Inappropriate Segments on Strava

sporttourer

Went for a nice leisurely family bike ride along the Tarka Trail in North Devon today with my wife & two children. We were in no rush at all & had several stops along the way whenever we wanted along the 9 mile section we rode & back again 9 miles.
I switched Strava on, more to record the mileage etc than anything else & was shocked to find that the whole trail is divided into Strava segments. This was the first time we have ridden this trail since I have had strava and as we live in Cornwall it was a 2hr drive each way just to get to the trail so we dont go very often.
This is a multi use trial used by walkers, horses & young families with kiddies on scooters, in bike trailers etc as well as people who hire bikes & have no "experience" at all. I do not find it appropriate that people are using this for Strava segments - by the very nature of using Strava it encourages riders to cycle fast to beat their times & move up the leader board. The trail is quite narrow in places and also next to some quite high drop offs if you had to suddenlty swerve to avoid speeding cyclists.
I enjoy using strava on my normal rides but NOT for this type of ride - I do not like people whizzing past without any consideration for other trail users trying to beat their times.

snoopsmydogg

so complain to strava.

or blame wiggle

Lycra-Byka

May encourage but people will always race along such trails.

If you was to return to this route,alone, would you now race it because you know it's a segment?

jibberjim

Mark it (them) as hazardous if it is - and it certainly sounds like it. That's what the feature is there for.

dw300

You're totally right .. its dangerous for the Strava users. The council need to stop people who can't pay attention or make way for users coming the other way, from using this path.

sporttourer

Lycra-Byka wrote:

May encourage but people will always race along such trails.

If you was to return to this route,alone, would you now race it because you know it's a segment?

I know all of these type of trails attract people who race without any respect for any users - other cyclists cycling fast included!
& No - I would not race along this trail as it isnt safe to do so. I cannot predict what the four yr old liitle girl coming the other way is going to do so to be safe I will always slow right down and be prepared to stop instantly depending on which course they take!

springtide9

sporttourer wrote:

Lycra-Byka wrote:

May encourage but people will always race along such trails.

If you was to return to this route,alone, would you now race it because you know it's a segment?

I know all of these type of trails attract people who race without any respect for any users - other cyclists cycling fast included!
& No - I would not race along this trail as it isnt safe to do so. I cannot predict what the four yr old liitle girl coming the other way is going to do so to be safe I will always slow right down and be prepared to stop instantly depending on which course they take!

I'll take an opposing view of not ending up with a complete nanny state.

I obviously do not know the trail at all, so talking as an outsider with no local knowledge.

We have a few man-made mountain bike trails around Bristol, all which have multiple Strava segments, and although there are no big drop-offs, are narrow and tight singletrack. I often take my children on the trails, 8yr & 6yr and I must say the riders that cause the most "hassle on the trails" are not the guys with GPS computers on Strava, but the 16-18 yr olds that are just out to have a bit of fun and are racing each other around the trails.

There are also Strava segments around various parks in London... and various threads on here about improving times. I personally don't think many of the segments are hazardous, but people are. As many people do, they will ride these segments very early in the morning when the majority of people are asleep, so they are not a hazard to other people.

They way I look at it, I don't think we really need a nanny state, people have to take some responsibility for themselves, and any results of their actions.
So I will not flag a segment as being unsafe even if I think the trails are shared by multiple groups as long as I don't observe anyone 'racing the trail' as a segment when it is obviously dangerous.
I'm sure the trails you mention are well used in the summer months by all types of people, but I'm also sure that come the October / November time the usage of these trails will massively decrease.

But obviously, if I see people riding unsafely on the trails where they are a hazard to other users, I will p*ss on their segment and mark it as 'hazardous' on Strava. That way, it's people's actions that will determine whether a segment is hazardous or not, rather than a nanny state that has a blanket ruling for all, including the people who like to ride fast, but very responsibly when the conditions allow.

ShutUpLegs

^
Good post.

ste_

Bits of it are. Lots of it rambles and repeats the same thing.

ste_

More importantly - OP , did you get KOM or is this post a result of sour grapes?

Omar Little

n00bs on hired bikes will be impressed and inspired to ride more if you can bunnyhop a kid on a scooter or trailer on the way to claiming the KOM time. Horses will also see a kindred spirit riding along fast and free and wish they were with you instead of enforced into animal slavery for the jollies of some posh bird in jodhpurs. So what is the big problem?

racingcondor

I don't know the segments you are talking about and I would suggest only reporting genuinely dangerous segments (fast blind corners on a trail like this could count) but here are the instructions for marking a dangerous segment -

https://strava.zendesk.com/entries/20959312-flagging-a-segment-as-hazardous

ste_

Omar Little wrote:

Horses will also see a kindred spirit riding along fast and free and wish they were with you instead of enforced into animal slavery for the jollies of some posh bird in jodhpurs.

Oh I don't know...

izzy Eviel

Hikers use Strava. So do joggers. It's not just for cyclists.