A couple of questions for you lovely people here:

I have a HRM (fairly cheap one, a Timex I think) and wondered how accurate in general you felt they were in terms of calories burned. I'm about 40lbs overweight but have been exercising pretty consistently for a year or more, so my fitness level isn't too bad (though it doesn't feel like it when faced with hills on my bike!). Just did a ride of 15 miles which took 1hr 15mins and my average HR was 140bpm - I know that is like a slug compared to lots of you but felt like a nice, sustainable pace to me. I didn't feel particularly out of breath apart from the one or two hills I encountered. Anyway, my HRM told me I burned 1300 calories which seems an awful lot. I'm trying to lose weight still so want to balance diet and exercise, but don't want to end up eating too much thinking I've burned a bunch more calories than I actually have, or eat too little to support the exercise I'm doing. Any words of wisdom would be great!

Also, I have the Ride Yourself Lean book and am going to start the "Big Weight Loss" program - 15 weeks, which would take me up till my birthday, hopefully I can make good inroads into the remaining weight I have to lose by then. Has anyone else done any of the programs in the book, and how have you found them? Would be interested in hearing anyone's views