Originally Posted by
radroad
A few months ago in bicycling magazine, one writer estimated that he burned about 125 cal for every 5 miles of riding, which sounds about right for an adult male of average weight. It's a much more conservative estimate than most "calculators" I've found online.
I've seen that quoted as well, but it is so general as to be useless. Calorie burn is entirely related to power output. As such, all the variables such as type of bike, type of tires, wind, incline, body weight, effort level, etc., etc., etc,, affect how many calories one burns per mile. I think many of us fall into that trap of feeling like we can eat more when the miles go up. The long and the short of it is, if you are not dropping weight while riding 100 or more miles a week, you are eating way too much.