How effective is bike riding?

Okay Veeky Forums so last night I decided that I was going to shave my beard as I had been growing it out for a few months and it has started to become shaggy/messy. The moment I had cleaned my chin of shaving cream the sight was almost unrecognizable. My face has gotten considerably chubbier to the point where there was almost no definition. I guess this is a blessing in disguise as this is definitely my final push towards being more active and shredding a few kilos, so I thought fuck it, why not pull out the old bike and start riding around?

Anyway what I would like to know is bike riding an effective form of cardio or should I put my energy elsewhere?

I don't think it's extremely effective but if you add it in to other activities, it can make a difference.
I once knew a guy who was super fat and lost 40 pounds by riding his bike all summer, but he was still fat when he was done.

That's pretty great for such a short amount of time.
Did you ask how often he'd ride and for how long?

It's as effective as anything else you just have to put in the same amount of effort. Easier on the joints than running. Just sort of putting around without breathing heavily won't get you anywhere the same as a leisurely stroll won't

cycling is great cardio.. its basically like 3rd place behind running and swimming.. and by 3rd place I mean running is like 850 calories/hr, swimming 800calories/hr, then cycling at 750 calories/hr.

The other great thing about cycling is how gentle it can be on the knees wear as running is high impact so if you are already a fat ass then its going to be painful.

The drawbacks to cycling is even with clipless pedals, its all quads and some calves.. you miss the hamstrings so later on squatting is weird.. no control dropping but no issues back up.

I lost around 40lbs in 4 months while cycling, new diet, and lifting... I actually lost 9lbs in about 7 hours while riding, even though I would stop eat and drink about 6 times in that time frame.

bike life

That sound great, how well did you do when you started out? I'm afraid that I'd lose confidence as it's been ages since I've even touched the thing, so I might not be able to perform too well... Though the whole point is to just keep the heart rate up isn't it?

>9lb in 7h
>expecting to be taken seriously

maybe user had taken a fat shit before he weighed himself

You burned 31,500 calories in 7 hours of riding? Are you an elephant?

He lost a bunch of water and took a dump

I cycle 30 miles a day commuting to and from work. Shit is fucking awesome cardio

Jesus... How long does that take you?

What's most important is what you can stick to bc you enjoy it. If you hate bikes... Don't rely on cycling.

I had about 16 mile roundtrip commute in college. Kept me in good form.

Don't you get to work smelling like BO covered in sweat?

Unless your work has showers or something (public showers ewww), that just seems dumb.

Um wtf are you me? Your post gives me slight discomfort.

>how long?
About 50 minutes to an hour

>sweaty and no
Spring and fall, no. It's on a dedicated trail and completely flat and Im in fantastic cardiovascular shape that the pace I keep barely elevates my heart rate to above 110 or so.

In the summer I get a little sweaty because of the humidity, but I made the ceo install a shower next to the water closet in the workshop in the basement for me shortly after I started there:
>"So I ride my bike to work"
>"yeah that's awesome. It's a nice bike."
>"thanks. There's space in the workshop that Larry said we could install a shower and changing room."
>"Ok. Tell him to get me a quote and I'll approve the time for him to do it."

>tfw have relatively short commute to and from subway for work (4.5 miles)
>home to station is almost all downhill
>put on antiperspirant deodorant before leaving, only wear basketball shorts + thin t hirt when riding
>still get to work with sweat under arms even if its in the 30s/40s

>thinks that sweat is a bad thing
>goes out of his way to mask his natural odor
i bet you shower too

enjoy your infertility

I'm not sure about 9lbs, but I've definitely weighed 4-5 lbs less after and hour of running. Im 165, so if you're a fatass running for 2-3 hours you should be able to do it.

Of course it's all water or oxygen, not fat but hey, still counts

If you do Kegel's regularly to maintain the muscle tone and circulation around your taint, would that negate the constant pounding you receive while riding?

just stand up every 10 minutes for a few seconds and coast. towel on seat / unironic soccer mom padded seat

>unironic soccer mom padded seat
These are literally worse than a well adjusted hard saddle because they put your weight on your taint rather than on your sitbones

biking takes barely any energy, gonna have to spend more time to burn the same amount of calories.

I'm confident that bike riding will absolutely drain all energy out of me

The other user is right. Get rid of the padded seat. Get yourself one of the specialized ones, they're nice.

Cushioned seats produce the exact opposite effect you think they would. All that cushioning and squishiness will compress ALL of your tissue. Whereas a properly adjusted firm saddle will only compress on the Ischium portion of the hip structure, otherwise referred to as the "sit bones" in the cycling community. While this portion of the body is under high compression, there are no significant blood flow issues that arise.

The discomfort may be significant at first if you're not used to it. But proper cycling shorts will minimize chafing and help keep everything together. And after a few good rides you'll start to feel just fine.