Originally Posted by
MinnMan
Yes, that's the crux of the question. To highlight the quote in your link
Iride1 's post is besides the point. I thought I made clear that I wasn't asking about the absolute accuracy of the calories counted (or the energy expended, or for that matter, average power).
I'm wondering why the energy expended and calories are so discrepant, when most calculations bind them quite tightly.
You rode for 4 hours. It gave you 1,400 extra calories for that. Or 350 per hour. I don't know what your BMR is, or even what a reasonable number is, I feel like it's probably less than that, but I think that's what Strava is telling you. You put 1,250 kJ into the bike, and during that time you burned 2,650 calories total. You spent half of them on making the bike go, and the other half plus on running your brain and liver and everything else.
I can't think of anything else that makes sense for them to be doing.