Michael DeNino Racing

The point I want to illustrate is that the body is tasked to very similar levels in both the mountain bike race and while driving the race car.  I can assure you that I was pushing extremely hard and that my body was near its very limit in the mountain bike race; and while I would not consider driving the car to be anywhere near that of the pure physical exertion experienced in the bike race, the heart rates were very similar. The main difference with these two types of activities is the mode of exertion.  While both are physically demanding, driving places significantly more mental demands and requirements for cooling the body than when on the bike.

The second graph depicts a calculation of the estimated energy consumption, displaying data taken from the same tests and during the same time frame.

This chart illustrates that the body is actually using more energy in the car than during the mountain bike race. This can be attributed to the fact that the body was calling upon more resources during the car race due to the significant mental and physical activity, as well as the additional strain added to cool the body.

If you think about what you wear while riding a bike (hardly anything) and compare that to what a driver wears, it is easy to see where the strain to cool the body comes from.

The increased mental demand can be attributed to the fact that the brain is working constantly to calculate and recalculate the incoming information that is acquired while moving across the track and is processing that information into physical inputs, i.e. throttle position, braking, steering, and shifting. While a mountain bike rider will also experience very similar mental demands, intense mental demand is typically not experienced for same duration as what may be experienced in the car.

This was just a quick insight as to the demands which the body encounters while driving, and the similarities mountain biking shares with the sport.

Michael DeNino