How to spot strava cheats who use digital epo

deadhead1971

Strava users may find this useful -
One of my blog readers pointed out something very interesting about digital epo and how you can tell if someone has used it. I wrote up the findings of my little investigation here :

http://www.scarletfire.co.uk/2013/06/how-to-tell-if-someone-used-digital-epo-to-cheat-on-strava/

Sorry this is cross posted in the Road General forum, but it applies to both groups..

The Rookie

Jst to see if I could I have done similar myself by manipulating the GPX file, the 'quicker' (in terms of time taken) the edit the more obvious it is, but take enough time over it and it's almost invisible. Would never actually upload it.

angry_bird

Do people seriously do this on Strava? It's that big a deal to be seen to get a KOM?

Chunkers1980

Why bother editing? Use a motor for real.

YeehaaMcgee

(Before I begin, let me say DAMN YOU CatWithNoTail for getting me hooked on Strava!! )
Got one of my KOMs knocked off the other day, by someone who'd averaged 30mph up a hill that varies between 20 and 30% incline.
That's odd, I thought, so I took a closer look.
It was quite clearly a post office van on it's rounds!
Yeah, some people are that sad!!

stubs

This isnt the problem with Strava. The problem is people who knock walls down, cut tree branches and generally turn every interesting trail into the straightest, quickest way up or down. FFS get a life or take up fucking stamp collecting or something similar.

cat_with_no_tail

YeehaaMcgee wrote:

(Before I begin, let me say DAMN YOU CatWithNoTail for getting me hooked on Strava!! )!

O'hai

Also, rather than making that post, shouldn't you have been out getting more miles in to keep your (slim) lead.

On second thoughts, rather than making this post, shouldn't I be out putting more miles in to catch you.

DAMMIT!

We're quite lucky over here, because there is a group of about 10 people who are regularly top of all the strava boards. If someone else comes along and starts smashing the back out of it, we'll either know who they are from races etc, or have a pretty good indication that they are a cheating mo-fo.

rockmonkeysc

stubs wrote:

This isnt the problem with Strava. The problem is people who knock walls down, cut tree branches and generally turn every interesting trail into the straightest, quickest way up or down. FFS get a life or take up ******* stamp collecting or something similar.

This is happening a lot. Nice winding single track getting straight line short cuts.
its a bit sad when people take it that seriously that they feel the need to compete with strangers on the Internet. If you want to race then go to a race.

YeehaaMcgee

Cat With No Tail wrote:

YeehaaMcgee wrote:

(Before I begin, let me say DAMN YOU CatWithNoTail for getting me hooked on Strava!! )!

O'hai

Also, rather than making that post, shouldn't you have been out getting more miles in to keep your (slim) lead.

On second thoughts, rather than making this post, shouldn't I be out putting more miles in to catch you.

DAMMIT!

We're quite lucky over here, because there is a group of about 10 people who are regularly top of all the strava boards.

unfortunately (for me), I'm setting up for recording a gig tonight. With a touch of cold again, annoyingly.

Unluckily in Snowdonia, we seem to have a lot of superhuman cyclists training here. There's just no way that I'll ever KOM some of the big climbs here. Ever!

YeehaaMcgee

RockmonkeySC wrote:

stubs wrote:

its a bit sad when people take it that seriously that they feel the need to compete with strangers on the Internet. If you want to race then go to a race.

That's kind of the point of Strava, it's all about competition.
If you're just after tracking your development over time, Endomondo is far better for that IMO.

njee20

Straight lining of trails is not Strava, that's always happened!

Re segments in cars they're usually innocent IMO, people who've finished a ride and left their GPS on - after all, doing 30mph up a 20% climb is pretty obvious!

There's a guy near me who seems to go out every time I take a KOM off him to get it back, it's really annoying!

YeehaaMcgee

Nah, this postie had one ride last year, and one ride this year. Last year's was legit, but he's left his strava on all day on this dodgy one!

stubs

njee20 wrote:

Straight lining of trails is not Strava, that's always happened!

Very true but its been getting much much worse the last couple of years. A trail I used to do turned from a narrow twisty turny slow trail you had to reaaaaally concentrate on or you would end up wrapped round a tree or rock became a M way wide down the hill track. Spoilt it for everyone apart from knobheads with gps phones.

bennett_346

I never use any of this gps crap. If you need pretty pictures and numbers to enjoy your rides i suggest you quit mountain biking and become a statistical analyst in your spare time, or failing that get yourself off a big gap and realise it isn't all about being fastest down a trail.

The Rookie

Treat Strava as a bit of fun, that's fine.

Treat it as a real competition and you are sadly deluded.

The segments I take most seriously are those ridden almost exclusively by my club, I'm not the fastest and never will be but if I close a bit on the fastest riders then I know I'm improving, either technique or my internal engine, succeeding against myself in effect! As the nature of the rides changes all the time comparing one day to another is pointless, but comparing myself to others helps me understand my strengths and weaknesses.

I took one fastest time on a recent ride, over the fastest in the club, felt good, but I know I won't keep it!

rockmonkeysc

It does seem to turn some people in to knobheads (though they could already be knobheads) More than once I have seen people shout at other rider to get out of their way because they are trying to beat a strava time. One ended up in the foliage with a little help, harsh but I did have to laugh and congratulate the lady who booted him.
It's just another reason why I never ride at trail centres any more.

welshkev

I'm a recent strava convert too. And what I've found out is that 36.9kmh feels scary fast. How the top dh riders do 60+ is beyond me!!

rockmonkeysc

welshkev wrote:

I'm a recent strava convert too. And what I've found out is that 36.9kmh feels scary fast. How the top dh riders do 60+ is beyond me!!

