Bike to Work Week rides to the rescue

Unlike brain power, muscle strength or dollars at the end of the fiscal year, calories don’t belong to the “use it or lose it” family. But don’t worry—Bike to Work Week rides to the rescue!

Smoothies are UVic’s favourite treat, especially the peanut butter and banana ones that ring in at about 400 calories each. That’s enough to fuel almost two hours of leisurely biking for a 60-kg professor. A 93-kg staffer, on the other hand, will only have to saddle up for an hour to burn it off.(1)

So without adding to the adipose, those of us who ride to campus can slurp a smoothie for every hour or two that we spend in the saddle. Or, if we forego the goodies for the duration of Bike to Work Week, we might burn off up to half a kilo of the part that meets the seat or hangs over that Lycra waistband.

For example, half a kilogram (roughly a pound) of body fat contains 3,500 calories that we didn’t need for anything else; that’s why it ended up…where it ended up. By biking half an hour each way to and from campus the week of May 28 to June 3, each of us can release about 1,500 calories’ worth of energy into the atmosphere.

But maybe a spare tire isn’t your problem; perhaps money turns your crank. If the average UVic commuter travels 18 km a day to and from work (2) and the average car gets 10.2 km/L (3) and gas costs $1.24 a litre (4), well, $2.18 a day adds up to a lot of lattes. Or if you’re not into coffee, then consider that leaving the car at home for one week nets you 11 guilt-free dollars to spend on iTunes…or anything else you fancy. That’s good math!

There’s even a course on May 20 especially for people who are nervous about saddling up or who haven’t been on their bikes for ages. UVic hopes to beat last year’s record of 40 teams, so contact action@uvic.ca to register.

For moral support, biking info, and more, check out the Bike to Work Week website: www.biketowork.ca/victoria/home.

UVic hopes to beat last year’s record of 40 teams, so contact action@uvic.ca to register.

________________________________

1. From http://www.nutristrategy.com/fitness/cycling.htm
2. Wildly extrapolated from a survey of Gustavson School of Business faculty and staff
3. Thank you, Google.
4. Rounded up from $1.239 on April 24, 2012

________________________________

How many calories can I burn off by cycling?

(source: http://www.nutristrategy.com/fitness/cycling.htm):
Leisurely cycling is less than 16 km/h (10 mph) and a person who weighs:

• 60 kg (130 lb) will use about 236 calories per hour
• 70 kg (155 lb) will use about 281 calories per hour
• 82 kg (180 lb) will use about 327 calories per hour
• 93 kg (205 lb) will use about 372 calories per hour