Strava cheats.

[mellowJohnny]

mellowJohnny,
Can you provide a link for that segment?

Sure - here it is: http://www.strava.com/segments/735021

Since I first posted my skepticism I tried hammering it at the end of a ride recently and got 3rd, three seconds off the KOM. So I appreciated the "you need to train more" comments. I am skeptical no longer.

[HammerTime2]

There is a 300m "climb" @ 8% right by my house. The KOM time is 0:31 at 37.2 km/h, 685w. Sound a bit suspicious to anyone?

Yeah. The suspicious part is that it is not really 8.4% (maybe the last 1/2 or so is), and has a stated average of 5.4% per Strava.

[mellowJohnny]

Pickin' on me tonight, eh?

[nathanong87]

There is a 300m "climb" @ 8% right by my house. The KOM time is 0:31 at 37.2 km/h, 685w. Sound a bit suspicious to anyone?

Yeah. The suspicious part is that it is not really 8.4% (maybe the last 1/2 or so is), and has a stated average of 5.4% per Strava.

No. You just should train more.
685 W during 31 seconds is certainly doable.

[kbbpll]

Maybe this guy was chasing a sidewalk KOM
http://www.news.com.au/entertainment/ce ... 6718145084

[erty65]

I didn't see it mentioned here, so I'll point out that a KOM chaser recently killed somebody in SF, http://road.cc/content/news/89218-us-cy ... capes-jail" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;, and another guy's family tried to sue Strava because he died while bombing downhill trying to KOM.
I guess I prefer cheating/doping over people getting killed. I was done with Strava in less than a day. I didn't find it particularly useful to track my own rides versus other sites that do it better, and the "segments" on my usual rides were silly.

People cheat on Strava. Locally I know of a few riders who will draft a dump truck or bus to get the fastest segment time. I have also seen rides posted that look suspiciously like they were done on a moped. And I'm pretty sure I've spotted a few digitalepo enhanced rides as well. It's called life, people are always going to cheat! I have raced against more than a few guys over the years who were doping, I've raced against guys who've been dropped on a circuit and cut the course and re-joined the pack to contest the finish, I've raced against guys who have been dropped in crits and taken a "mechanical" free lap too. All cheaters, and they would probably all "cheat" on Strava as well.

I'm slowly rehabbing from my early Strava addiction. I started using it in May 2012 and I was hooked. As a retired former cat 1 racer it was kind of fun to make riding into "racing" again, even though I am WELL AWARE what real racing is after doing it for 20 years. There were a few other strong guys using it locally and were having fun taking KOMs from each other all summer long last year. But this year things have soured for me. Firstly, I do see guys cheating as described above. There are more users in my area on Strava, so there are more group rides. Some group rides have become Strava takedown missions - the group's average speed for the ride is under 30 km/h but they hammer every flat segment in an effort to get the KOM. I can't imagine a more stupid group ride. I ride with mostly ex-racers and we ride nice and steady 2-up, and I never ever go looking for a KOM on a group ride and the guys I ride with would probably punch me if I did. Secondly, I have started to realize that Strava can be very detrimental to one's happiness if he is uber-competitive. I had some rides earlier this year where I was choosing my route based on wind conditions. I found myself finishing rides and not thinking about how much I enjoyed riding, but rushing my Garmin to the Mac to upload my data. Sheesh. So in the past 3 months I have started to rehab, I still use Strava because I like its interface and I like to compare my data to my previous data, but I have let go of the targeted KOM chasing and KOM defending. "My name is Joe and today is my 74th day without stressing about a Strava KOM".

I also noticed a guy with a Velomobiel holding some KOM's

King Of Mountain?

[asphaltdude]

King Of Mountain?

Okay, King Of Polder

[erty65]

King Of Mountain?

Okay, King Of Polder

???

[asphaltdude]

???

I live in a (mostly) pancake flat country, with lots of flat polder roads.
So most Strava segments here are flat as well.

So KOMs here are mainly about drafting, tailwinds or aerodynamics, not about W/kg while going uphill.

[petepeterson]

Don't forget skinsuits and tubulars

[AGW]

More annoying (to me) than the cheats are the clueless weekenders training for some rinky dink charity ride who forget to save their data before getting in the car, thus setting KOMs the whole way home. There's a complete dolt of a woman in my area who recently blew up all of the leader boards not just as QOM but as leader overall. She was clearly exceeding the posted speed limit for many of the segments as well.

Strava racing is for losers and all, blah blah blah, but it's nice to vie for bragging rights among friends when schedules conflict and you're all forced to ride solo for a while.

[Powerful Pete]

@AGW, I think that kind of thing is kind of funny!

[AGW]

I agree, it's funny. Funnier still is when you look at the route they rode, then realize that the drive home was shorter than their ride.

[ultyguy]

I see both the + and - of it. For me, theres only like 5 kom's that I actually care about, and they're hard and long enough that no one could cheat their way to any result on them. On the + side, it's great to have a number to go after once a month or so to see where you really are. Also, it's interesting to learn what pacing strategies work best for you when it comes to climbing (negative splits, U, even effort).

Flat 'KOMs' don't count in my book, but I live in a very hilly place

[de zwarten]

The flat KOMs are getting hard to get over here. Wind plays a huge role, and so do the motorpacing amateur/pro riders on training.
The hills are all taken by either Luca T. (Niki Terpstra), Greg Van Avermaet or another (semi-)pro.
The only thing left for me are cobblestones, as long as they haven't appeared in a race.