The above is a screenshot of my Polar heart rate monitor (HRM) data from today’s ride around Lake Washington. Many years ago, my pal Marc and I rode around Lake Washington — it was my second distance road ride ever. I haven’t done that ride again until today. Some stats:

Data                    Value Unit
Duration              8:09:00
Sampling Rate               5 s

Energy Expenditure       3549 cal
Number of Heart Beats   57222 beats
Recovery                  -23 beats
Minimum Heart Rate         73 bpm
Average Heart Rate        117 bpm
Maximum Heart Rate        163 bpm
Standard Deviation       18.9 bpm

Minimum Speed             0.1 mph
Average Speed            10.7 mph
Maximum Speed            31.4 mph
Distance                 57.5 miles
Odometer                  308 miles

Minimum Altitude          100 ft
Average Altitude          184 ft
Maximum Altitude          475 ft
Ascent                   1340 ft
Descent                  1460 ft
Slopes                      2

See that Energy Expenditure number? 3549? Well, a pound of fat is 3500 calories… so today, I burned a pound. Sweet!