This Strava thing

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Comments

  • carbonscan
    carbonscan Posts: 14
    a guy I work with went round a local area in his car with strava on and nailed all the KOM. when challenged refused to ride out with me for months, but did delete his account
  • Frank Wilson
    Frank Wilson Posts: 930
    Is Strava a by product of cycling or has it become vice versa, makes me wonder what people did pre technology.

    Just enjoy your ride and stop geting hung up on times and Dave Roberts or whoever today's fastest dude is.
  • markhewitt1978
    markhewitt1978 Posts: 7,614
    It's also good as a social thing, see what your friends / your local cycle club is doing, to motivate you, give you route ideas etc etc.
  • robbo2011
    robbo2011 Posts: 1,017
    edited May 2013
    This is my best segment position on Strava:

    http://app.strava.com/activities/53809179#976665996

    I was delighted when I uploaded the ride and saw that I had gained a second place. Unfortunately, it was second out of 2 riders. :?

    But I only really use Strava as a training tool to monitor my progress, especially my VAM climing numbers. It is really useful to see how my performances are improving which correlates to the extra riding I have been doing this year in preparation for summer events. I am now knocking on the door of being able to climb at 1000 VAM (when pushing it) which I am really happy about as last year I was only around the 700 mark.
  • markhewitt1978
    markhewitt1978 Posts: 7,614
    I never knew VAM was a thing until just now.. Seems I'm climbing at about 550-600.
  • KevChallis
    KevChallis Posts: 646
    I have found Strava really useful for me, not to see how I compare to others just to see how my training is going. I don't go out on a ride just to beat segments from other riders, I look for my pb's, if I get a top 10 so be it :-D
    Kev
    PlanetX Pro Carbon
    Voodoo Bizango
  • StillGoing
    StillGoing Posts: 5,211
    Teisetrotter wrote:
    Well since moving from MapMyRide to Strava for recording rides the world has become depressing ........... I suppose the truth can be a harsh thing.

    One of my favourite climbs I thought cockily I was pretty damn good at ............ 106th out of 600 tells that harsh truth and I posted a personal record for it. I was bush whacked for the rest of the ride after doing it.

    So now I'll have to go out and train harder and harder to get into the top 100. I have told myself I should not give a damn ......... but I do. I suppose one day I won't as I completely gave up on reducing my golfist handicap years ago as it was making the walk in the park even more miserable.

    Filter it to riders the same weight and age range.
    I ride a bike. Doesn't make me green or a tree hugger. I drive a car too.
  • lotus49
    lotus49 Posts: 763
    philthy3 wrote:
    Filter it to riders the same weight and age range.
    Being the stingy Yorkshireman that I am, I haven't paid for Strava Pro but if I did, I'd be filtering for age but not weight.

    I cannot do anything about my age but I'm not going to allow myself to make excuses about weight because I can do something about that. I'm far from fat (80kg and 190cm) but nor am I as thin as I used to be so losing a bit of weight might help me on those climbs.
  • Chris_marshall
    Chris_marshall Posts: 24
    I use Strava mostly to track my progress. I am moving up the leader boards but take great satisfaction in seeing my improvements in sectors from when I first started cycling in February.
  • StillGoing
    StillGoing Posts: 5,211
    lotus49 wrote:
    philthy3 wrote:
    Filter it to riders the same weight and age range.
    Being the stingy Yorkshireman that I am, I haven't paid for Strava Pro but if I did, I'd be filtering for age but not weight.

    I cannot do anything about my age but I'm not going to allow myself to make excuses about weight because I can do something about that. I'm far from fat (80kg and 190cm) but nor am I as thin as I used to be so losing a bit of weight might help me on those climbs.

    Then you won't know if you're better or worse than riders of similar weight classes. If you filter it and find you're way down the list, then you know you still have some way to go before comparing your times against lighter riders.

    I don't see what it matters personally. As long as you know that when you get off the bike you've done the best you could for the conditions and you, why do you need to be bothered what someone else did.
    I ride a bike. Doesn't make me green or a tree hugger. I drive a car too.
  • Mikey23
    Mikey23 Posts: 5,306
    i filter by age and its comforting to know that i am either at or close to the top in most local segs in the old gits category
  • Chino87
    Chino87 Posts: 2
    Or you could find some God-forsaken hell hole that no-one in their right mind would want to ride around and make your own segment. That's probably my one and only chance of managing a KOM but I won't let that bother me

    I did that, it was great until someone went on a 30miler seemingly just to knock me off the top spot! :evil:

    As with most of the others on here I'm back to just competing against myself and accepting that I'm not good enough to be the king!
  • mrfpb
    mrfpb Posts: 4,569
    I've just created a strava count, having been using Garmin Connect for a few months. I loaded up my last 10 or so rides form the Edge and saw I have lots of places in the bottom 10%, so plenty of to aim for!

