It’s National Pizza Day, apparently. And it’s quickly found a spot in my top five days of the year. But with a tummy now rumbling for pizza, the sensible voice in my mind is asking how many miles would I have to ride to burn it off?
Well, I don’t want to scare anyone, but the figures don’t make for fantastic reading. A basic Margarita from Pizza Express contains 729kcal while the delicious sounding Calabrese contains 1,346kcal.
But what does that mean in terms of riding? A little look at my last cyclocross race saw me burn off 364kcal for 1 hour of intense riding. At 22, with a high metabolism, it’s a surprisingly low number. I had the pizza anyway…
The Fact Burning Zone – fat burning myths busted
A much longer Sunday ride of 4 hours burned 2,301kcal. It looks like I can have a starter and dessert as well, or a second pizza. Result.
The pros also love a slice of pizza occasionally, and if Nairo Quintana wants to beat Chris Froome this year, we might just have found the three-time Tour winner’s weakness.
Burnt 6300 kcal today, here’s a photo of me headed to the kitchen truck #LV2016 pic.twitter.com/FHqxFRqcOB
— Chris Froome (@chrisfroome) September 3, 2016
Now we think that if you’ve used 6,300kcal, you probably deserve a rather large pizza.
2016 season done! Pizza time with @estecharu #LV2016 pic.twitter.com/TBYwtbpp94
— Chris Froome (@chrisfroome) September 11, 2016
Being a climber is helped massively by being lighter
Now, I must point out, a few roadies in the office were quick to argue that cake is the undeniable staple of the British cyclist’s riding diet. But which do you prefer as a reward for all those miles?
20 thoughts on “It’s National Pizza Day! But how far do you have to ride to burn it off?”
I think that CX figure might
I think that CX figure might be just a little off. 90W might get you an average of 14mph on the road, but not round a CX course. Three times that might be a bit closer to the mark.
pdw wrote:
yes, also 364 kcal an hour sounds more like a brisk stroll
beezus fufoon wrote:
It may be a little off. But that’s a Strava estimate for you! I’ve no power metre on the CX bike so it’d be closer to a 290ish average.
But according ot the BMR
But according ot the BMR calculator at myfitnesspal, doing absolutely nothing, I burn 1685 a day. That’s over 2 whole Margaritas. If I put in a few hours watching TV I’m guessing I should start losing weight.
ktache wrote:
Typing the message must have burnt off enough for a garlic bread at least.
If I get a bit angry about a
If I get a bit angry about a story, say maybe whatever grayling has done- a couple of hot wings?
Had pizza for tea last night
Had pizza for tea last night & pizza for lunch today. Go pizza! No riding though. Pizza.
Pizza is post ride whereas
Pizza is post ride whereas cake is mid ride so I can have both!
Power meters? Average heart
Power meters? Average heart rates? What is this, work? I ride a bike for pleasure, I eat pizza for pleasure. If I’m happy, what do calories used or consumed have to do with it?
oceandweller wrote:
Don’t knock it til you’ve tried it: think how much happier you’d be if you could nudge 138mph on a Sunday spin.
Awww, pizza.
Awww, pizza.
Has reminded me that my local cheap delivery place stopped doing gluten-free last week.
No more ‘carb loading’ the night before a ride.
(The other two close-by places charge a fortune for similar bases.)
dottigirl wrote:
I think it’s actually pronounced “Mmmm, pizza”, and is traditionally followed by a Homer Simpson drooling noise…
Those figures look weird to
Those figures look weird to me. Now I’m no skinny racer, but according to my Garmin I burn 500cal in about 45 minutes on my commute, mostly in Z3.
If you put in your weight wrong on Strava you tend to get daft figures out IIRC.
I hate this article…. it’s
I hate this article…. it’s just made me fantasise about pizza and how I should probably never eat it again, damn you roac.cc and damn those nutrition labels on food too always glaring at me with their red eyes and fat% numbers.. and damn crisps too.. no not crisps, I’m so sorry crisps you’ll always be my special friends.
Riding easy hour 500 Cal,
Riding easy hour 500 Cal, hard ride 1000 Cal. 1500 Cal for mental 45 mins
CXR94Di2 wrote:
Those numbers in ‘Cal’ are probably far more accurate than a lot of the *kcal*numbers posted above.
The day I believe Strava’s kcal *estimates* is the day I believe Strava’s wattage estimates 🙂
andyp wrote:
that’s because the watts, kcal, and kjoule guesstimate is the same measurement
beezus fufoon wrote:
Wow. That really is poor.
Those power figures seem way
Those power figures seem way off to me too!
An hour at or around FTP (320W) for me nets about 1000 calories according to my Power Tap. I’m just under 11st so nothing outrageous about my figures.
An estimated average power of 90W in a race seems incredibly low, even if you weigh 8st I’d guess an FTP near 200W which should give 720W at FTP for an hour.
Things have moved on. It’s
Things have moved on. It’s National Pie Week this week for the carbo loaders out there…