Strava cheats.

[wingguy]

Are you seriously lamenting that someone has an opinion about Strava and arguing that their opinion is dumb and that your opinion is better?

Nope, that's exactly not what I'm doing. You can tell because of the bit where I said it's great to like Strava or not like Strava, at least I thought that was pretty clear. I'm just saying be nice instead of judgmental.

[wingguy]

I agree. I do not care if you just rode 100 km's. I don't get it. 20% of the facebook entries I see are now automatically entered messages that someone I know has just completed a ride or run. Why do you think that is interesting to me?

Handy hint for Facebook: just opt out of seeing posts from Strava. It's much easier and far less stressful to filter your own Facebook feed than it is to convince all your friends to only post stuff you want to see.

[kbbpll]

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, 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.

[nathanong87]

I didn't see it mentioned here, so I'll point out that a KOM chaser recently killed somebody in SF

that's why segments through busy intersections are idiotic.

[justkeepedaling]

Going through red lights? Dumbest thing ever. I don't do any downhill bombing with intersections. The one downhill segment I go for has no residential houses on the sides, no intersections, and no pedestrians. Even then, it's not a particularly steep descent and it's very short.

[SLCBrandon]

I guess I don't fully get Strava. There's no way to account for wind changes to give a "weighted" time?

There's a little climb that I can literally vary as much as ~40secs on a 4:30ish effort but my wattage is actually lower on my personal best because I had a huge tailwind. At that point don't you feel sorta douchey being "that guy"?

The whole concept seems odd to me but people love it. Go figure.

[Tinea Pedis]

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".

This sums it up for me perfectly.

I was on it before it 'hit' - the good old days, do 150km ride and only go through 5 segments. Which were terrific to plot progress, as they would all be climbs of varying lengths. It's a little out of control now, but hey that's just the way things go.

Still use it for my training on the TT rig and uphill power tests, the rest is by-the-by now. Aside from winding people up of course but even that has started to lose its appeal.

[kervelo]

Is it possible to cheat on a training ride?

Yes, of course. If you are doing your training ride as part of a group, you are cheating.

The real training rides are always done solo.

[LocoDuck]

I was on it before it 'hit' - the good old days, do 150km ride and only go through 5 segments. Which were terrific to plot progress, as they would all be climbs of varying lengths. It's a little out of control now, but hey that's just the way things go.

Still use it for my training on the TT rig and uphill power tests, the rest is by-the-by now. Aside from winding people up of course but even that has started to lose its appeal.

This. Too many segments nowadays with too many wind assisted KOMs mean many aren't worth trying for unless you have a hurricane pushing you along.
I still use it but only to record my personal ride data and to see how old friends are getting on.

[Tinea Pedis]

I maintain, chasing wind assisted, bunch ride and motopace segment times on the TT rig is great training.

It's a time trial any day you like!

[mdcreed81]

This guy did not cheat http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EFd7Raxp ... nomobile=1

[HillRPete]

do 150km ride and only go through 5 segments.

Thankfully it's still like this here. On the change, though.

[mattr]

There are only ~50 segments within 40 km of me (on and off road). Most of the road ones I know the guy who set them. In theory, I reckon I could have an entire set of KoMs by lunch time tomorrow. (32kph average over 4k would be typical, )

The MTB ones might be a bit trickier.

(All totally irrelevant as I have no interest in using STRAVAAAAAAAA!!)

[WMW]

But I would say drafting dump trucks, running lights and/or stop signs starts to border on significant safety concerns. Part of the problem in my area is that people like to make segments on flat roads that are busy. And often across busy roads.

Flag segments that are dangerous... they will get removed. Same for obvious cheats.

Plus, hide any and all segments that are stupid or you just don't want to know about. It's super easy, and this allegedly is like "voting" in Strava. Segments that have a lot of "hides" will only get shown if you really zoom in.

I like Strava and just don't get very worked up about it. I like going for PRs or KOMs if I'm in the mood, and it isn't winter. I like that it maps the ride, and tracks my time on other segments too. If someone is cheating, then I'm just "competing" against myself and the people I know.

[Rick]

One thing about Strava that is interesting: I happen to live near some of the climbs on the Tour of Utah route and ride them myself frequently. Many of the KOM's and other top times on those routes were set during the Tour of Utah by well-known riders. So I know what the conditions were and I know they weren't cheating....although some were in a pack. But I garauntee you that drafting is not a big effect going up some of those climbs! It is also an interesting general rule that the top times are always almost exactly 50% of my best times. It is just an interesting data point that lets you know what humans really can do.