ultrarider7

Boy am I hooked. I wish I would have signed up and used Strava from the get-go. It interacts with my Karoo and when I get home, automatically uploads my ride into my database. And I can look at maps of my rides and other people with their fly-over option. Anyone else hooked on Strava?

shelbyfv

Sure is flat there!

ultrarider7

Yup, home of 'Little House On The Prairie' haha!

Actually not as flat as by Chicago, but along the Mississippi River there isn't a lot of hills on the trail.

DrIsotope

If you haven't already, be sure to get the Elevate plug-in for Chrome, then if you really want to go overboard with stats, Veloviewer. Of course, be sure to check in to KOM Club every few days to find hidden Strava challenges, so you can fill up your Trophy Case.

MinnMan

There are some reasonably tough hills in W. St. Paul and IGH. You can challenge yourself on Ohio St. or going from the base of the High Bridge up to Annapolis. And of course, there is the hill on Ramsey where it meets Summit. And then there is Wisconsin....

ultrarider7

Those are some tough ones, no doubt! We have a cabin by Arkansaw, Wisconsin, and in both directions, there are tough hills. They call Pepin County 'bluff country' and it earns that title.

OldsCOOL

I have used Strava since the summer of ‘11. That’s 9 seasons so yeah, I guess I like it. In our cycling mecca smalltown area it rocks. The app encourages me ride stronger, faster or further depending on the route. Love the search/explore routes feature for new rides. I have set up my own routes as well.

jadocs

How do you like that Karoo? I've had my eye on it but can't convince myself that I need it above and beyond my Elemnt Bolt.

ultrarider7

So far I like it. I like the size of the screen and the ability to download maps for the states I'm interested in. Battery life seems good. But I've only had it for a short time, so I may not be the best one to speak about it.

jrhoneOC

Love Strava. I was just thinking yesterday how much you get for absolutely free. Found it because a few friends who are MT Bikers use it so I decided to give it a try. When I was look at bikes the Manager at Specialized also mentioned how much she loved it. So I downloaded it, and put it on my Apple Watch and its soooo simple yet gives me sooo much good information. It connects to all my other health Apps and all the data is shared with my Health app...Great integration. Love the flyby feature. It amazes me how many other Strava users I pass on the trails.

DougG

I find Strava terrifically motivating for putting on miles cycling and for my running performances. I opted for the Premium membership mainly because I can look at my times by age group; when you're over 70 you're not going to be anywhere near the overall KOMs, but have a chance of getting near the top of your age group.

Anyone else get their Trek t-shirt for their "Century Challenge"? I just remembered to pick it up last week. Not much of a challenge, either, since it was just to ride 100 miles in whatever month it was.

NomarsGirl

I enjoy it too. I'm seeing improvement in my riding - going longer AND faster. I do like the social aspect of it as well. I'm a member of a couple of "clubs" on Strava and can see how the others are doing. And I like the various challenges. Got my free Trek Century t-shirt, but ordered it in my husband's size and gave it to him. He rides a Trek and I have a Specialized. I never ride in t-shirts, but he always does. He didn't ride the 100 miles though.

I don't see myself getting QOM any time soon, but I hit PRs almost every time out so I know I'm getting better. And it helps me to keep track of my bike and components to know how many miles they have on them. My bike is new, so still have all original parts, but when I change something out, I can track (for example) the new tires or chain in addition to knowing how many miles the bike has overall.

shelbyfv

Yep! I posted this in another thread but I'll shamelessly post it again. The "Ten" is for 1000 miles which seems OK for a septuagenarian,
given the heat and humidity in July.

OldTryGuy

100 miles not much of a "challenge" when terrain is flat but wind makes things more interesting. Really nice part about cycling around here is that picking the best time and the best roads provides close to non-stop pedal action. Able to ride 100 miles with well under 1/4 mile of coasting.....

https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/4160954463

Was going to go out right now but bone on bone right knee is talking smack to me from last week's cruise ship speed walking and step climbing.

p.s.- haven't fixed the login yet to out wife's name

bpcyclist

I have resisted Strava for years. Not sure why. I don't have a computer. I just use my phone. Guess I may have to look into this some more.

shelbyfv

It works well via phone. Photos taken with your phone are easy to attach to the ride summary. The elevation profiles and totals are interesting. You can make your rides as public or private as you choose. Fun.

