So I started riding my road bike to work. I am a 23 year old male, 5'11", weighing in at about 215 at the moment. My commute is 9.4 miles each way and I do it in about 40 minutes right now (average about 13 mph). I plan to do this 5 times a week so I'll be riding 94 miles a week on commuting and then go for a 20+ ride either saturday or sunday. this is all ideal so realistically we'll just say i do 80 miles a week at that pace. according to mapmyride.com, i burn about 516 calories each way. so the question is can i expect to see some weight loss soon? should i also do free weights or run instead of bike on the weekends? i see many bikers ride by me that look very lean and fit, and i'm wondering if it is all because of biking. please let me know what you guys think!! THanks

Unless your route to work is nearly vertical it is extremely unlikely that you burn anywhere near 516 kcal in forty minutes while cycling less than ten miles. I'd suggest that 400 would be an overgenerous estimate. And 80 miles per week is very nice, but unlikely to be enough on its own to generate significant weight loss unless you also pay attention to what you eat - or, more especially, don't eat.

80 miles at moderate pace is probably worth less than one pounds-worth of calories. So if your weight is currently static, and the only thing you change is to add 80 miles per week to the mix, you might expect to see a weight loss of a pound each week, or maybe a bit less. But if you compensate for the activity by eating more, or reward yourself for your endeavours by having a couple more beers, say goodbye to weight loss. The skinny cyclists you see probably do more than 80 miles a week, and do those miles at greater intensity, and are careful about what they eat. Sorry if that is discouraging, but there it is.

no thats great. it's not discouraging at all. i basically started 2 weeks ago and i plan to up the intensity and i have been eating much better as of late and already have dropped 10 pounds from lifting and changing my diet. now i'm somewhat replacing lifting with cycling. and i also plan to up the mileage so i can get about 120 a week. my question was assuming that i pick up the intensity increases since my first ride was a week ago. thanks!

It's a great start. If your goal is weight loss you need to watch your diet as well as increase the intensity of your rides. Be careful of mixing and matching calorie counts from various sites since some make assumptions. Map my ride may say 516 calories, but does it take into account BMR? If you use a basic calculator you have approximately a 2100 calorie BMR. 40 minutes doing nothing you might burn 60 calories so that 10 mile ride is probably more in the range of net 450 calories.

Keep up the commuting, it gets your metabolism up twice a day. You will quickly find that 40 minute ride only takes 35 minutes. For a well rounded fitness program you will want to introduce strength training like weights and some sort of balance work. Strength training on the bike requires that you seek out climbs to really get those legs pumping.

Good luck and keep biking.

I don't need to do much seeking... i have to climb 250 feet in a mile on my way home. and of course its the last mile of my ride...

First, Mapmyride calorie count is probably should be discounted about 25%-33%

You ride that consistently you will see results within a month, as long as you don't start shoveling in more food. Your previous diet, if it is set up well is probably enough. You won't need extra calories to make up for the rides that you are doing.

what would be a good eating strategy for my rides? do you eat before, after? load up on carbs? its only 9 miles but i am usually starving when i get in. and i need to invest in a water bottle cage because my mouth is completely dry by the time i get where i am going

It's only nine miles. A good eating strategy would be to eat nothing. Yes buy a bottle cage, but drink water. Seriously, don't eat.

+1

And you won't need gatorade or anything either for that mileage. You don't need the extra cals and they won't help. Water.

Eat a hearty breakfast. Oatmeal (and not the instant stuff that has lots of sugar added) and fruit is a good combination. 9 miles doesn't require anything during the ride. Yes, buy a water bottle bottle cage and carry water (and not Gatorade).

For the long weekend ride, a small granola bar (or couple of fig newtons) or similar should be plenty. And water. If you start riding more than 20 miles, you can experiment with gels, sports drinks, etc. But for now, a simple snack and water is fine.

Invest, it's like $10-$20 at any sports store. Unless you are going out on a brutally hot day or for a ride that will last 2+ hours drink water, it's all you really need.

[QUOTE=ara35;11392115]... according to mapmyride.com, i burn about 516 calories each way.

no you;re not.
all these calorie estimators, including the HRMs and Power Meters are using formulas (all some calculation, not real...) developed from scientific research which has been done over many, many decades - you don;t want to know how far back...
anyway, the calcs are ALL based on LEAN weight (along with other factors). So when you input weight you should input your LEAN weight - 160-170 ish lbs (which is not really that lean, but it is closer...)
at 13 mph avg, that would prolly find a closer number, which might be 20 Kcals per mi. or 180 ish Kcals for 9 miles...

I don;t know... can you expect to see some weight loss? dependez on how you fuel yourself
couple things which really help - drop all soft drinks (sugar in there is awful, DIET drinks are even worse for your general health) drink plenty of water, more than you prolly do now... then drink some more...
some solid muscle mass (lean, not that heavily 'marbled' Football 'muscle') is a very important thing, lookin like Frank Schleck also means you;re gonna break something if you just trip on your shoelace...
right now I gotta drop some Manteca, myself - but I'm weak and spineless, so itz hard...
better luck to you...