FACTS and FIGURES
Calories Deficit in a Standard Cycling Day in the Andes
The following shows our average calories deficit per day of cycling in the Andean altitude, taking into account the following hypothesis:
- 5 hours spent on our bikes (we usually ride from 3 to 8 hours per day)
- 4 hours spent in light daily activities (such as walking, etc…)
- 7 hours of night sleep
- average speed of 18km per hour, at an average altitude of 3500mt, riding a 40kg bike
- Rodolfo's age 32, height 1.93mt, weight 82kg
- typical daily diet based on local food availability
- a 3500 calories loss implies a 0.5kg weight loss
Our analysis shows the following results:
On a standard cycling day in the Andes we burn approx 5,000 calories and replace only 2,500 of them, which implies a 2,500 calories deficit and an average body mass loss of 350gr per day (this weight loss does not consider liquid drain and perspiration which are supposedly replaced through regular drinking).
This means that every 4-5 days of cycling we need to take at least a couple of days off in order to rest and EAT!!!!!!!
See table below for detailed analysis
Calories Table:
