "semi-aero" to "racing" to account for the lessened wind resistance when you were in the draft.
2) Average headwind airspeed
This is a tricky one. It's not the average windspeed during the ride - it's your best estimate of how much the wind reduced your overall average speed. If you enter anything in that field, you'll see it has a large impact on the calculation, due to the assumptions about wind resistance and how they affect the amount of work involved.
3) Rolling Resistance Factor
Make sure you're using the correct "rolling resistance factor" for the type of tires on your bike (presumably, "High Performance Road").
Hope this helps, and best of luck with all your cycling and fitness goals.