How many miles per gallon in a bike?

I was asked that as a joke as I was running to the store for mower
fuel:

http://static.flickr.com/19/121425588_069dd4cf64_o.jpg

Then I thought about it. When it comes to cost, it's not cheap, but
most of us have some fat to sacrifice, so no biggie. My guesstimate was
50 calories per mile. Let's say a nice bowl of homemade spaghetti and
meatballs costs $3 to make, the same as a gallon of gas around here.
That's 10 miles per cost of a gallon of gas to power me on my bike.
Worse than a Ford Expedition! For shame. :-P

An American gallon of gas has 31,000 calories, too bad we can't drink
it, as we'd get between 600 and a 1000 miles per gallon. Yowsah. :-D

I ride errands as it makes more sense than half-warming up the car
driving three miles, but all that crazy math got me laughin'.

Well, the human body has never struck me as efficient. But remember,
you need to eat anyway, so subtract the 1500-2000 caleries you need for
baseline living.

And the car is much less efficient than you might think. Most of the
energy generated is waste heat (of course, the same could be said for
the human body as well).

Eric wrote:
Well, the human body has never struck me as efficient. But remember,
you need to eat anyway, so subtract the 1500-2000 caleries you need for
baseline living.

And the car is much less efficient than you might think. Most of the
energy generated is waste heat (of course, the same could be said for
the human body as well).

Both your typical car engine and bicycle engine are about 25%
efficient. But as the OP pointed out, generally bicycle fuel is much
more expensive per calorie than gasoline.

peter wrote:
Eric wrote:
Well, the human body has never struck me as efficient. But remember,
you need to eat anyway, so subtract the 1500-2000 caleries you need for
baseline living.

And the car is much less efficient than you might think. Most of the
energy generated is waste heat (of course, the same could be said for
the human body as well).

Both your typical car engine and bicycle engine are about 25%
efficient. But as the OP pointed out, generally bicycle fuel is much
more expensive per calorie than gasoline.

If you're just eating cheap ramen or rice, it's not that bad--but I'd
rather have a creme brule over a gallon of petrol. Fueling a human is
much more satisfying, LOL.

I do remember having to spend obscene amounts of money on food when I
was a messenger. I think I ate 5K calories more than normal. Eating as
a chore--that was wierd. :-S

I'm going to chime in here on the costs of bicycle fuel, since I have a
few years worth of logs on exercise and food.

Barley at night with dinner and oatmeal for breakfast is what I've found
to be the most endurance-giving combination. The plain varieties of
each run about $1.39 - $2.19 per pound depending on store and brand.
Per once ounce serving, it's about 20 calories of fuel carbs and the
rest of the ounce is divided between protein, fat, and fiber which are
analogous to lubricating oil, transmission fluid, etc. It's about 40
calories per mile in my experience, so 12 cents gets me 2 miles,
including "maintenance fluids." An average car gets about 23 MPG, or
about 10 cents for 1 mile. Over 1.5 billion road miles are logged each
day on solo commuter trips. There are many, many other factors in
comparing car and bike mileage, but the extra "beyond couch potato"
calories needed to fuel a bike cost less than the gast to fuel a car.

--ag


"landotter" wrote in
oups.com:


peter wrote:
Eric wrote:
Well, the human body has never struck me as efficient. But
remember, you need to eat anyway, so subtract the 1500-2000
caleries you need for baseline living.

And the car is much less efficient than you might think. Most of
the energy generated is waste heat (of course, the same could be
said for the human body as well).

Both your typical car engine and bicycle engine are about 25%
efficient. But as the OP pointed out, generally bicycle fuel is much
more expensive per calorie than gasoline.

If you're just eating cheap ramen or rice, it's not that bad--but I'd
rather have a creme brule over a gallon of petrol. Fueling a human is
much more satisfying, LOL.

I do remember having to spend obscene amounts of money on food when I
was a messenger. I think I ate 5K calories more than normal. Eating as
a chore--that was wierd. :-S

peter wrote:
Eric wrote:

Well, the human body has never struck me as efficient. But remember,
you need to eat anyway, so subtract the 1500-2000 caleries you need for
baseline living.

And the car is much less efficient than you might think. Most of the
energy generated is waste heat (of course, the same could be said for
the human body as well).


Both your typical car engine and bicycle engine are about 25%
efficient. But as the OP pointed out, generally bicycle fuel is much
more expensive per calorie than gasoline.

I didn't notice that much difference since I usually buy a gallon or
Orange juice and put it in my back pack for long days. A gallon of
Orange juice is about $3.00 and it gets me about 70 miles due to the
sugar content. If I ate power bars at a buck a pop and only drank water
then it would be different.

Just to make it interesting, isn't a pound of fat about 3,500 calories
or so? How far would burning that fat get a car?
Bill

"Bill Baka" wrote: (clip) Just to make it interesting, isn't a pound of fat
about 3,500 calories or so? How far would burning that fat get a car?
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
With a proper preheater, it could be run in a diesel. A pound would be a
little more than a pint, so lets say, 1/6 gallon. A diesel car could be
expected to get about 30 MPG, you would be good for about 5 miles.

http://www.chicagocriticalmass.org/i...tickershok.gif
is a new vehicle information sticker for the 2001 Ford Extinction.

Leo Lichtman wrote:
"Bill Baka" wrote: (clip) Just to make it interesting, isn't a pound of fat
about 3,500 calories or so? How far would burning that fat get a car?
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
With a proper preheater, it could be run in a diesel. A pound would be a
little more than a pint, so lets say, 1/6 gallon. A diesel car could be
expected to get about 30 MPG, you would be good for about 5 miles.

Great, you've set a nasty idea into the wild. Diesel VW driving hippies
are now going to be robbing liposuction clinics. Ewwwwww.

:-P

Well, the human body has never struck me as efficient. But remember,
you need to eat anyway, so subtract the 1500-2000 caleries you need for
baseline living.

Also, keep in mind that many non-cyclists drive to the gym where they
burn as many, if not more calories than you do on stationary bikes and
treadmills.
Jim
http://home.comcast.net/~oil_free_and_happy/