Burning calories sat on my bum.....

I reckon I burned 1500 calories today - and all while I was sat on my posterior! How did I perform this miracle? Motorcycling!! I ride a Honda NT Deauville 700 and today, went on a long and beautiful ride from home to Criccieth on the far west coast of North Wales. I went with a group of biker friends and the total ride-time was about six hours. It was a glorious day, the sun shone and there was just a light breeze. Riding over the moors of central North Wales was nothing but spectacular. There were lots of other people out and about but we managed to find some quiet twisty roads. Riding through Betws-y-Coed, on the other hand, was akin to having disturbed an ants nest - there were thousands of people there!

Anyway, I got home about 5.30 pm this evening having started out at 8.54 am this morning. I was, not to put too fine a point on it, absolutely knackered! I thought that despite being very tired, I ought to 'stir my stumps' and try and get out for a short walk - since I hadn't had any 'proper' exercise today - I had been sat on my bum all day. And then I got to thinking, if I have got no exercise all day, how come I am so tired? My muscles were aching all over, my back, arms and legs felt as though they had had a good workout. So, I returned to my favourite 'calories burned for different activities' website (http://www.nutristrategy.com/activitylist4.htm)....

I was surprised to discover that apparently 'passive' activities such as carpentry, plumbing, cooking and car maintenance all burn between 250 and 350 calories per hour. Even fishing burns more than 200 calories an hour! I decided that I ought to put an estimate on calories burned per hour while motorcycling. While riding the twisty roads, I reckon average calorie burn per hour is probably at the upper end of this range, but easier riding on a motorway, for instance, would be at the lower end. In the end, I decided that 250 per hour would be a reasonable, but conservative estimate on calorie burn for the kind of motorcycling I have been doing today. Having ridden solidly for six hours, this equates to a whopping 1500 calories burned all day! This seems about right, as my body feels as though it has done a long hike or a marathon swim.

This is quite a revelation to me and solves a practical problem. I had been a little concerned about getting back on my bike on a regular basis, since weekend ride-outs mean less time for walking and other 'more active' exercise. But now I don't need to worry, ride-outs mean calories burned - sat on my backside!!!!