Miles per Gallon

[Mick F]

I seem to doing 47kcals per mile according to my records for this year so far.
Call it 50kcals per mile.

If I consumed unleaded petrol instead of "human food", how many miles per gallon would I be doing?
Would I be doing better if I consumed diesel?

[pete75]

Would I be doing better if I consumed diesel?

Well it doesn't taste very good - accidently got some sprayed in my mouth once. Awful taste. On the plus side I found the only thing to get rid of the taste was a copious amount of Laphroaig.

[easyroller]

Well from memory a litre of petrol contains roughly 7500 calories.

[LollyKat]

I don't know about diesel but I used to reckon on 10 miles to the Mars Bar.

[Mick F]

Well from memory a litre of petrol contains roughly 7500 calories.

That's interesting.

7,500kcals per Ltr = 7,500 x 4.546 = 34,095kcals per gallon.
1mile = 50kcals therefore I'm doing 681.9mpg.

That's quite good!
No wonder we don't pay road tax.

[Neil C]

Wikipedia gives the energy density of 32.4 MJ/litre for petrol.

My chunky KitKat gives energy per bar of 1035kJ or 247kcal.

So Mick would do about 5miles per bar.

And a litre of petrol is the equivalent of 32,400/1035 = 31.3 KitKats or 156 Mickmiles.

That's about 700 Mickmiles per gallon if he can extract all the energy.

Edit - Beaten to it. Maybe if I ran my brain on petrol I would have got the answer first!

[Mick F]

My chunky KitKat gives energy per bar of 1035kJ or 247kcal.
So Mick would do about 5miles per bar.

That's another interesting fact.
I could eat as many choccy bars as I wanted in a day, so long as I kept cycling.

Ten bars would be enough for a good ride, and I wouldn't put any weight on.
I'm sure there's a catch in there somewhere .........

[karlt]

Not sure there is. I took up cycling, for one reason, because it was preferable to eating less. Weight gradually dropping.

[Neil C]

Ten bars would be enough for a good ride, and I wouldn't put any weight on.
I'm sure there's a catch in there somewhere .........

Depends what you washed it down with!

As a seasoned LEJOGer I'm sure you know just how much energy you need. When I did it earlier this year breakfast consisted of cereal, porridge, full english, and toast. A couple of hours later I'd be stopping for a mid-morning top-up. Then lunch. Cake and scones in the afternoon. And when I got to the hotel, a snack while waiting for the three-course evening meal. All washed down with beer. Didn't put on any weight.

[easyroller]

I consider being able to eat truck loads one of the many benefits of cycling. I'd rather not run myself on petrol, it just doesn't have the same appeal as the mid ride coffee and cake! I often get asked at work "How can you eat so much and be so skinny?" To which I reply by asking them to join me for just one ride...

[mrjemm]

My chunky KitKat gives energy per bar of 1035kJ or 247kcal.
So Mick would do about 5miles per bar.

That's another interesting fact.
I could eat as many choccy bars as I wanted in a day, so long as I kept cycling.

Ten bars would be enough for a good ride, and I wouldn't put any weight on.
I'm sure there's a catch in there somewhere .........

Diabetes and dentures perhaps?

[al_yrpal]

Never mind the MPG, how are your carbon emissions? Are you trashing the planet?

Al

[mrjemm]

Never mind the MPG, how are your carbon emissions? Are you trashing the planet?

Al

Never mind, his trees alongside the drive'll offset those... oh wait.

[Joe.B]

Not sure there is. I took up cycling, for one reason, because it was preferable to eating less. Weight gradually dropping.

Yes, if I put weight on, (as I recently have), my first thought is not to diet but to cycle more.

[Merry_Wanderer]

My thoughts exactly! I have been cycle commuting every day since mid-August and have lost half a stone. I am eating more than I did when I commuted 2 days a week and I weigh less. Result! I reckon that I burn 50kcals per mile on the Brompton, possibly more when I turn on the dynamo lights