Strava 'Bagging'

jibberjim

dw300 wrote:

I'm interested to see if anyone has a good year of data .. I'm sure people would be interested in seeing segments that you ride daily or weekly illustrating the increasingly fast times. If you're new to Strava .. pick a segments and click on 'My Results' on the left beside the leaderboard.

Both me and Maryka have a few years worth of data on there, Maryka not that obvious with performance as pregnancy changed the weight and power side of things in ways Strava didn't know about but you can still see her historical performance - unfortunately Strava doesn't easily let you see other peoples performances on a segment, but the data is there through the API.

For example here's my top 15 box hill times

01  Jim Ley  May 14, 2011  26.4km/h 167bpm  443W  5:41 
02  Jim Ley  May 15, 2010  26.1km/h 175bpm  425W  5:45 
03  Jim Ley  Jun 04, 2011  25.9km/h 169bpm  435W  5:48 
04  Jim Ley  Apr 08, 2010  25.8km/h 167bpm  432W  5:49 
04  Jim Ley  Jun 04, 2012  25.8km/h 168bpm  427W  5:49 
06  Jim Ley  Jul 23, 2010  25.2km/h 174bpm  425W  5:58 
07  Jim Ley  Jun 27, 2010  25.0km/h 171bpm  415W  6:00 
07  Jim Ley  Jun 16, 2012  25.0km/h 170bpm  381W  6:00 
09  Jim Ley  Jun 03, 2012  24.9km/h 170bpm  399W  6:02 
10  Jim Ley  Jul 31, 2012  24.6km/h 172bpm  363W  6:06 
11  Jim Ley  Jun 13, 2012  24.6km/h 173bpm  391W  6:07 
12  Jim Ley  May 29, 2012  24.4km/h 168bpm  416W  6:10 
12  Jim Ley  Aug 12, 2009  24.4km/h 171bpm  406W  6:10 
14  Jim Ley  Apr 25, 2010  24.3km/h 166bpm  402W  6:11 
15  Jim Ley  Feb 12, 2011  24.2km/h 168bpm  400W  6:13 

The stand out odd one is the 6:00 on Jun 16th or the 6:06 yesterday, much faster than normally got by those watts. Of course those unlike the others had lots of drafting - in fact all but the two fastest since the resurfacing had drafting whereas before it was mostly a solo only test hill. Shows nicely that my power is 16watts down since 2010 but also shows the general sort of watts/time ratio for me (my weight isn't quite stable but in the 73-78kg range throughout those.

slowbike

amaferanga wrote:

We all know what people are like. It's only fun when you're winning. And there's always someone taking it ridiculously seriously trying to get a KoM. I'll just stick with my real racing....

We're not all all out to win ... some of us are just happy to get the motivation to ride faster and record our progress - if we get KOM (or QOM) then that's good - if that's what we're aiming for.
We (should) all know that it is nothing like "real racing" ... ie you don't know if the others were towed for part of the segment or rode it solo, you can't easily see if they targeted a segment either - but you can look through their rides to see if its regular performance ...

Way I see it, Strava is a great training aid and a bit of fun to boot ...

willhub

There is always going to be those snobs that look down at anyone who uses strava, well they can go **** themselves, it's fun, the only fun bit is when someone is like "oh he is cheating, he must be because I can't do that", so they report the segment and get it deleted (because whoever reviews the segment times at Strava does not look at them and just presses delete, I don't think it's automatic)

Also, "real racing" costs a lot of money.

Dmak

Less than a week with Stava and I'm faster than I've ever been. Managed 19.7mph on my 23 mile commute this morning. No KOMS or top tens but a great ride and almost 1200 watts at one point Not sure how accurate that is but I am over 14 stone and I like to sprint little climbs.

