InTheRain

Just wondering how many miles, how much time on the bike you spend in a typical week. The weight loss posted by many in this forum is truly impressive. I know it's a combination of diet and exercise. What kind of investment in exercise have you been making?

1855Cru

Biking is a fun part of my new healthy lifestyle. I typically ride about 2 to 3 times a week for a total of about 80 week. When I first started riding this summer I was only doing about 20-25 miles a week. I also now run 15-20 miles a week. By summer 2011 I expect to be riding 100-120 miles a week and running 25-30. It sure does get easier as the weight comes off and you get fitter.

Sayre Kulp 

Hard to say. My mileage varies so much depending on the weather and whatever else I've got going on. In the great scheme of things though, I think my weekly average is something like 60 miles a week. Not very much, I know. But I pair it with running, weight lifting, etc. and it get's the job done.

jethro56 

I have 5 different exercise activities to keep my body confused so my mileage may seem low. Probably around 50 a week.

mkadam68

When I'm on schedule, I'll put in about 200 miles a week or more in 12+ hours. Over the course of a year, I usually get 8,000+ miles. So that averages out to 160 miles/week.

Unfortunately, the dieting side of things is not so good for me, so weight loss is extremely gradual.

Neil_B

It depends. I like to say I ride between 0 and 300 miles a week.

retnav94

My initial loss came from walking 25-30 miles weekly. When I introduced cycling into the equation I rode 50-60 miles a week but did not walk due to an injury. The weight loss for me really tapered off even though the food intake remained fairly consistent. I have not gained, but am losing at a snail's pace. I had shoulder surgery yesterday, so no bike for 3 months minimum doc says. However, the foot seems ok and I can walk as much as I like.

jethro56 

I got on the treadmill this morning next to someone that I hadn't talked to for a while. Eventually my machine stopped and I found that an hour had gone by.Walking is great exercise.

InTheRain

from the comments, it seems that many are using a combination of walking/running and cycling to lose weight. I'm thinking that the walking/running may be more effective for weight loss than cycling. Walking/running are weight bearing exercises. I'd rather cycle, but walking/running seem to burn more calories per hour than the type of cycling that I am capable of.

I've started a walking/running program. I'll continue to commute on the bike and kick up the cycling in the spring with club rides. I have 50+ pounds to lose to get to an ideal weight.

DoubleTap

Cycling season, I average about 200 miles per week. In the off-season right now, I'm lucky to get 40 miles or so in a week. I find other exercise to keep my weight loss and conditioning going. The biggest mistake I made last year (winter of 2009/2010) was not working out enough, so when cycling season began in 2010, I wasn't really up to par until June. This year, when we begin outdoor cycling again in earnest (probably March 2011), I'm going to be in my best shape and ready to ride hard. This past summer, when I was riding the 200-ish miles per week, the weight was just melting off, especially the inches.

California Crow

I average about 100 miles per week... around 8 on weekdays, and 20-30 on Saturdays and Sundays. Down 82 pounds since I started back in July, so it's obviously having an effect. I'm combining it with close attention to calorie intake daily though, which accounts for a large portion of the weight loss.

obmike

Anywhere from 3-5 hours a week.

InTheRain

Nice Job! From April thru September I think I averaged about the same mileage. However, I found that cycling made me feel really hungry. I think the key for me will be to satiate that hunger with lower calorie foods... broccoli? (it's OK, I love the stuff.)

exile

I'm a year round commuter so I don't have a season ;-). I also don't count my mileage. Nor do I count my weight loss.

Man, I need to catch up with some of you guys... but i'd probably get winded ;-).

myrridin

While I am not quite to 50 pounds of loss yet, I'll chime in anyway.

The only form of exercise I perform is cycling. When I first started (which was about two months before I even thought about loosing weight, I could barely manage 10 minutes per day. During the course of most of that weight loss, I was performing at least 30-45 minutes per day six times a week. For the last month or so (six months total) I have been riding about a hour a day, six days a week. Unlike the beggining where duration was limited by my ability, now the limit is simply the time I have available for the exercise.

