Participating in the faster rides lately has really made me think about my weight in a lot of ways. While I'm not "fat", at 220 lbs. I'm definitely a larger rider and it really takes its toll on hills. I'm not really into the technical side of cycling but I'd be curious to know how much more power/energy I need to expend vs. other cyclists in order to get up some of the larger hills. Why do I suddenly bring this up? Well I've been struggling a bit on the rides lately, particularly in the hotter weather. I realize I need to lose weight in order to take up my cycling game.
This is where it gets tricky. I read somewhere that the best way to burn calories/fat and lose weight on the bike is through long rides with sustained low-intensity effort. In other words, you are much more likely to lose weight riding 75 miles at 15 mph than doing 50 miles at 20 mph. I definitely believe this to be the case. While I'm so much more tired after the faster rides I do, I'm having a lot of trouble losing weight doing them. By contrast, when I rode longer distances at much slower speeds in Italy, the weight was flying off of me.
I also need to do a better job of watching what I eat. I'd love to get down to 200 lbs and see how my riding responds. I don't want to put too much pressure on myself because that'll guarantee failure but it's something I'm targeting. I guess it's just a question of how to get there?
2 comments:
the mtb crowd refers to anyone over 200 as a Clydesdale.
thanks for the info but this is a road cycling blog.
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