Fitness Club

[LoisMustDie]

[FONT=Arial][SIZE=3]Hey dudes and dudettes, [/SIZE][/FONT]
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[FONT=Arial][SIZE=3]My work has a fitness incentive program. One of their motivational strategies, in this fitness program, was to develop a fitness club. They named it the Century club because to join you must log 100 miles of exercise in 15 weeks. [/SIZE][/FONT]
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[FONT=Arial][SIZE=3]Here is the deal: The guy who developed it is a runner; but, he wants to be inclusive of all types of sports. So he developed a mile ratio so that runners/bikers/walkers can all participate.[/SIZE][/FONT]
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[FONT=Arial][SIZE=3]Running 1 mile = 1 mile[/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial][SIZE=3]Walking 1 mile = 1 mile[/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial][SIZE=3]Cycling 5 miles = 1 mile[/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial][SIZE=3]And there are a few more categories…[/SIZE][/FONT]
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[FONT=Arial][SIZE=3]Since I am the only mountain biker joining the club I am totally getting the shaft at 5:1. On Saturday, for example, I rode just over 18 miles and ascended almost 3,400 feet. For my constant 9 mile climb I will only get credit for less than 2 miles. Further, I climbed up Dreaded the other day and will receive a pittance of miles for that effort. [/SIZE][/FONT]
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[FONT=Arial][SIZE=3]The lame part of this ratio is that on my lunchtime run I will, in 20 minutes, equal the 2-hour climb I did on Saturday! [/SIZE][/FONT]
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[FONT=Arial][SIZE=3]So here is the question for the infinite wisdom of this group:[/SIZE][/FONT]
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[FONT=Arial][SIZE=3]Has anyone come up with a ratio that attempts to adjust for effort exerted on a road bike compared to a mountain bike?[/SIZE][/FONT]
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[FONT=Arial][SIZE=3]I am thinking that mountain biking should get an ascent bonus. For example, if you mountain bike 5 miles you get credit for 1 mile. But you also get 1 mile credit for every 1,000 feet you ascend on your ride.[/SIZE][/FONT]
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[FONT=Arial][SIZE=3]My Saturday ride would yield (18 mile ride w/ 3,400 feet of climbing): 3.6 miles for the mileage and 3.4 miles for the ascent, equaling a total of 7 miles.[/SIZE][/FONT]
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[FONT=Arial][SIZE=3]Anyone else have a ratio or think this ratio works?[/SIZE][/FONT]
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[FONT=Arial][SIZE=3]Thanks![/SIZE][/FONT]

[Pho'dUp]

Road bike miles:Mtn Bike miles comparison maybe 2:1? Or 2.5:1. Depends on the climbing.

Simpler solution would be to buy a road bike.

[BrewMaster]

Have the organizer ride with you and then let him draw the conclusions when he is ready to puke...

[LoisMustDie]

Originally Posted by BrewMaster

Have the organizer ride with you and then let him draw the conclusions when he is ready to puke...

LOL - TOTALLY! I thought of putting him on my single-speed and letting him give it a go. After that ride he would be ready to give me 2 miles to every mile run.

[LoisMustDie]

Originally Posted by LoisMustDie

[FONT=Arial][SIZE=3]Has anyone come up with a ratio that attempts to adjust for effort exerted on a road bike compared to a mountain bike?[/SIZE][/FONT]

Anyone else?

[Kid A]

the first rule of fight club is...oh, fitness club, my bad, i misread, ignore and carry-on

PS. i've heard as low as 2:1 up to 4:1 based on wt differ of bike, smaller tires 26 v 700, wider tread, more aggressive tread, etc.

[BrewMaster]

You could possibly do a conversion based on watts of power, but it would still be pretty subjective unless someone wants to do detailed measurements.

[LoisMustDie]

Originally Posted by BrewMaster

You could possibly do a conversion based on watts of power, but it would still be pretty subjective unless someone wants to do detailed measurements.

Yeah, that subject came up when I was talking w/ a friend; but, I want it to be really simple. Thanks for the help!

[Pho'dUp]

Yeah, you need to tell your work they need to buy Power Meters for your mountain bike and my road bike so we can get a real fair comparison.

C

[LoisMustDie]

Originally Posted by Pho'dUp

Yeah, you need to tell your work they need to buy Power Meters for your mountain bike and my road bike so we can get a real fair comparison.

C

I'm on it!

[CalEpic]

I recently started trail running and it sure feels like a mile of running up and down the hills is equal to five on the bike.

Obviously I'm not taking into account my conditioning for each activity.

In your instance though I'd guess it's only taking into account flat road miles on a bike vs. flat run/walk.

C

[JustSpin]

Ha-ha ... I'm with you on the exertion on a mtn bike has to be atleast twice the effort of that on a road bike.

However, when comparing mileage points from riding to that of running you do have to account for the downhill affect which is kind of easy ...

[LoisMustDie]

Originally Posted by JustSpin

you do have to account for the downhill affect which is kind of easy ...

[SIZE=3][FONT=Arial]Totally - I don't know if they should give me any credit for the downhill stuff - but only 1.8 miles credit for climbing Harding Truck Trail to the gate is ridiculous.[/FONT][/SIZE]
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