The other day, for a change of pace, I decided to try the stationary bike for the first time.

I set it for 60 minutes, used a level 4 resistance setting, and set it to random hills encountered. I kept the rpms anywhere from 110 - 115 targeting my heart rate to 160, give or take the occasional fluctuations.

Now, my question is this. After the 60 minutes, according to the counter distance travelled was about 21 - 22 miles, and calories expended was 300.

Does this sound right? I mean, given my weight on a treadmill, a mere 30 minutes running at 7 mph would result in about 450 calories expended.

So, is running that much more energy intensive than biking? Or, perhaps the bike I was using wasn't calobrated accurately, or am I missing something here?

I was considering riding the stationary bike every other day as a change of pace, but not if an hour's of riding at 80% max. heart rate results in a measly 300 kcals expended, especially when juxtiposed with running 60 minutes which would easily yield close to 900 kcals expended.

Thanks in advance for any insights,

Frederick