Velomancer

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annc

What country is this for? I ask because very few people in the US will know what "1037kms on the energy equivalent of a single litre of petrol" means.

Also, is it necessary to use the term "Western Diseases?" The text would read better (and less political) without the phrase.

martianone

WOW- what is the source for 1037 km/L ? That works out to little over 2400 mpg, usually a value
of around 800 mpg is quoted.
Also- IMHO; while a bike costs much less to operate the a motor vehicle or public transit, I would not agree that cycling is Free. Parts, tune ups and accessories will add to the annual cost of the bike.

Velomancer

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AndrewP

You dont waste time commuting by bike, you gain quality recreation time

Zan

Apparently one gallon of american petrol contains about 31000 kcal.

https://auto.howstuffworks.com/question527.htm

that about 8200kcal per liter. I've read that a cyclist moving at 19mph burns about 800kcal per hour. that means 1000kcal gets him 24miles, or about 196miles per liter (313km)

I think that number is a touch off.

I'll eat 8200kcal in two days. There's no way i can ride 1000+km at my regular pace on that much "fuel" (and for people like Mackha () who will challenge me on this, I understand that a lot of energy goes to just keeping the body alive, and NOT riding a bike!).

https://www.caloriesperhour.com/index_burn.php

Velomancer

That's more like it.... thanks AndrewP

Velomancer

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doctor j

I've found cycling to be a great stress reliever. No catchy phrase to say it, but it's the truth.

Zan

It's a chance to listen to the birds on your morning commute (I love riding out to school listening to birds waking up in the trees!).

you can rephrase it however you want

Pat

Well, this one is a big overstatement.

Aerobic exercise can be a treatment for stress. But it does not eliminate the stress or the effects of the stress. It just attenuates the stress and its effects. Also, the relief of stress is short lived. The cause of the stress is usually still around after the ride is over.

Heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, and obesity are all very much diet related. In cultures with low fat and mostly complex carbohydrates, these things are almost unknown. Also in those cultures, people over consuming calories is pretty rare.

Cycling does burn calories. If you burn enough calories, you can reduce the above effects. But if you consume saturated fats in quantity, I doubt that any amount of cycling is going to protect you from high blood pressure and heart disease.

Zan

nothing but arguments here!

Velo Dog

FWIW, I agree on the first item...Americans (I'm one) proudly maintain their ignorance of the metric system. I'd be surprised if more than about 1 in 10 could tell you how far 1037km is, or explain the relationship of a litre to a gallon (of course of this is for European consumption, ignore both of us).
As for the second...heart disease and other maladies ARE western diseases, and I'd have no problem with you calling them that. My only concern is that we're so self-referential that many people won't know what you're talking about.
Some years ago Volkswagen did an ad explaining that it was cheaper to fuel a VW to drive some number of miles than to fuel a human to run the same distance, using gas at whatever it cost per gallon in those days vs. a fast food hamburger at whatever that cost. Something like that might be entertaining: "If you drive a car that gets 20mpg, fuel to drive 10 miles will cost you $1.15. If you ride your bike 10 miles, fuel for your body will cost 73 cents," or whatever figures you work out.

EatMyA**

wrong time

wrong place OP

bbattle

Back when gasoline was ~$4.00/gal, a reporter friend wanted to interview me since he'd heard I rode my bike to work. He was doing a story on things people had changed in their lives since gasoline was so much more expensive.

I begged off because I don't ride my bike to save gasoline. I ride because it's fun and a good way to unwind and relax. Also good exercise. And I live only 3.5miles from home so the gasoline savings would be minimal.

As a chemist, I despise the Imperial measurement system but for common things like distance and temperature(outside the lab); I will use miles and Fahrenheit and avoid trouble.

Velomancer

Very true... ask for a bit of help and all you get is b i t c h i n g... this forum has really turned to shyte.

I'm off.

Velomancer

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JPMacG

I think that catchy phrases may strike a nerve with some in the U.S. We get them constantly from advertisers, especially for drugs and 'health' foods. They are often partial truths, deliberately misleading, or even outright lies. So we (or at least I) tend to shun them.

Machka 

The OP clarified that this isn't for the US. BikeForums is international ... there are lots of people from countries other than the US here.

Machka 

Bicycle facts require research and validation. Sure we could all spew little one-liners about cycling ... but who knows if they are true or not.

If I were driving down the road with my radio on, and I heard a bunch of little one-liners about cycling (or anything at all for that matter), my first thought would be ... "Prove it". My first thought when I read your examples was "Prove it" ... back it up with actual peer-reviewed journal articles, experiments, etc..

I just graduated with another degree from University, and one of the biggest problems Universities are having these days is students who just say a bunch of stuff in their papers without backing it up. In the worst case, they call that plagiarism ... at best you'll just have your professor writing, "Where's your evidence?" in the margins.


Or are you just after bicycle myths? Those we can probably come up with!

The Human Car

The discrepancy comes in on how hard you pedal at speeds of 10mph you consume far fewer calories.

umd

And FOOD.

Zan

perhaps it's due to the long winter and constant bad weather we've had here in much of NA.

JanMM

'Bicycling - it's a lot of fun if you enjoy it!'

prathmann

Maybe, but the originally quoted figure does appear to be much higher than other estimates that I've seen. Your figure of 100 kcal/3 miles from the Exploratorium is equivalent to a little under 400 km/liter of gasoline and is consistent with figures I've gotten from calculations of work performed in typical (i.e. touring pace) cycling. Getting over 1000 km/l would imply a very lightweight cyclist going very slowly. [And giving the figure as 1037 rather than about 1000 implies an unwarranted degree of precision.]

And to the OP: this is an open discussion group and the discussion will be taken in various directions by the interests of the participants. Expecting everyone to answer your request in exactly the way you might desire is not a reasonable expectation.