I've read every post. Sigh. Never fails. After all the thrashing is done what has the o.p. learned? I'm not sure I learned anything here. Luckily I don't need the information. I won't add to the confusion by introducing yet another opinion but I will say this: all this hair splitting? It's pointless. The Laws of Thermodynamics are absolute and inflexible. A calorie is a calorie is a calorie. A pound of avoirdupus (fat) is 3500 calories. Period. Whether or not a 1 hour ride is 400 or 500 or even 600 calories ... ... irrelevant. Oops I may be showing a bias for the opinion that exercise doesn't matter as much as portion control ... <they're right> anyway, the population of American adults tends to overweight. Like 70% overweight. In spite of all the 'knowledge' out there about how to control weight. How about some of us 'listen' harder to proven success. Is that really so difficult?