It's made cycling hard fun again.

andy46

Just joined, hope to get out a bit more as I can't find time lately

amaferanga

willhub wrote:

There is always going to be those snobs that look down at anyone who uses strava, well they can go **** themselves, it's fun, the only fun bit is when someone is like "oh he is cheating, he must be because I can't do that", so they report the segment and get it deleted (because whoever reviews the segment times at Strava does not look at them and just presses delete, I don't think it's automatic)

Also, "real racing" costs a lot of money.

Well if the only fun bit is when someone is like "oh he's cheating, he must be because I can't do that", like you, like, say, like, then I don't feel that I'm missing much.

willhub

Dmak wrote:

Less than a week with Stava and I'm faster than I've ever been. Managed 19.7mph on my 23 mile commute this morning. No KOMS or top tens but a great ride and almost 1200 watts at one point Not sure how accurate that is but I am over 14 stone and I like to sprint little climbs.

It's made cycling hard fun again.

Not doubting you might be able to achieve 1200W, but the Strava wattage analysis is totally crap, now I've done a 10 mile TT and Strava reckons I've averaged about 320W, which is about bang on for me not being very aero, but if I got a TT bike and aero helmet as well as aero wheels, I'd go about another minute quicker maybe more and it'd show me as doing like 400W average when in reality I'd still be doing about 320W.

If you look at the graph, it's not showing a consistent wattage ever, and if you're doing a TT then you're more likely riding consistently, but if you look at Strava it shows that you are more like doing short sprints and then resting.

willhub

amaferanga wrote:

willhub wrote:

There is always going to be those snobs that look down at anyone who uses strava, well they can go **** themselves, it's fun, the only fun bit is when someone is like "oh he is cheating, he must be because I can't do that", so they report the segment and get it deleted (because whoever reviews the segment times at Strava does not look at them and just presses delete, I don't think it's automatic)

Also, "real racing" costs a lot of money.

Well if the only fun bit is when someone is like "oh he's cheating, he must be because I can't do that", like you, like, say, like, then I don't feel that I'm missing much.

Are you trying to say I accuse people of cheating if I can't match their current time making them a KOM?

There is some right nobs on Strava, one guy asked a guy to kindly remove is "KOM" because it looked like he'd left it on in his car when it was obvious he was riding his bike all the way, 36mph on "Kingsway Dash" looks pretty doable from a very strong rider given the profile, I just said "it's doable assuming a strong tailwind", and he got all arsy with me, clearly because he did not want someone to beat his KOM.

Bunneh

I love Strava, only found out about it recently but really enjoy beating my times; plus if my ranking improves that's nice too Sure it may not be accurate but as they say 'bovvered' just enjoying it as an additional free tool! When I saw I was 16/50 on a local run I was really chuffed with myself.

Pross

thecrofter wrote:

Do I need a premium membership to flag a ride?

Someone's just stolen the KoM I got back this morning by over a minute, doing 38mph with a HR of 86bpm.

You can flag a ride with any account. Just click on the date that the ride was done on the segment leaderboard and the whole ride comes up with a 'flag ride' tab on the right hand side. Click on that and fill in the description of what you feel the problem is. I think it temporarily removes the whole ride which is a bit unfair, it would be better if you could just flag the dodgy segment as they are often just errors from people forgetting to switch off their GPS rather than someone doing it on purpose.

dw300

Pross wrote:

thecrofter wrote:

Do I need a premium membership to flag a ride?

Someone's just stolen the KoM I got back this morning by over a minute, doing 38mph with a HR of 86bpm.

You can flag a ride with any account. Just click on the date that the ride was done on the segment leaderboard and the whole ride comes up with a 'flag ride' tab on the right hand side. Click on that and fill in the description of what you feel the problem is. I think it temporarily removes the whole ride which is a bit unfair, it would be better if you could just flag the dodgy segment as they are often just errors from people forgetting to switch off their GPS rather than someone doing it on purpose.

