Calories in cold weather

[Tom or Mary]

I would assume that individuals who ride their bike in cold weather burn
more calories than in warm weather. If one rides in temperatures of 25
degrees f, would they burn twenty-five percent more calories or would it be
a lower or higher figure?

Thanks

Tom

[max]

In article >,
"Tom or Mary" > wrote:

> I would assume that individuals who ride their bike in cold weather burn
> more calories than in warm weather. If one rides in temperatures of 25
> degrees f, would they burn twenty-five percent more calories or would it be
> a lower or higher figure?
>
> Thanks
>
> Tom

i think you need to look it up in a scientific journal. The answer may well
turn out to be non-linear with minima and maxima associated with
precipitation that could well overwhelm the specific temperature effect.

Then there's the overheating effect from clothes in cold weather boogering
up one's percieved effort.

So: who knows?

[Matt O'Toole]

On Wed, 14 Dec 2005 20:14:04 +0000, max wrote:

> In article >,
> "Tom or Mary" > wrote:
>
>> I would assume that individuals who ride their bike in cold weather
>> burn more calories than in warm weather. If one rides in temperatures
>> of 25 degrees f, would they burn twenty-five percent more calories or
>> would it be a lower or higher figure?
>>
>> Thanks
>>
>> Tom
>
> i think you need to look it up in a scientific journal. The answer may
> well turn out to be non-linear with minima and maxima associated with
> precipitation that could well overwhelm the specific temperature effect.
>
> Then there's the overheating effect from clothes in cold weather
> boogering up one's percieved effort.
>
> So: who knows?

I agree (with the last point). Also, we may crave more calories in cold
weather, as a remnant of more primitive times. Unless you're actually
shivering all the time, which most of us have ways of avoiding, you're
probably not burning any more calories than usual. It's likely we modern
folk have lower caloric requirements in winter, because we're much less
active. Our outdoor activity tends to be cut short, and/or not initiated.
That is, shorter bike rides and dog walks, and putting off taking out the
garbage; no walking around downtown for the heck of it, etc.

Matt O.

[Leo Lichtman]

"Matt O'Toole" wrote: (clip)Unless you're actually shivering all the time,
which most of us have ways of avoiding, you're probably not burning any more
calories than usual. It's likely we modern folk have lower caloric
requirements in winter, because we're much less active. (clip)
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
I assume the OP meant to ask about the calories consumed while riding. It
is relatively meaningless to talk about the caloris consumed by the body in
a heated office in winter vs. an air conditioned office in summer.

Shivering is the body's method of generating heat in an emergency, but
certainly not the only way the body copes with cold. There are a number of
ways that we adapt to temperature changes, including changes in distribution
of blood flow, changes in posture and limb positions, changes in clothing,
etc. Generally, in spite of these, the body loses more heat as the air gets
colder, but his is far too complex to be answered in terms of air
temperature alone.

[Tom Keats]

In article >,
"Tom or Mary" > writes:
> I would assume that individuals who ride their bike in cold weather burn
> more calories than in warm weather. If one rides in temperatures of 25
> degrees f, would they burn twenty-five percent more calories or would it be
> a lower or higher figure?

I don't have any quantitative data about calories, but there /is/
the tangible effect of riding requiring more effort in winter.
Apparently air density plays a significant role:

http://www.icebike.org/Articles/SlowerWinter.htm


cheers,
Tom

--
-- Nothing is safe from me.
Above address is just a spam midden.
I'm really at: tkeats [curlicue] vcn [point] bc [point] ca

[Rich]

Tom Keats wrote:

> I don't have any quantitative data about calories, but there /is/
> the tangible effect of riding requiring more effort in winter.
> Apparently air density plays a significant role:

But that suggests that riding at altitude should be easier then at sea
level... and I don't think it is. While denser air means more
molecules to push out of the way, it also means more oxygen for your
lungs.

Perhaps riding level is easier at altitude (less resistance outweights
less 02), but I certainly doubt climbing is (slow speed makes resistance
moot, but there's still less 02)

Rich

[Chris Z The Wheelman]

Remember, a cyclist is creating a lot of heat simply in the process of
powering his (or her) vehicle. The point where this "naturally occuring
heat" becomes insufficient to ward off the cold would, of course, vary
from person to person, and you must also allow for terrain, wind chill,
the amount of effort the cyclist desires to expend (racing vs. touring,
for Ex.), All of many uncountable factors would change this.

- -
These comments compliments of,
Your Friendly Neighborhood Wheelman

My web Site:
http://geocities.com/czcorner

To E-mail me:
ChrisZCorner "at" webtv "dot" net

[Scott]

Rich wrote:
> Tom Keats wrote:
>
>> I don't have any quantitative data about calories, but there /is/
>> the tangible effect of riding requiring more effort in winter.
>> Apparently air density plays a significant role:
>
>
> But that suggests that riding at altitude should be easier then at sea
> level... and I don't think it is. While denser air means more
> molecules to push out of the way, it also means more oxygen for your lungs.

