Epic strava whining

[petepeterson]

I follow Ben King on Strava. Check out the 'comments' from this ride. Pretty pathetic if you ask me.
http://app.strava.com/activities/70538950

I think strava is cool but I am focused on comparing my own progression on it. Racing entries and races are in decline in my neck of the woods. Is strava providing enough 'competition' for some to stay away from real bike racing?

[Tinea Pedis]

You could argue either way re: motor pacing segments. Strava 'says' they are not meant to be allowed. I don't get in to too much of a twist.

And anyway, I just see it as a carrot to chase. Nothing like using a decent wind and my TT intervals to rip up motor pace or bunch ride times. Did it yesterday in fact

[deek]

I'm actually surprised at how reasonable all the responses were. As for me, I'm totally okay with Pros populating the KOM lists but I kind of think that motor pacing is crossing the line.

[hna]

Real racing > Strava.

The riders who aren't that successful in proper racing is in my experience the ones that make a lot of fuss over Strava KOMs. For me Strava is a way to share my rides and see what my friends are up to. I may occasionally attempt to snipe a segment, but only if my training schedule allows it, which is rare since KOM attempts on Strava is a great way to ruin training quality.

Regarding motorpacing: While it isn't meant to be allowed on Strava, I think it is somewhat OK. There isn't a huge difference from riding in a race or a group ride. And I like seeing the kind of rides the pros are doing, whether they are races, intervals or moto paced.

[djconnel]

I agree Strava shouldn't be taken seriously, but there's a clear distinction between motorpacing and pack riding: the vast majority of cycling events allow pack riding but I can't think of any which allow motorpacing.

Cycling's a team sport, but all members of that team need to be human-powered.

[stella-azzurra]

http://cyclingtips.com.au/2011/11/borde ... -was-king/

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/gilbert ... -criterium

[Tenlegs]

Alex Dowsett flags his own motorpaced rides.
http://app.strava.com/activities/68435303

[Tapeworm]

I just find the whole notion of people getting upset over Strava times totally and utterly hilarious. It's not real, it's a facsimile of competition, an illusion for those who think they are "winning" something without the realities of proper racing starkly bringing into light their somewhat futile ambitions... as aptly demonstrated by many a pro on a casual training ride.

I can see Strava being good for a defacto training log, bit of fun perhaps between friends. Anything else is delusional.

[Tenlegs]

No it's not real and not accurate, I've ridden with two different devices, some of the segment times were quite out.

[Leviathan]

Always easier to win a race when the other "participants" dont know they are racing.

[djm]

I find Strava to be great fun and will sometimes schedule my workouts to match segments and try to improve my standing or take the lead if the conditions and plan for that training session allow

As for motorpace? I did an 80 km motorpace session a couple of months back with a 50 km/h average. If I didn't hide that ride I'd f*ck up the leaderboards of a number of segments forever, or until someone else came along motorpacing. Of course I made the ride private and took it off the leaderboards. Anything else would've been plain stupid. Strava is about cycling, not motorpacing.

[cazone]

I just find the whole notion of people getting upset over Strava times totally and utterly hilarious. It's not real, it's a facsimile of competition, an illusion for those who think they are "winning" something without the realities of proper racing starkly bringing into light their somewhat futile ambitions... as aptly demonstrated by many a pro on a casual training ride.

I can see Strava being good for a defacto training log, bit of fun perhaps between friends. Anything else is delusional.

héhéhé. You are so right.

And then there are those selfdeclared justicemen who flag rides because the think they where not plausible (like one of Jérémy Roys TdF rides ....
Yeah, sure, going at 45km/h for 200km might not be possible from their fat ass pov).

I realy like strava. but think it's gonna implode quite soon. Too much segments, too much flagging, too much bs.

[Rodrego Hernandez]

I just find the whole notion of people getting upset over Strava times totally and utterly hilarious. It's not real, it's a facsimile of competition, an illusion for those who think they are "winning" something without the realities of proper racing starkly bringing into light their somewhat futile ambitions... as aptly demonstrated by many a pro on a casual training ride.

I can see Strava being good for a defacto training log, bit of fun perhaps between friends. Anything else is delusional.

héhéhé. You are so right.

And then there are those selfdeclared justicemen who flag rides because the think they where not plausible (like one of Jérémy Roys TdF rides ....
Yeah, sure, going at 45km/h for 200km might not be possible from their fat ass pov).

I realy like strava. but think it's gonna implode quite soon. Too much segments, too much flagging, too much bs.

Agree with that. I read last week a similar thread where some dick flags any rides done by pros or from what I could gather, any rides done by people faster than him.

The sooner Strava have a clear out of segments and twats using it, the better.

[Leviathan]

I also find the fact that there are multiple, short, segments on a ride really annoying - fe I did a 100kms ride containing what for me were four, max five climbs, and there are 31 segments (excluding hidden ones)

[MattSoutherden]

Ha! On my 20k commute home yesterday I went through over 35 segments. 20 were less than 1k, none over 2k. People in London will create segments like "My front gate to next door's gate". Complete madness. I hide them all.

EDIT:

Re. the original topic. I agree with the commenter regarding motorpacing. But really he should get over it. Strava is completely worthless for any 'real' comparison as it's so easy to cheat.