    A lot of the segments round my way are clearly for commuters wanting to liven up the morning ride rather than people in serious training. If I stay on, it'll be to track my P.B.s on particular hills while I prepare for L2B (and Ditchling Beacon) in July.
  • gsvbagpuss
    gsvbagpuss Posts: 272
    lotus49 wrote:
    Or you could find some God-forsaken hell hole that no-one in their right mind would want to ride around and make your own segment. That's probably my one and only chance of managing a KOM but I won't let that bother me. As long as I can keep beating that lotus49 guy, I'll be happy :D .

    Been there, done that, still own the KOM :)
  • markhewitt1978
    markhewitt1978 Posts: 7,614
    I did that, but then one of the guys from the local club went out and beat it!
  • socistep
    socistep Posts: 88
    I like using it and being able to see how I have progressed, since I got my road bike in January there is definite improvement on my regular rides and I've picked up 4 KOM's (lost one) in the Leeds area.

    What it does show me is how well I do uphill for a relatively new cyclist, I'm pretty much always in the top 10% of hill climbs and the 4 KOMs are all uphill, I did the Otley Chevin yesterday which is a bit of a beast and improved my time by 50 seconds and into the top 45 of 450.

    However the other thing it shows me is how poor I am downhill, I don't have the weight or nerve for fast downhills and I never do particularly well on those segments.

    However I'm not ultra competitive, I'm happy just to be able to see progress and it gives you something to aim for, the KOM I lost I held for about 4 hours, I cycled it at lunchtime and the previous owner went straight out later that afternoon to claim it back!, one of the local club riders, that side of things doesn't interest me.
  • junglist_matty
    junglist_matty Posts: 1,731
    This is always interesting if your interested...

    SigImage.php?a=8ed82&r=10&c=3&u=I&g=p&f=ghmabcdefz&z=a.gif
  • deadhead1971
    deadhead1971 Posts: 338
    Before strava, I would occasionally attempt to time myself up certain local hills, eg the horseshoe pass, for obvious reasons. It's nice to get a benchmark time, then work towards improving on it.
    Strava does all this timing/comparison work for you.
    Don't worry about leaderboards too much, it's all relative.

    The annoying thing is the proliferation of segments these days. The HIDE button is your friend.
    Here's 7 reasons why some Strava segments suck!
    http://www.scarletfire.co.uk/2013/04/7- ... -do-yours/
    Alan
    http://www.scarletfire.co.uk

    The Ultimate List of Strava Add On Sites!
    http://www.scarletfire.co.uk/strava-sites
  • bisoner
    bisoner Posts: 171
    Personally, I use Strava as my interval training when out on my rides. It makes things interesting for someone who mostly rides solo and it also makes me try harder on segments/hills than I would probably do naturally.

    I've also created a couple of longer training loop segments which are my 'proper' 1 hour ride workouts. I still can't get close to my time in April last year!!! Older and slower springs to mind..............

    Things that irk me a little are the chain-gang rides which sweep up all the segments. Conversely, when I take a KoM from a chain-gang it's even more satisfying.
  • socistep
    socistep Posts: 88
    bisoner wrote:
    Personally, I use Strava as my interval training when out on my rides. It makes things interesting for someone who mostly rides solo and it also makes me try harder on segments/hills than I would probably do naturally.

    I've also created a couple of longer training loop segments which are my 'proper' 1 hour ride workouts. I still can't get close to my time in April last year!!! Older and slower springs to mind..............

    Things that irk me a little are the chain-gang rides which sweep up all the segments. Conversely, when I take a KoM from a chain-gang it's even more satisfying.

    Yes I know what you mean, there is a local club in Leeds which does a 'segment of the week' and compete against each other, so you find that a lot of the popular segments have people from that club at the top. I did take a KOM from someone from that club recently, not intentionally just happened, and he went straight out a few hours later to claim it back :D
  • slowbike
    slowbike Posts: 8,498
    I mostly use it to monitor my own progress - but, if way off KOM - look to find other names a little faster and aim to beat their time in other segments - it gives something feasible to aim for
  • mpatts
    mpatts Posts: 1,010
    I have given strava a go for a month or so - and I think I hate it.

