Calories burned while trail riding

[NorCalRider]

I can burn about 2,000 calories on a mountain bike ride that is 2 - 3 hours long. I burn just under 1,000 calories when I run for 3 miles every other day.

How many calories do you think you burn while aggresively trail riding at a fast pace for most of day?

I've been thinking about wearing a heart rate monitor while riding and see what I come up with.

[Jackary]

Here is WARP speed on responses to this topic. Bottom line is that it depends on many factors.....figure 1000- 2000 calories / hour depending on your current weight and your intensity. The link below gives a lot of good information along with some humor thrown in.

http://www.district37ama.org/forums/showthread.php?t=29615

[Beyond The Pale]

It really varies. For me aerobic capacity is my limiting factor. I'm sure this is true for just about everyone unless you are some kind of ironman machine. For me that number is surely less that 1000 cal/hr.

[shifterpilot2001]

My guess is about 450 to 600 per hour at an aggressive "A" pace... I think that is pretty close for me anyway, for I need to consume about 300 calories an hour while riding to keep up with my bodies use at roughly 75 % replacement. Even with that when I get back to the truck after a 75 mile plus ride I am pretty worked...and when I dont keep that consumption up, I come back with headache, can barely think straight, no energy whatsoever and have to ride the last hour and a half or so in survival mode...LOL... so total for a 90 mile plus day, roughly 3000 give or take a few, depending on how many times you gotta pick up your bike and how many kicks to start her...

[bbolton]

I can burn about 2,000 calories on a mountain bike ride that is 2 - 3 hours long. I burn just under 1,000 calories when I run for 3 miles every other day.

How many calories do you think you burn while aggresively trail riding at a fast pace for most of day?

I've been thinking about wearing a heart rate monitor while riding and see what I come up with.

Your calorie burn seems quite extensive. I'm 38 & 180 lbs & I'm in really good shape. I can't get anywhere near 1000 calorie burn on a 3 mile run. My average burn for 3 mls is about half of that. I only run between 9.5 & 11 minute miles thou

[bluemax250]

I would have to agree with the 400-500 calorie range.

Hard mountain biking about 700-900.

Hard running about the same as biking. (For me at least)

[NorCalRider]

You guys should try out fitday.com's calorie tracker and plug in your height, weight, age and see how many calories you burn during different activities. Livestrong has one on their site too.

I always get mixed results, obviously wearing a heart rate monitor would be much more accurate.

[paul_arc]

How do you figure how many calories you burn? it would depend on how hot it is also. Well I on the other hand dont burn any calories, I just hold on and let the bike do the work:ride:

[NorCalRider]

The most accurate way is to wear a heart rate monitor. You put a strap around your chest, then you wear a device on your wrist that wirelessly receives signals from the chest strap. You plug in your sex, age, weight, height and the heart rate monitor automatically figures out what your calorie burn is.

[ktmcasey]

I have worn my HR monitor on a couple of moto rides just to see the diff between moto and mtb. Between 600 and 700 per hr on good tech single track at a crisp pace. I burn about 1000 per hr on both the mountain and rode bikes. During a xc mtb race my rate goes up to about 1150 per hr. I recently did a 50 mi endurence mtb ride and burned over 5500 cals in 5.5 hrs.

Last years Downieville XC race burned about 4400 cals for the race and must have consumed 5000 after to feel slightly ok again. That is a hard freakin climb up the to the top of the buttes and the climb up to third is a bitch at that point of the race.

I also wore my hr monitor last year when we were in Whistler and to my suprise the calories consumed per hr while DHing were roughly the same as Moto.

[NorCalRider]

Now that's the info I'm looking for. ?

[DirtBikeKat]

Great question! Day 3 on new bike and I’m beat after progressively longer rides. I’m going to wear my road bike ELMENT gps/heart rate monitor on my next ride to track my exertion. Just getting into the sport, basic maneuvering on trails to get out of muddy ruts and steep downhill rock gardens where I pulled to the side and stalled. At 130 lbs 5’ 7” my 200lb bike is like moving a piece of furniture! I learned to load and unload my KTM 200 EXC on the hitch rack and figure out how to start it at 8500 ft elevation with all my gear on. I had to take breaks to breathe. As a periodic trail runner and road bike rider I’d say it’s much more anaerobic like strength training. I’ve heard lots of core strength and of course arms are involved. I just started riding a few days ago. Finally got into some challenging terrain for me and I’m beat. Coming from an aerobic endurance sport, I try to replenish with electrolytes since I perspired quite a bit which depletes salt and can cause hyponatremia.

[Hans Schmid]

On 6/3/2009 at 9:49 PM, NorCalRider said:

I can burn about 2,000 calories on a mountain bike ride that is 2 - 3 hours long. I burn just under 1,000 calories when I run for 3 miles every other day.

How many calories do you think you burn while aggresively trail riding at a fast pace for most of day?

I've been thinking about wearing a heart rate monitor while riding and see what I come up with.

Finished 3rd in Pro today... A snapshot of what my Polar Watch shows me... 

[Sierra_rider]

1 hour ago, DirtBikeKat said:

Great question! Day 3 on new bike and I’m beat after progressively longer rides. I’m going to wear my road bike ELMENT gps/heart rate monitor on my next ride to track my exertion. Just getting into the sport, basic maneuvering on trails to get out of muddy ruts and steep downhill rock gardens where I pulled to the side and stalled. At 130 lbs 5’ 7” my 200lb bike is like moving a piece of furniture! I learned to load and unload my KTM 200 EXC on the hitch rack and figure out how to start it at 8500 ft elevation with all my gear on. I had to take breaks to breathe. As a periodic trail runner and road bike rider I’d say it’s much more anaerobic like strength training. I’ve heard lots of core strength and of course arms are involved. I just started riding a few days ago. Finally got into some challenging terrain for me and I’m beat. Coming from an aerobic endurance sport, I try to replenish with electrolytes since I perspired quite a bit which depletes salt and can cause hyponatremia.

Core and legs are the most important strength-wise...proper technique is the best way to keep your arms from getting zapped.

As a fellow road bike rider as well as a XC mtb rider/racer, the fitness from those sports cross over very well. If you learn the proper riding technique, you'll be surprised how much of an aerobic activity it is.

[DirtBikeKat]

Core and legs are the most important strength-wise...proper technique is the best way to keep your arms from getting zapped.
As a fellow road bike rider as well as a XC mtb rider/racer, the fitness from those sports cross over very well. If you learn the proper riding technique, you'll be surprised how much of an aerobic activity it is.

Good point. Definitely interested in proper riding technique. Aspen Dirtbike school is nearby. I heard about them through KTM of Aspen. May try to find private instructor out here in CO though because I’ve already got some balance and can operate the bike. I just want to stay safe and ride really well. I’ve always had pro tips from friends in other sports but I don’t know anyone with a dirt bike. Thanks for advice!!