Tour De France Blog

For instance, how many miles do you have to ride to burn as many calories as you’d burn by walking a mile? And how many flights of stairs would you have to climb to get the same result? I ask because I wish to maintain my current level of fitness, but want to increase the flexibility of my program. Over the past year I’ve averaged 16 miles a day on my bike and walked for at least half an hour. I’d like to substitute some stair climbing for some of the bike riding and walking on the days I work.

mmh! I run for an hour every day (it’s the best all around work out IMO. Some say swimming, but swimming is easier to be lazy with and not put your all in to). Running for 30mins a day burns something like 750calories out of your diet. Jogging comes in second at something like 400. Then walking comes in third at 100 or 150. Running is the best and easiest. I wouldn’t know about cycling. I tried cycling for awhile but it just wasn’t as consistent as running.

If you’re trying to save time but maintain the level of exertion, just run.

I feel comfortable running a 5k…I am curious about the miles I should ride the bike. I would do this 5 days a week.

The answer is wholly dependent on what you want to accomplish. Also, I’m not sure if you want to run and ride 5 days a week. Most people wouldn’t run and ride the same day but you certainly can if you want to.

For basic fitness a 45 minute ride at a resonably hard pace would be very good. If you run the same day it would tack on about 20 minutes for a little over 1 hour of exercise that would be great.

Probably a better solution would be to ride 3 days a week for about an hour and run 2x a week.

If you want more fitness or are training to some end you would adjust accordingly.

I’ve been trying to ride my bike more often lately to lose weight, but it seems like I run out of energy really quickly. It’s usually around 100 degrees outside when I ride, and it’s in a park with a bunch of bumps and rough terrain. Usually I’m only able to bike for about half an hour before I start to feel tired.

Any suggestions on what I can do to build up stamina?

I had the same exact experience just yesterday. I think you simply build stamina by working a little more each time- going a little further each time. I, too, was out in extremely hot weather, and that definitely has something to do with it. I won’t be going out on extremely hot days anymore. It can make you sick.

My neighbor is 11 going on 12. He loves running and bike riding, and I’ve heard hes going to run a mile a day, bike riding and wight lifting. Just wondering if this is healthy for his age. Thanks.
Thanks, and remember guys. Hes 11. I dont think it would be good to be eating Acai berrys at his age.
Sorry if I asked wrong, I meant is that healthy enough per day?

The running and biking are fine… any cardio is good for a kid, the more the better. The weight lifting, however, will stunt his growth.. you shouldn’t weight lift until your done growing.

I’m a big time biker. In the summer I was biking about 20 miles a day, and when it started getting cold I stopped. I’m getting bored staying indoors all the time and I want to pick up biking again (even though there’s snow on the ground/sidewalks).

Are there any safety precautions, besides dressing warm, that I should take prior to riding in the snow?

Snow isn’t as big of a concern as ice is, particularly packed ice underneath a layer of snow you can’t see. The only way to get traction on ice is a set of studded tires. If you think you want to become a year round cyclist, a set of studded tires might be a good investment if you live in an area that gets a good bit of snow every winter. If snow and ice in your area is a sporadic thing, just stay off the bike when it is icy. Another consideration to keep in mind is that you need to make sure you keep your bike very clean when you ride it in the winter, as road salt will eat your components, which could cause accidents on down the road.

Also, don’t forget to drink plenty of fluids while riding in the winter. Even though you aren’t sweating as much as in the middle of the summer, you can still dehydrate. Some claim that the electrolytes in sports drinks keep them from freezing as quickly as water, but I haven’t tested that myself. If that is the case, you might want to fill your bottles with sports drinks instead of plain water.

Also be sure to dress in layers, so if you get too hot, you can take something off. This will probably necessitate some sort of bag or basket on your bike. Fenders are also incredibly useful, both to keep salt and nastiness off of your bike, and to keep you cleaner and drier.

Be sure to always ride with your lights on in the winter, even in the daytime, as motorists certainly don’t expect there to be cyclists about. Don’t be afraid to get off and walk the bike if you are in a heavily trafficked area with a lot of snow and ice on the road. If you lose traction and fall in front of a car, it may not be able to stop, and if it loses traction, it may not be able to avoid you. Alertness is key.

Good luck!

i rode my bike about 23miles and im wondering how many calories i burn in all and how many calories you burn every mile while biking?..what burns more fat biking or running?

it depends how fast you were going

What is the best way to ride outdoors? Hilly or level ground? What is the best bike, mountain or street for exercising?

Well with "maxium" being your point then: frequent, long, hard, hilly rides on either mountain or road bikes will make you exercise at your max.

Remember exercise is exercise. What bike you do it on only matters to the point that it is comfortable for you and allows maximum effort.

Now if you’re talking about more than you asked, let me add this: I mountain bike (trails) and road ride. If you ask me what takes more out of me, then I would answer a trail ride. But if you asked me what type of riding can I control more, provides flexibility and allows customization, I’d say road riding.

Both are great but MTB riding can be hard on your body and limited more by muddy trails etc. Also, MTB rides are what I term "on-demand". That is on a trail you react quickly and constantly to a super wide variety of terrain and conditions. In road riding you can be more proactive, you can select many different routes etc. Road riding offen allows you to rest if you feel the need, this is rarely true in MTB riding.

Personally, if you want to be able to highly control many aspects of a work out – road ride. If hard riding is hard riding to you then MTB ride. Better yet do both, they work your body a little differently and it’s a great way to keep your work out fresh.

For example i am very good at riding a bike..and i ride across hiway exits and entrances and sometymes ride in traffic if i have to..and i am very good at predicting traffic and riding where safe n watching out for myself..does this mean that i will be good or a little bit better than a person that is starting out driving a car because i have "expert" bike experince

Yes, you said right…
infact i came in reverse way… when i tried to learn bike for the first time, i didn’t get the coordination betweeen driving ,gear changing, slowing down etc.i left it and went for car driving and learnt perfectly in 3 days(coz we won’t fall down from car).After learning car driving(infact it is easier than bike acc to me) only i understood the bike.

What song would be good in a pocket bike riding home video?, i made a movie of my mate and i riding our pocket bikes around town, what would be a good song?, its gotta havea bit of additude to it, abit of metal, maybe a bit of rock,… really i dont know, please help me pick one
thank you

Tiptoe Through the Tulips
By Tiny Tim R.I.P.

"What song would be good in a pocket bike riding home video?"

That is seriously homoerotic.