Originally Posted by
Seattle Forrest
For what it's worth, the last ride I did at that distance (51.25 miles) burned 1,686 calories for me. It was hilly, and I'm heavy. Not fat, but built like a football player. The way Strava works, it should at least do a better job than a heart rate monitor unless it's windy or you're drafting, I wonder what's up?
For calorie burn on my single bike, I look at kJ. For day-to-day, I look at the scale. Going back to the OP, calorie burn doesn't really matter for riding, only if one is trying to alter one's body weight. The only thing which matters is how much or how little of what one can tolerate on a particular ride, which is going to vary for everyone and every ride. So it's complicated and thus everyone has a different experience, theory, and practice. Just saying "it's complicated" of course isn't at all instructive. However there is this BF thread which revels in complexity, rolls in it, and from a certain perspective, is fun to read. Thus:
https://www.bikeforums.net/road-cycl...-what-eat.html