    I found myself trying to hit number 1 on all the local segments (which I managed, running). Then I realised....what the feck am I doing? I'm sucking the fun out of it by competing with a load of people I don't know, who have probably made their times up anyway? Regarding cycling, competing is the exact opposite of why I love it so much. Noone cares if I am faster than anyone else. All I care about is that I am faster than me.

    So, I'm going to stick to garmin connect from now on.
    Insert bike here:
  • slowbike
    slowbike Posts: 8,498
    That's fair enough ...

    It's not easy to go out knowing you're going to upload the ride to Strava and not attempt any segments.
    Its easier if you're not the fastest out there and you ride quite often - eg commuting I won't expect to hit all the segments each time, but when I'm feeling good and conditions are right then I may have a go... I had a go on a couple yesterday but only managed 3rd best time - but I knew it wasn't good as soon as I hit the start - consequently I didn't give it my all and eased off early - next time perhaps ...

    I find there are (at least) two sorts of pleasures in riding - there is the "out there in the country under my own steam" and there is the satisfaction after enduring the pain of a climb/section where you know you've put in a good time - ie the competitive element ...
    Some ppl like both, some only like one. I'm fortunate in liking both and whilst not being the fastest, I'm not the slowest either so the competitive element can still be enjoyable without being depressing!
  • mpatts
    mpatts Posts: 1,010
    Slowbike wrote:
    That's fair enough ...

    It's not easy to go out knowing you're going to upload the ride to Strava and not attempt any segments.
    Its easier if you're not the fastest out there and you ride quite often - eg commuting I won't expect to hit all the segments each time, but when I'm feeling good and conditions are right then I may have a go... I had a go on a couple yesterday but only managed 3rd best time - but I knew it wasn't good as soon as I hit the start - consequently I didn't give it my all and eased off early - next time perhaps ...

    I find there are (at least) two sorts of pleasures in riding - there is the "out there in the country under my own steam" and there is the satisfaction after enduring the pain of a climb/section where you know you've put in a good time - ie the competitive element ...
    Some ppl like both, some only like one. I'm fortunate in liking both and whilst not being the fastest, I'm not the slowest either so the competitive element can still be enjoyable without being depressing!

    To be clear, I love both....I love hammering up a hill, breathing through my earholes with my legs absolutely burning. Love it. But competing with a pretend person doesn't add anything for me. Each to their own I guess!
    Insert bike here:
  • thegreatdivide
    thegreatdivide Posts: 5,807
    You also need to take DigitalEPO in to account when looking at KOM's. We have one guy round here who is ruining the local segments for the sake of his ego. Consistantly last out of his peers in timed sportives yet blitzes everyone when he's riding solo.
  • socistep
    socistep Posts: 88
    thegreatdivide wrote:
    You also need to take DigitalEPO in to account when looking at KOM's. We have one guy round here who is ruining the local segments for the sake of his ego. Consistantly last out of his peers in timed sportives yet blitzes everyone when he's riding solo.

    Hadn't heard of that but just seen the website, I guess you never know how accurate peoples results are
  • The_Yeti_
    The_Yeti_ Posts: 22
    Stewpot407 wrote:
    Personal Records is where it's at. See one of those and I'm dead chuffed with myself.

    Pretty much hits the nail on the head for me! I only started using it on Sunday and couldn't wait to get out to try and better my times :P
  • Mikey23
    Mikey23 Posts: 5,306
    sort of encourages you to ride new routes. just going around the same one all the time and you wont get many prs but find a new route and do it twice for a hatfull
  • CiB
    CiB Posts: 6,098
    I love it, discovering segments on variations of usual routes and finding that in comparison to most people I'm not as old / fat / slow as I sometimes think I might be, and knowing that what was just a mid-part of the commute offers a good placing if I give it a bit more beans. The PBs are good too - it's a bit of encouragement to keep pushing instead of relaxing a bit, esp after the same variations on the commute routes for 6 years or so. The KOM that I went for (and got) turned out to be a bit of an anti-climax, and it didn't bother me one jot when the previous holder went out and took it back 2 days later.

    edit to add that some segments are just out of reach - some guy called Ian Stannard rides round some of my routes.

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