A full face helmet and goggles really isolates you from the feeling of speed. I can spin out in my highest gear (38/11) at Coombe Sydenham which I guess is around 50km/h and it doesn't feel that fast.

97th choice

welshkev wrote:

I'm a recent strava convert too. And what I've found out is that 36.9kmh feels scary fast. How the top dh riders do 60+ is beyond me!!

Do you believe it? Just checked my endomondo history and my top speed was 43.6, on single track, I take that with a healthy pinch of salt.

cooldad

bennett_346 wrote:

I never use any of this gps crap. If you need pretty pictures and numbers to enjoy your rides i suggest you quit mountain biking and become a statistical analyst in your spare time, or failing that get yourself off a big gap and realise it isn't all about being fastest down a trail.

As much as it pains me to agree with someone from Gateshead, this.

bennett_346

cooldad wrote:

bennett_346 wrote:

I never use any of this gps crap. If you need pretty pictures and numbers to enjoy your rides i suggest you quit mountain biking and become a statistical analyst in your spare time, or failing that get yourself off a big gap and realise it isn't all about being fastest down a trail.

As much as it pains me to agree with someone from Gateshead, this.

Whey aye, that's rich coming from a Mackem. How are the south me bonny lad?

cooldad

Excellent since we sent Mike Ashley north.

bennett_346

There's a contentious issue.

YeehaaMcgee

97th choice wrote:

welshkev wrote:

I'm a recent strava convert too. And what I've found out is that 36.9kmh feels scary fast. How the top dh riders do 60+ is beyond me!!

Do you believe it? Just checked my endomondo history and my top speed was 43.6, on single track, I take that with a healthy pinch of salt.

What don't you believe, the speeds the guys get up to on DH courses? They're measured over speed traps, not using questionable GPS data.

The Beginner wrote:

Treat Strava as a bit of fun, that's fine.

Treat it as a real competition and you are sadly deluded.

The segments I take most seriously are those ridden almost exclusively by my club, I'm not the fastest and never will be but if I close a bit on the fastest riders then I know I'm improving,

Why not treat it as a competition? That's the entire premise of it.
Riding home from work and feeling good one evening, do you casually ride up that hill, or hammer it and try and beat your best time?
That's competition.

bennett_346

I'd always rather race against a mate i was out riding with than against a number on a screen set by someone i've never met and couldn't give a toss how fast they were.

We chase each other down trails and see who can keep up, like we did when we were 12. We entered proper XC races too in a local casual series on local techy trails, and there's nothing better than having 50 odd other racers beside you to overtake. Way more fun than DH too imo since its not time trial and you can overtake, but i'm getting ahead of myself here.

welshkev

97th choice wrote:

welshkev wrote:

I'm a recent strava convert too. And what I've found out is that 36.9kmh feels scary fast. How the top dh riders do 60+ is beyond me!!

Do you believe it? Just checked my endomondo history and my top speed was 43.6, on single track, I take that with a healthy pinch of salt.

Yeah I reckon it's fairly accurate as I was in the big ring and and 2 or 3 down on the rear. That'd mean I was peddling pretty quick - for me anyway

YeehaaMcgee

bennett_346 wrote:

I'd always rather race against a mate i was out riding with than against a number on a screen set by someone i've never met and couldn't give a toss how fast they were.

We chase each other down trails and see who can keep up, like we did when we were 12. We entered proper XC races too in a local casual series on local techy trails, and there's nothing better than having 50 odd other racers beside you to overtake. Way more fun than DH too imo since its not time trial and you can overtake, but i'm getting ahead of myself here.

Yeah, I do that too.
There's no reason you can't do both.

And besides, what's wrong with a Strava challenge along the lines of (me and CWNT have recently decided to try) "Try and climb 7,700 metres in 7 days"
It lets you turn even the rides when you're on your own into a childish competition.

welshkev

Feck me that's a lot of climbing!! Nice in

bennett_346

YeehaaMcgee wrote:

"Try and climb 7,700 metres in 7 days"

:shock: I think you have the advantage location wise

97th choice

YeehaaMcgee wrote:

97th choice wrote:

welshkev wrote:

I'm a recent strava convert too. And what I've found out is that 36.9kmh feels scary fast. How the top dh riders do 60+ is beyond me!!

Do you believe it? Just checked my endomondo history and my top speed was 43.6, on single track, I take that with a healthy pinch of salt.

What don't you believe, the speeds the guys get up to on DH courses? They're measured over speed traps, not using questionable GPS data.

The latter, that's why I referenced endomondo

YeehaaMcgee

welshkev wrote:

97th choice wrote:

welshkev wrote:

I'm a recent strava convert too. And what I've found out is that 36.9kmh feels scary fast. How the top dh riders do 60+ is beyond me!!...

I reckon it's fairly accurate as I was in the big ring and and 2 or 3 down on the rear. That'd mean I was peddling pretty quick - for me anyway

There's a video somewhere of a Gee Atherton practice run on fort William this year, and it's the craziest thing I've ever seen - it's just violently fast. Properly mental.

bennett_346 wrote:

YeehaaMcgee wrote:

"Try and climb 7,700 metres in 7 days"

:shock: I think you have the advantage location wise

There's more elevation gain here, but the climbs tend to be huge continuous ones, whereas CWNT has more gradual ones.
I mean, on a 64-mile roadie lap of pancake-flat Anglesey, for example, you'll climb more than 1000 metres. All those little hills along the way add up. And that can be an easier way to rack up altitude than four epic 2,000m climbs, where the distance covered is only about 12 miles per ride!

The latter, that's why I referenced endomondo

What is "the latter"? There doesn't appear to be a former, or latter.


EDIT:
Ah, hang on, it's only 7,235m in 7 days. My mistake.