Originally Posted by InTheRain

Sorry, you're "bike coach" is wrong. Increasing the intensity of your work will never result in burning less calories as long as the time spent is the same. True... you probably can't climb hills for an hour straight without getting tired but if you could.. you would burn significantly more calories climbing than flat.

I find that climbing hills requires you to increase your intensity. If you slow down too much.. you'll fall over, or you'll have to get off and walk. I've been tempted many times to get off and walk... but I was already going so slow up the hill I thought that if I use the energy to clip out of my pedals that I would slow down so much that I'd just fall over (and maybe never get my shoes unclipped) so I just made the decision to just keep spinning to the top.

If you have expended as much energy as you possibly can on hills or flats, you've had a great workout and you're going to drop the pounds. Hills just don't give you the option of dropping the intensity... and I find that to be a good thing. I've heard the excuse "I burn just as many calories walking for 3 hours as you do riding your bike for an hour. And the walking calories are burning more fat." Well, yeah, I tend to agree. It's just that these "excuse givers" don't, and never will, walk 3 hours each and every day. But, I'll ride my bike for at least an hour a day, each and every day. And, I'll burn the same number of calories because of the higher intensity.

Hey, there is no easy way to lose weight. You either spend the time, or you increase the intensity. Because 95% of us can't find the time to walk for three hours each day, or ride for 3 hours on the flats at an easy or moderat pace, we chose to increase the intensity. The hills don't let you cheat.