Link to the Support Knowledge base ..

https://strava.zendesk.com/entries/20950153-flagging-a-false-kom-qom

Dmak

willhub wrote:

Not doubting you might be able to achieve 1200W, but the Strava wattage analysis is totally crap, now I've done a 10 mile TT and Strava reckons I've averaged about 320W, which is about bang on for me not being very aero, but if I got a TT bike and aero helmet as well as aero wheels, I'd go about another minute quicker maybe more and it'd show me as doing like 400W average when in reality I'd still be doing about 320W.

If you look at the graph, it's not showing a consistent wattage ever, and if you're doing a TT then you're more likely riding consistently, but if you look at Strava it shows that you are more like doing short sprints and then resting.

Yep, just a rough number, something to play with though. I'm likely never going to pay for a power meter so it's next best thing and it's free.

Your TT sounds like a solid effort!

aclivity

"my" segment, the one I won KoM on, is mostly paved with a couple of hundred yards of rough track at the end. I had intended shortening the segment so that it was just the paved bit ...

then today I got the email saying I had lost KoM.

My first thought was to consider an early morning (5AM) ride out on Saturday morning, perhaps even forsaking my Brompton for something with bigger wheels. My wife told me that was taking it all a bit too seriously, though, so I decided against that and to try again another time when the towpath is empty and there is no wind.

Tonight, though, I decided to shorten the segment to cut out the last rough bit, and I am back as King. It feels a bit like a hollow victory though ... have I done something wrong? :oops:

I've also got a challenge to get a better time on the Manchester Whitworth Street segment, I've been killing myself to improve my time on one particular stretch, only to find out that I had misread the map and missed the segment! :oops: :oops:

dw300

Hmmm .. editing segments to get KOMs .. very cunning!

Was out with a mate and he took off on part of our ride. He's on Strava, but I've no idea if he had the intention of getting this KOM, or if he just got bored. Anyway, he got it. I stayed on his wheel because it's a great bit of road and I didn't want him to have to wait for me again .. I was thinking of popping out near the end and sprinting away since he was pretty tired, but wouldn't have felt right.

Anyway, he took this one buy almost 20 secs .. chapeau. http://app.strava.com/segments/1823397

dw300

I've also just realised that if you plot segments in Garmin Connect and upload them as a course to your Edge, then you can use Virtual Partner to tell you if youre on to break whatever time you need.

Gazzaputt

Getting bored with it now. I like the the in-depth ride log but the KOM around my way are just getting ridiculous. Segments being recorded on nothing flats and descents.

I've given up defending my KOMs

Warwickshire Whizzer

I took off on a tasty little one on an evening ride last night - was close to it as well, if I hadn't stopped right at the top to wait for my mate to catch up. Was thinking I was clear of the end but no - and so my KOM dash last night includes 2mins of me sat on the side waiting. Gutted.

ShutUpLegs

Gazzaputt wrote:

Getting bored with it now. I like the the in-depth ride log but the KOM around my way are just getting ridiculous. Segments being recorded on nothing flats and descents.

I've given up defending my KOMs

Be selective, get out there and show them who's boss. The sooner you can ignore segments the better.

willhub

aclivity wrote:

"my" segment, the one I won KoM on, is mostly paved with a couple of hundred yards of rough track at the end. I had intended shortening the segment so that it was just the paved bit ...

then today I got the email saying I had lost KoM.

My first thought was to consider an early morning (5AM) ride out on Saturday morning, perhaps even forsaking my Brompton for something with bigger wheels. My wife told me that was taking it all a bit too seriously, though, so I decided against that and to try again another time when the towpath is empty and there is no wind.

Tonight, though, I decided to shorten the segment to cut out the last rough bit, and I am back as King. It feels a bit like a hollow victory though ... have I done something wrong? :oops:

I've also got a challenge to get a better time on the Manchester Whitworth Street segment, I've been killing myself to improve my time on one particular stretch, only to find out that I had misread the map and missed the segment! :oops: :oops:

I would not even bother with inner city segments, they can only be done when lights are on green unless someone runs a red. They should be removed.

dw300

Gazzaputt wrote:

Getting bored with it now. I like the the in-depth ride log but the KOM around my way are just getting ridiculous. Segments being recorded on nothing flats and descents.