Machka 

One of our flattest rides ... from last weekend. These days we specifically look for flat rides.

Kabuki12

My daughter got me going on Strava a few years ago and I love it. I really don't need any type of motivation to get on my bike but I do like tracking my rides and comparing bikes on different routes . I only do the free version but will upgrade soon to Summit so my wife can keep an eye on where I am at with beacon. Joe joesvintageroadbikes.wordpress

Wolfhaven

I've used strava for a few years. The ability to join a group is nice. See what other locals are doing. What I have a problem with is some days it stops recording. Particularly at the start. Most of my rides are commutes so I'm riding the same route, same times of the day, using the same phone, stash it in the same tank bag, doing the same routine every day. I'll open the app, hit record and wait for it to connect to the satellites, then hit start, watch to make sure a couple seconds tick off so I know its working and I take off. Get to work and the first 1/2 mile to 2 1/4 miles aren't recorded. Was doing it to me last May and then it was good up until yesterday. It will show the correct start point and then a straight line to where it finally starts recording. Frustrating. I was just about to pull the trigger and start paying for Summit but if it's not going to work correctly, why pay? Considering switching to Ride with GPS.

BlazingPedals

I've used Strava for a few years. It's OK, I just wish it had some more powerful tools for viewing history and getting totals.

jadocs

Download the Wahoo Fitness app and pair all your sensors to it. Then link all your other accounts and it will auto upload to them (yes Strava is included). The Wahoo Fitness app will give you as much information as you have sensors for (Power, Cadence, Speed, HR). It's the same analysis provided as the Elemnt Bolt and the Elemnt App where ride history and analytics are viewed.

caloso

I've used Strava since 2010. I use it more socially than for data. I use Training Peaks for that.

TheDudeIsHere

I love Strava, used it since 2012. Paid the first 5 years but then figured they got theirs.

I love the fly by feature. Most riders I know who use Strava (ride partners) don't know about the fly by feature.

I love keeping track of my mileage and logging. Have for the last 23 years.

canklecat

Strava is terrific. Lots of great features in the freebie version.

Besides tracking my fitness, it's good as a social network minus the politics and hot button issues that plague Facebook and other outlets for those daily doses of micro-outrage that so many folks find addicting. Fortunately none of my Strava acquaintances -- remote or real-life friends -- abuse the platform. And it helps encourage me to work out and participate in more group rides.

I mostly use Wahoo Fitness to record my rides and walks, then transfer the data to Strava. I was already doing that before Strava discontinued support for Bluetooth and ANT+ devices. Friends and I have occasionally lost logs due to Strava glitches. But I've lost only one long in three years on Wahoo Fitness -- right after an update that glitched, which has since been fixed. Never any glitches with Cyclemeter, which I also transferred to Strava.

So if you plan to use any Bluetooth or ANT+ monitors for heart rate, etc., find another app now to record your rides and workouts, then set them to auto-upload to Strava after finishing a ride. It's quick and easy and prevents most glitches.

Occasionally I'll see a 0.5 mph difference between Wahoo Fitness and Strava logs, and minor differences in distance, but that's the nature of GPS sampling. It's all approximate, but still close enough to be considered accurate. I've compared with an on-bike wireless computer and the speed, distance, elapsed time, etc., are all very close.

k0guz

I agree with the others here; I've used Strava for about three years and really like it. I'm never going to get KOM, but occasionally make a personal best, and it does let me know when I need to step up the pace a little. I have a Garmin 510 GPS/Computer, and it feeds data into the Strava app via bluetooth, which then gives my wife an idea of where I am; it alleviates a lot of the "where are you" messages. At the end of the ride, both Garmin Connect and Strava are updated. Using the 510 to do the GPS reception also very substantially reduces the battery drain on my phone