Infinity Miles Per Gallon

[ProDarwin]

Ehh, I wouldn't call 10% bodybuilder

I agree that most are overweight. Most could use a little more exercise as well. I was just (again) pointing out that commuting on a bike isn't free, even if you discount time.

I still intend to commute on a bike this summer (once we get shower access @ work), purely for the recreational/health benefits - not in an attempt to save money. I will probably alternate home workouts/biking to work to maintain my free time after work.

[ProDarwin]

Originally Posted by niky

And 3000 calories a day is more than 2000.

You're spending those calories to build muscles. Not to bike. A runner or biker doesn't eat ungodly amounts of protein to build extra muscle mass that will just slow him down.

Different strokes.

Apples to oranges. Compare biking to work to driving to work. There will be a large difference in calories.

[niky]

Undoubtedly... was just wondering if it would make a discernible difference in terms of overall dietary requirements... I guess that depends on how far you have to go.... typically, my walking/biking routes (for work or school) were only a few miles... it would probably be much different if it were a ten mile commute one way.

Interestingly, it's very hard to find concrete figures for how many calories are needed to bike at various paces from one source... because the calculations will vary widely from person to person... but for your purposes, this might come in handy:

http://www.infinitnutrition.us/libra...20Calories.pdf

Amazing how the total calories plateau if you graph that out from 15-17 mph over a set distance, though that might be partially due to rounding error in the figures... besides... this is triathlon pace... if you're biking to commute only, you will more likely be moving at 10 mph, where you'll be using 30% less (from what I can gather elsewhere).

Of course... you'll probably want to be going a fair bit faster than that!

[Frank Lee]

Originally Posted by ProDarwin

Except that even in traffic, you'll travel much farther in a car than on a bike in 30 minutes My commute would be ~1 hour by bike, 20 minutes by car.

I have a nice shortcut available to me on bicycle that is off limits to cars. Driving time vs riding time for me was mere minutes.

[NeilBlanchard]

I've ridden my bicycle over 50 miles so far this year, in lieu of driving. It is already getting easier, but it is hard to do when it rains -- which has been a lot lately...

I wish I had a Quest velomobile!

[JacobAziza]

Originally Posted by Frank Lee

I have a nice shortcut available to me on bicycle that is off limits to cars. Driving time vs riding time for me was mere minutes.

When I was a bike messenger in SF, our company would guarantee any delivery within the city that required a van to be delivered within 2 hours of the time the client called.
If it could be done by bicycle, we could guarantee delivery within 15 minutes.

[ProDarwin]

Originally Posted by Frank Lee

I have a nice shortcut available to me on bicycle that is off limits to cars. Driving time vs riding time for me was mere minutes.

Yeah, that helps. I have a shortcut like that, but it doesn't help on the way to work Biking is still about 1.5 miles longer.

[Frank Lee]

Before they built that walking bridge (my shortcut) I mixed it up with the cars using the exact same route as I would driving. Still was mighty close to the same trip time.