As I have become more active, I have noticed that I am not as sedentary as I had been in the past. So, while not exercise per se, I find I am more likely to take the stairs, rather then an elevator, and when I go somewhere, I usually park in the back of the lot and walk more. Even just around the house I find I move more... Even though this is not exercise, I believe it contributes to a better metabolism.

Personally, I believe any form of activity (that gets the heart pumping) in the 45 - 60 minute a day, 5-6 days a week is sufficient for simple weight loss purposes. Greater levels of activity are mostly a means to improve performance, and not really needed for simple weight loss or general health. The real key is to manage the caloric input.

StephenH

I'm hoping to get in 8,000 miles this year, have been aiming for a minimum of 500 miles/month and getting well past it most months.

I've gone from about 285 to 220 or so in the last 3-4 years. So it's been slow and gradual, with minor ups and downs. I'm trying to figure out how to eat better and get another few pounds off.

dfritch

I do a 10 to 18 mile lunch ride Monday thru Friday and try to get 30 to 40 miles on both Saturday and Sunday. During the summer, I will try to get an extra ride of about 30 miles on Wednesday night, which includes some hills. My best weeks average around 150 miles. Lately, I have cut back my riding to between 80 and 100 miles per week and run 3 days a week along with hitting the gym at least 2 days. I'm lucky my wife enjoys working out and riding with me, which definitely helps the relationship.

sillygolem

I lost most of my weight walking and then running. I got to a point of diminishing returns, but I started losing again once I adjust to cycling. Mostly this is because I'm happy biking far longer periods than I am running. I went from three 5k runs per week to 2-3 10 mile trips on the bike and a 20+ mile ride on the weekend.

Now that it's cold I've started running again because I don't have the wind chill problems of a bike. I'm also going to add jump rope because I can do it indoors.

chewybrian 

150-200 miles a week for me. I commute every day, about 27 miles r/t, plus a long training ride on the weekends. It's not just to hold on to the weight loss. I enjoy riding, like saving the gas money, and I'm training for PBP next year. Qualifiers start in 2 weeks for us here.

thcri

Not riding much at all right now. Temperatures below zero make it tough. From the middle of June to November I did ride 1300 miles though,

CraigB

Like jethro, my mileage was relatively low because most of my activities were in other areas. It was much easier and quicker to get out with my wife and do an hour's brisk walk each evening, so the majority of my riding this year was limited to 20-30 mile weekend rides. I hope to improve on that number substantially in the coming year.

Neil_B

Sorry, but in retrospect this comes across as flippant. I meant that some weeks I don't ride, but on a tour that's my job.

Shepp30 

Rain

I lost 72 pounds this past year using cycling as my only...well my primary exercise. I averaged 87 miles per week from March to September. Early on I was 270 pounds and out of shape so I was only riding 50 to 75 miles a week. Eventually though, I worked my way up to insisting on riding 100 miles every week for most of the summer - a two hour ride give or take, 4 days per week.

I think I am going to back off this year to an hour a night most nights, I burned out about september this year.

Since then, I have walked the golf course as often as my wife lets me and now that the weather sux, I use a treadmill (40 minutes), eliptical (10 minutes) and an exercise bike (10 minutes) for an hour per day, 2 or 3 days per week. As riding season rolls around, I'll up the time on the exercise bike and back off on the others. I once read somewhere that a biking only regime shortens/deforms the muscles, seemed logical, so I layoff the bike most of the winter.

Seattle Forrest

About 120 miles a week, on average.

You should be burning around 600 kCal per hour on the bike, and something like 200 to 300 per hour walking. Probably more running. I try to get a lot of walking in through the day, and in a lot of ways it feels more low impact ... it definitely doesn't need the same routine with special clothes and shoes. I think the real benefit here is that it's easier to get some walking in over the course of the day.

InTheRain

I must be taking it easy on the bike. I think I'd be lucky if I'm burning 400 kCal per hour on the bike. However, I burn 700-1000 Kcal per hour on the treadmill with a combination of walking and running.