I have ridden more in 2008 than I have ridden in the past couple of years. I don't know the total miles. Instead, I have only kept track of the mile I did not drive. For example, today I rode for a couple of hours. I only kept track of two of those miles because I stopped by the grocery store to pick up some lettuce for salad with dinner. My legs feel like I rode 20-25 miles, but I do not know.
My wife has pointed out that the oatmeal and salad consumption in the house has increased dramatically since I decided to get back on the bike for the two mile challenge. That got me thinking. I have been bragging about CO2 not released and money not spent on gas, but how many calories have I burned?
This was not as easy as I thought.
Kent's Bike Blog has a calculator on the sidebar, but I have to know the hours I have ridden, not the miles. I have only kept a record of an estimate of miles this year. I checked out a couple of different places and figured I have burned about 16,000 calories when I could have been simply sitting on my backside in my car.
In terms of my favorite foods, 16,000 calories is:
- 100 bowls of oatmeal
- 761 heads of lettuce
- 355 cucumbers
- 286 cups of broccoli
- 1000 strips of bacon
- 123 Reese's Peanut Butter Cups
- 26 Burger King Stackers
- 20 Burger King Triple Stackers
- 390 bottles of lite beer
- 76 bottles of Dogfish's 60 minute IPA
- 35 bottles of Dogfish's 120 minute IPA
- 140 ounces of cheddar cheese
Of course, each one of those is 16,000 calories. If you eat that much food in one sitting, I am not responsible for your waistline.
