The Science of Cycling - Energy Transfer

Energy Cannot Be Created or Destroyed - It Can Only be Transferred!

The laws of thermodynamics describe the basic properties and behavior of energy. The first law of thermodynamics, often called the law of conservation of energy, states that energy can neither be created nor destroyed, so the total amount of energy remains constant. Energy can, however, change its form.

Food is energy. We all consume food and drink to bring energy into our bodies. That energy is converted by our body into a form that can be used by our organs and muscles to perform different functions - some involuntary - pumping blood, breathing - some voluntary - sitting upright, walking, climbing stairs..... or riding a bike..... with 60 lbs of gear loaded on it.

With the amount of extra weight I have on my bicycle, I can comfortably average about 10 mph and I can maintain that pace for up to 6 hours.... that's about it.... I did something around 80 miles one day when I went from Rosenberg to LaGrange.... and I was seeing pink elephants and spiraling multi-colored lights at the end of a long tunnel.... yeah I was delirious.... I won't do that again..... so 60 miles @ 10 mph is about it.

There are a lot of calculators and charts for figuring how many calories are burned while exercising or cycling at a given speed at a given weight. Here's a link to one of them:

http://www.nutristrategy.com/activitylist.htm

Here's the problem - I'm a 195 - 200 lb guy but I'm hauling 60 lbs of gear so I'm really a 260 lb guy.... you can extrapolate the charts or do some calculations but in the end, based on the data I've looked at I'm probably burning about 1000 calories / hour when I'm going 10 mph with my body weight and the 60 lbs of gear on the bike and the 2 bottles of water (about 3.5 lbs) and the bike which is about 20 lbs.

.... so what does all this mean.... I have to eat ..... and I have to eat every hour ..... and I have to eat at least 500 calories per hour on the days when I'm doing 60 miles (which I'll be averaging between here and Muleshoe).

Hang on.... I'm burning 1000 calories / hour but I'm only planning to take in about 500 calories per hour..... where do I get the other 500 calories / hour? Raise your hand if you know the answer!

There.... you in the back row..... what's that? Yes, that's right, I'll get that extra 500 calories per hour from the fat that's on my body. My body will convert that fat into energy.

Let's make this easy - let's say I pedal for 7 hours per day with a 500 calorie per hour deficit between what my body burns vs what I take into my body from what I eat.

I'll end up burning 3500 calories per day more than what I take in from eating.

Now, a pound of body fat contains 3500 calories..... so I should burn 1 lb of fat / day.... over the next 7 days my body should burn 7 lbs of body fat..... so I should be 7 lbs lighter when I get to Muleshoe Tx.

Do I care or worry about all this?

Hell No! - I just sleep, eat and pedal!