Originally Posted by
Seattle Forrest
If you're trying to work out your deficit per day, I'd suggest simplifying the math a bit, and thinking in terms of calories per hour of cycling, rather than per mile. It's not just that the math is less ugly, but the answers you get will be more accurate. There are less assumptions going into it ( average speed in particular ) and you won't be tempted to hammer through the miles as quickly as possible to get on with your day.
I did the counting calories thing for several months, and dropped a lot of weight in the process. So you're definitely on the right track.
interesting idea to think of it in terms of hours. seems like the cal-per-hr varies so much based on average speed that it would be simpler to think of cals-per-mile (which is pretty much the same until you get really fast). but I'll give that some thought.