The Calories Burned Cycling 10 Miles

If you are wishing to use exercise as a tool for weight reduction, bicycling is a good choice. Bicycling can be maintained for long periods of time while burning many calories, resulting in large caloric deficits with subsequent fat loss. Several factors will determine how many calories are burned while bicycling 10 miles.

Variables

The major factors that determine how much power is required to cycle at a certain speed are aerodynamic drag, rolling resistance of the tires, and the combined weight of the bicycle and rider. Other factors that will drastically alter the power requirements are: pavement or trail smoothness, headwinds and tailwinds, the hilliness of the course, and the number of stops requiring acceleration and deceleration of the bike. For comparison purposes, the number of calories burned cycling 10 miles will be figuredd for a level, windless course, using an upright position on a racing bicycle.

Body Weight and Speed

At 10 miles per hour, a 100-pound person will burn approximately 290 calories in 10 miles, a 150-pound person will burn 320 calories, and a 200-pound person will burn 340 calories. At a brisker pace of 15 miles per hour, which is attainable by most healthy individuals, a person will burn 310, 350 and 380 calories, respectively, for the three weights of 100, 150 and 200 pounds. At racing speeds of 20 miles per hour, expect to burn 350, 390 and 420 calories for the three weights.

Human Power Limits

In 1972, when the five-time Tour de France winner and Belgian Eddy Merckx set the world hour record for the bicycle, he traveled 30.7 miles. Eddy was 6 feet tall and weighed 163 pounds. This was done on a track bicycle in the thin air of Mexico City. It was estimated that he produced 460 watts of power over that hour, or roughly 520 calories per 10 miles. This must be considered near the upper limits to human energy consumption while riding a bicycle.

Range of Power Generation in Humans

Healthy adults can generate 100 or more watts of power when cycling, while professional cyclists can exceed 400 watts. The number of calories you burn cycling 10 miles is dependent upon your power requirements, which are determined by the amount of resistance to forward progress that you encounter.