fly:yes/land:no

there are lots of cool features about strava. the connecting ability, the training comparison, etc. are awesome. but there are some patterns that are becoming increasingly obvious as a few of the local riders jockey to acquire every kom possible.

obnoxious gaming the system list

1) averaging 16 mph on a ride and only getting above 15 mph to attack a mile of rollers kom at 27 mph and then shutting back down. as an experiment, i created a segment with a completely arbitrary beginning and endpoint over flat ground. when i created it, there were several dozen people who had ridden that segment it with the max at ~20 mph. three months later, there are 3 guys over 26 mph. wonder what happened?

2) 30 mph winds out of the east? you bet the strava dudes are going to be out in force going for every kom with a tailwind.

3) running stop signs at the foot of a climb to preserve as much speed as possible. there is a segment in my neck of the woods with a 4 way stop at the bottom. kom chart shows initial speed at 26 mph. okay.

i don't know, i guess my issue is that i always envisioned strava as a tool for training and socializing, not as the big d*** contest that it seems to be becoming.

oh, and a brief preemptive self-critique:

AbsoluteZ3RO

I could see this being frustrating if you actually care about being KOM. I do not, therefore I don't care about the gaming. I also don't care much for segments. I do like to compare long routes or large portions of routes to my friends, but they are usually well over 5 miles. I mean who cares if someone sprints over 1 mile faster. Most of the short segments I see are a joke and prove little.

TMonk

Olympic medals are given to people who ride bikes for distances as short as 1km.

They're still impressive feats.

cinemattic

i just use strava for myself. i know i'll never be "da bess" at climbs and segments, but seeing a PR pop up on my phone after a long ride is good enough for me. and hell, if i get up into the top ten that's cool, whatever. but it's all about the PR for me and going further and faster.

TMonk

and for the record i also could careless about strava; i dont even ride w a cyclocomputer.

stopwatch and a HRM on solo rides

Andy Somnifac 

A site that keeps track of who's fastest has people gaming the system? You don't say? I bet that's never happened in the history of the interwebs.

benlees

Strava is what it is. There are lots of KOM's on my rides where more than a tailwind might have been at play. All in good fun. Stick to the PR's and you're gold.

Bacciagalupe

"Getting?"

Strava obviously has no way to police segments or user behavior, so it can't stop people from motorpacing or, for lack of a better term, cheating. (And yes, people will cheat, even if there is absolutely no real reward.)

I suggest you just ignore the Full Leaderboard, in fact the system helps you do so:

Go to settings
Display preferences
"Default Leaderboard View" -- change to "I'm Following"

Volia, no more need to worry about anyone else's results unless they're on your Follow list.

fly:yes/land:no

i bet this is the first time someone has missed the point of a post on the interwebs.

look, i get it, it was bound to happen. i guess i am just bummed that it is happening to a site with so much potential and traction among cyclists.

fly:yes/land:no

lol. yeah, i know. i remember a little over a year ago, there were guys doing team time trials on backbay rd. in socal (a shared road/mup with lots of ped traffic), and i got my first taste of the lameness that might ensue. a few months later, i moved back to the midwest, and with fewer cyclists and segments, things seemed to be back to 'normal'. but now, even here, the one up manship has rendered the leaderboards for most segments subject to lots of gaming.

Gluteus

It's a bit more interesting when you know the guys "competing" for KOM, and it's a segment without a lot of factors like stops sign/traffic lights, etc.
I still find it fun, but I can see the point of the OP.

Vaio_s

Cyclists are still people. I like Bacciagalupe's suggestion of changing your default leaderboard view to "I'm Following" if these cheaters really bother you.

TMonk

^
agreed

telkanuru

Is it just me, or is this a thread about how the OP can't KoM any segments?

Ancient Mariner

It's just you. ;-)

rruff

Strava segments are all about dick swinging... what other function could they serve?

Let me see... you have a problem with people actually going as hard as they can on a segment. You'd prefer that everyone's segment time represent how fast they happened to be going while out on a ride. Doesn't it seem kinda stupid to even have a segment and KOM "awards" if that was the case? Seems obvious that anyone who cares about their segment time will try to go as fast on it as they can. And yes, tailwinds are helpful.

Only "running stop signs" is a really dick move... just flag those segments as dangerous and Strava will remove them.

fly:yes/land:no

i actually do have several. i also have several wins in actual races. not sure how that increases or decreases the merits of my claims in the first post, though.

max power

i have personal segments that i've never been able to better (despite increasing fitness) because they were done with an epic tailwind

Yaniel

Instead of getting bitter, join in on the fun. Instead of taking it so seriously, go KOM hunting when you have a tailwind. Or team up with some buddies to take a flat land KOM.

hhnngg1

It totally depends on where you live.

I used to be able to KOM some small road segments barely even considered climbs in Norcal South Bay, but now Strava's so popular that I can't even get those.

All of the real climbs, even the short ones, are KOM'd by pro-level riders. Their times are insane, and a lot of them have their real names attached to them so you can google them and see how good they are (national-level riders). I won't be KOM'd any route around here, ever.

Old La Honda road is a good one around here. The leader does it in a ridiculous sub 15 minute time, I think. Insane.

Terex

Strava is a toy. Have fun with it. Hurricane Sandy? 70 mph winds out of the east? I can't imagine anyone who would go out in those conditions.

Aaron_F

As a short-distance sprinter and hill climber, I often just race the segments, then spend a little time recovering. Nothing wrong with that if that's how you ride.

As for racing a segment just because it exists, I think I'd pass if there wasn't something unique about it, such as an incline, or from one town line to the next. If it's just an arbitrary section of flat road, then who cares?

In my town, there are a few guys who constantly battle for KOM, and I'm one of them. To me, it's not so much about being in first place, as it is about getting faster, especially on climbs. If, in June, the best I can do is 1:10, and then some guy a month later gets a 1:03, I'm bound to go back and try to beat his time, just to see if I've improved over the weeks. Sometimes I do, sometimes I don't. either way, it gives me something to do during my ride, other than just sit, pedal, and smell car fumes.

The important thing is to remember it's just a fun way to improve and compete. It's not to be taken seriously--due to wind, drafting, bike type, temperature, barometric pressure--so just enjoy it for what it is. Really, the only way you're going to know how fast you are compared to others, is to compete head-to-head in a sanctioned race. I can tie or destroy most of the sprinting and hill climb KOMs of one of the fastest racers in my area, but when we both participated in the same 100mi+ race, he finished about 2 hours ahead of me. So, don't fool yourselves, kids.

mprelaw

You're not suggesting that people would actually DRIVE a segment at a realistic speed just to get a KOM, are you?

Andy Somnifac 

Sarcasm IS the point of the interwebs.

Aaron_F

I'm sure there are trolls who do this, but I'm sure their fun would wear off in a short time. As a result, their town would end up with the fastest riders in the world, since they'd end up putting out the effort to beat unrealistic times.