I've given up defending my KOMs

If they're ridiculously short, or dangerous or just really crappy then flag'em. Otherwise, just 'Hide' them so you don't see them listed on your rides.

Dmak

Just lost a KOM and all I can think is "MORE POWER!!!!!!!!!"

I agree that some segments should be removed. I'm not inclined to flag anything as hazardous as I don't want to piss on other peoples fireworks but segments with junctions, roundabouts, crossings, cannon fire, zulu warfare etc etc are daft.

dw300

Looking at trying to get Top 10 in these climbs this weekend coming ..

Knockagh Road Climb

Woodburn Road Climb

Might give the Antrim Road climb a go if I'm warmed up well enough ..

Antrim Road Climb

edit .. Just noticed the KOM for the Antrim Road is called Bobby McKeown .. it's almost Robbie McEwen!

madden2011

dw300 wrote:

Looking at trying to get Top 10 in these climbs this weekend coming ..

Knockagh Road Climb

Woodburn Road Climb

Might give the Antrim Road climb a go if I'm warmed up well enough ..

Antrim Road Climb

edit .. Just noticed the KOM for the Antrim Road is called Bobby McKeown .. it's almost Robbie McEwen!

I done the other side of the Knockagh climb, it was tough, those tight uphill bends are a bit on the tough side. That Antrim Road segment is my neck of the woods, never actually done that segment though. Quite a few sets of traffic lights on that one though it you get stuck at a couple thats it blown.

dw300

Ha, well we're meeting at the Albert Clock at 0730, if you want to join in!

The other end of Knockagh Road is like a mini Alp d'Huez .. with 18 fewer switchbacks lol.

As for the Antrim Road, yeh, but its pretty straight and a 3 mile segment, so you can anticipate stale greens, take a breather if you get a red and go hard after it. Not that i'll be going hard that soon in the ride.

I'm wondering if I can change my Strava name to 'The Strava Sniper' .. might need to get a bit faster first though!

Maybe we should chance the the BR Club name to that?

madden2011

Thanks for the offer mate, I'll just be getting up to go on my own run so I'll pass. Hopefully the weather is decent

Im sure the side of the Knockagh Road you are going up will be tough as it was a quick descent

dw300

No probs, we're heading that early to get the best of the weather. It's to get wetter from 10ish .. although that could change in the next 24hrs.

I'm sure you'll see how we get on!

dw300

http://app.strava.com/segments/1823384

Finally a KOM I'm genuinely proud of! Weird thing was, I checked last night and 8:18 was the time to beat. I looked at my time and was delighted to beat it by almost 30s. However after uploading 2 other times appeared from months ago. Must just had been uploaded, but I still got it by 5 seconds! 190bpm HR during it too, averaged 183 for 8 minutes .. o_O

I need to develop some proper power so I don't need to go into the red for so long!

Also managed a downhill one too ..

http://app.strava.com/segments/1600771

jgsi

Opinion please..
is this segment/ride worth flagging... a lot of discrepancy especially on the segment.' like accelerating to over 40mph on incline, and rider has only ever posted this single ride.
I don't particularly want this kom, but seems a tad unfair to other riders who might want a proper go at it.
it is a safe segment. although if you take a flyer thru the lights then obviously you have an advantage over standing start.

ShutUpLegs

I've flagged stuff even if it's not my KOM. Cadence and heart rate usually give away the whole picture.

junglist_matty

ALIHISGREAT wrote:

I'm looking forward to going home to Cambridgeshire in a few weeks.. much less Strava competition than in Oxfordshire..

doubt I'll be bagging any KOMs.. but some top 10s should be easy... because there aren't really any hills

There's a lot of fast riders round here in Cambridgeshire, not that I'm saying you're not a fast rider Edmund Bradbury has loads of KOM's round Cambridge, he's a machine, rode the 11.2mile busway (towards cambridge) at average 28mph or something silly!!!!