I suspect that drag and density vary something other
than linearly with respect to temperature and presented
cross-section (another factor noted at the icebike
website). I wonder how oxygen uptake varies with
air density.

Scott

[max]

In article >,
Scott > wrote:

> Rich wrote:
> > Tom Keats wrote:
> >
> >> I don't have any quantitative data about calories, but there /is/
> >> the tangible effect of riding requiring more effort in winter.
> >> Apparently air density plays a significant role:
> >
> >
> > But that suggests that riding at altitude should be easier then at sea
> > level... and I don't think it is. While denser air means more
> > molecules to push out of the way, it also means more oxygen for your lungs.
>
> I suspect that drag and density vary something other
> than linearly with respect to temperature and presented
> cross-section (another factor noted at the icebike
> website). I wonder how oxygen uptake varies with
> air density.

Gentlemen.

The effect is so microscopic as to be meaningful only to the the
Luminiferous Lance. It's like saying hot coffee is easier to swallow than
cold coffee.

The difference in air density will scale with ... air pressure. Do we see
significant changes in air pressure in winter? Without the data in front
of me, i nonetheless don't think so.

My seat of the butt guess is that the circadian variation in atmospheric
pressure is of a greater magnitude than any seasonal variation, and wind
direction/speed will utterly swamp any effect.

Later tonight, if i get the chance, i will plot the a year's air pressure
and temperature data as logged at 1 sample/min from batavia illinois and
link it to flickr. And then we'll know!

..max

[Scott]

max wrote:
> In article >,
> Scott > wrote:
>
>
>>Rich wrote:
>>
>>>Tom Keats wrote:
>>>
>>>
>>>>I don't have any quantitative data about calories, but there /is/
>>>>the tangible effect of riding requiring more effort in winter.
>>>>Apparently air density plays a significant role:
>>>
>>>
>>>But that suggests that riding at altitude should be easier then at sea
>>>level... and I don't think it is. While denser air means more
>>>molecules to push out of the way, it also means more oxygen for your lungs.
>>
>>I suspect that drag and density vary something other
>>than linearly with respect to temperature and presented
>>cross-section (another factor noted at the icebike
>>website). I wonder how oxygen uptake varies with
>>air density.
>
>
> Gentlemen.
>
> The effect is so microscopic as to be meaningful only to the the
> Luminiferous Lance. It's like saying hot coffee is easier to swallow than
> cold coffee.
>
> The difference in air density will scale with ... air pressure. Do we see
> significant changes in air pressure in winter? Without the data in front
> of me, i nonetheless don't think so.

Executive summary: Temperature also controls the density
of air. Temperature varies with season.

Air is not a perfect gas. But it nearly is and it follows
the Eqn. of State: pressure = density*temperature*constant. Or,
density = constant*temperature/pressure. As you note,
pressure varies little between summer and winter. Temperature,
however, varies by up to 20%. At least in the parts of
the US that have *interesting* weather :)

A 20% change in density is not microscopic, even to Lance.

Scott

[what does THIS button do?]

Scott wrote:
> max wrote:
> > In article >,
> > Scott > wrote:
> >
> >
> >>Rich wrote:
> >>
> >>>Tom Keats wrote:
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>>I don't have any quantitative data about calories, but there /is/
> >>>>the tangible effect of riding requiring more effort in winter.
> >>>>Apparently air density plays a significant role:
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>But that suggests that riding at altitude should be easier then at sea
> >>>level... and I don't think it is. While denser air means more
> >>>molecules to push out of the way, it also means more oxygen for your lungs.
> >>
> >>I suspect that drag and density vary something other
> >>than linearly with respect to temperature and presented
> >>cross-section (another factor noted at the icebike
> >>website). I wonder how oxygen uptake varies with
> >>air density.
> >
> >
> > Gentlemen.
> >
> > The effect is so microscopic as to be meaningful only to the the
> > Luminiferous Lance. It's like saying hot coffee is easier to swallow than
> > cold coffee.
> >
> > The difference in air density will scale with ... air pressure. Do we see
> > significant changes in air pressure in winter? Without the data in front
> > of me, i nonetheless don't think so.
>
> Executive summary: Temperature also controls the density
> of air. Temperature varies with season.
>
> Air is not a perfect gas. But it nearly is and it follows
> the Eqn. of State: pressure = density*temperature*constant. Or,
> density = constant*temperature/pressure. As you note,
> pressure varies little between summer and winter. Temperature,
> however, varies by up to 20%. At least in the parts of
> the US that have *interesting* weather :)
>
> A 20% change in density is not microscopic, even to Lance.


You are of course correct. I cannot imagine what i was thinking and
plead an over sufficiency of french press brewed coffee with my morning
usenet.

..max