tigat

I recently reactivated a long dormant Strava account, primarily to keep in touch with friends I haven't been able to ride with this year. I had stopped tracking on Map my Ride and Rouvy several years ago, not wanting to catalog the inevitable effects of growing older, but had never been part of the social scene on either. On Strava, I have been greatly enjoying seeing what my are friends are doing.


Back to the reason I stopped tracking.


I can't help but look at the segments when I'm done, and when I'm riding, knowing when then are coming, I push a bit harder. I've started riding to the device rather than the day. Without fail, at 63, that day is not where it was 10 years ago no matter how hard I push.


And forget the fact that you are compared to everyone else in the world. On a 1.5 mile segment of a well traveled route with 150 feet of climbing, I went full gas and averaged 27.7 mph with the help of a 10 mph tailwind. The top ten were all in the mid to low 40s, something I would not have deemed humanly possible at any age.


As painful as it sounds, I may just need to grow up some.

noglider 

Maybe they're not on pedal bicycles.

tigat

Wouldn't that be cheating?

Cyclist0108

Better handlebar tape?

DrIsotope

"By a certain point in the future, every single KOM on Strava will have been set in a paceline, with a tailwind." --the racer guy at my LBS.

On one of the stretches leading to my house, places 6-10 on the leaderboard are all ~29mph. Places 1-5, all 36mph. Set on the same day, in a paceline, with a +20mph tailwind.

That record will fall when a paceline with a tailwind catches a draft off of a gravel truck.

best just not to worry about it. Go to the enhanced view of the segment, and stick to "My Results." The only competition that matters.

noglider 

If they're trying to make people on pedal bikes feel weak, yes, they're cheating. But if they're not comparing their times or speeds with others', then it's not cheating. There's nothing wrong with recording an e-bike ride with Strava.

Wildwood 

What's Strava???

sounds Italian, but doesn't translate.
i think it colloquially/originally meant = Mt. Vesuvius/Etna regularly/repeatedly blowing - Strava - hot air and gas and stuff over the airwaves.

Todd NC

I'm 53, and I use Strava (hidden joke there). I glance at my segment times after my ride just to see if I set any PRs, but it doesn't really bother me if I don't, and I don't compare my times to other riders. I do look at my average speed over my routes to see if I've improved or gotten worse, and do compare my average speed with the small group that I ride with. For a while it was hard for me to go out and not try to beat my times and average speeds so I understand where you're coming from. Now, I've accepted that sometimes I want to go hard but sometimes I just want to ride like I did when I was a kid - exploring, stopping when I want to. I think I've learned to mesh all that together and not get stressed about it. As long as I'm not the slowest rider on my group rides I'm okay. I hope I can still ride at 63 - hats off to you.

Helderberg

What do you base this on and how do they cheat? Not challenging your statement just wondering how you know that and how it is done? I realize you can use your car or motorcycle but how would you cheat on a pedal bike?
Frank.

Random11

I'm not a Strava user for a reason similar to the OP. It's not that I'm concerned about comparing myself with other riders, but with my own past rides. If I'm not feeling 100%, there's a tendency not to ride, to avoid a slow ride compared to my earlier rides. I came to this realization decades ago, when I was running regularly and keeping track of my times on a six mile course. If I felt slow, I wouldn't want to run that day and have a slow time, so I quit tracking my times and just went out to enjoy the run. I started cycling because I had to give up running (knee problems) and went out with that same philosophy. Enjoy the ride, and avoid being competitive with my previous rides. Some days I ride faster than others, but I can't tell you how much faster because I'm not timing myself.

tyrion

That was failed attempt at humor. I'm going to delete that post.

AlgarveCycling

Strava attracts many cheats but it's to be expected really. Also accidental 'cheat' times - people leaving their Strava app running and then hopping into the car...

If there is a KOM I want to try for, I clean it up from the obvious cheaters by flagging their rides, you can generally tell from the data and comparing the cheats past performances. If unsure, flag, they will defend it if real. Never had anyone defend what I have flagged though. E-bikes? Providing an e-biker records the ride as an e-bike ride, which Strava accommodates, that is not cheating. If, like one person I know, the ride is recorded as a normal bike ride, it is cheating. This chap I'm aware of cheats even as an e-biker by having had it chipped to go up to 100km/h! He openly brags about it and his rides are frequently flagged.

As for weather conditions, drafting (other bikes), groups, pelotons, well, that's all part of cycling and I have zero problem with that and neither does Strava.

The truly hard KOM's from local Pro's and the Pro training camps that take place here annually - being a major European tourist destination - I have no chance, obviously, as well as the main routes groups etc ride. But there are loads of smaller roads and routes where KOM's are up for grabs to solo riders. Today I got 2 KOM's on a hill that is split into two segments; short 9% section and then on to average 7% with the total length counting a a separate segment. I was utterly wrecked getting them and the Elite young riders who held them will no doubt get them back soon. Such is competition. Yes, tons of cheaters but it is still fun and not all segments are tarnished by them.

OldsCOOL

Google “how to snipe a KOM”. That will help add perspective. #2..get the premium package and compare with others in your age group. When I do that, it suddenly puts things in proper perspective.

rutan74

Strava at best is a Wild West show. You know, the fastest gun in the West. The old axiom still holds true, "there is always someone faster" as the old gunslinger said.

Given that I am old and slow now, it really does not matter to me. Never did as I know there is no way I am even remotely close to many of KOM's in the area where I ride. Now, I do like to look at my age group times to see where I fit in. Not that I lose any sleep over it, but it just puts my level of fitness into perspective.

Overall, at 64, I am just happy I can ride and ride pain free. I see a lot of folks a LOT younger than me that cannot walk around the block. So, I thank my lucky stars that I can still ride even though it is a lot slower than I'd like to go.

Strava is just a tool. Use it wisely and it can be something good. I am always amazed looking at my times from a couple of years ago compared to now. It shows progress even though I am still slow as a turtle.

john

DrIsotope

The new Local Legend... perk? feature? Whatever it is, it's pretty cool. No high speed or big watts required, just be the person to have covered a given segment the greatest number of times in a rolling 90-day window.

As I ride a variation of the same 50km route at least once a week, I've scraped together a big ol' pile of 'em.

JanMM

On a couple of segments I use for high intensity intervals, I purposely aimed for personal records on days with tailwinds guaranteed - and succeeded, of course. Those PRs are more of a challenge now. And not a problem for anyone else, as both segments show lots and lots of riders faster than me. (Maybe those were all with e-bikes on tailwindy days. )

probe1957

Okay I give up. WTF does KOM stand for?

BlazingPedals

One of my KOMs was made last spring when I wasn't even in shape. Someone created the segment and by virtue of my normal riding I was instantly the KOM. Someone has since beat me by 1 second (ONE SECOND, REALLY???) but I'm not planning on going out of my way to defend it.

fastcarbon

After age 70 it is no longer "cheating" but "trickery" fair and square!

bruce19

I'm going to start doing segments on my Ducati.

Wes in Missouri

King of the Mountain

GAtkins

Two magnets.

rowerek

On my local Strava segments, the fastest runners are the bikers (1 mile under 3 min, really?) , and the fastest bikers are the drivers. (40 mph in 35 mph zone?)
Sometimes it is easy to distinguish fake records, but Strava is not correcting this nor are the users. So I am not easily impressed by KOM's and QOM's records.

Recently after segments were moved behind the paywall i do not see this and do not have to worry about this stuff anymore. There are however still those pesky personal best/records data for 1mile, 5k, half marathon runs that make me scratch my head. If I want to figure out how good a fellow runner, biker or swimmer really is, I do a quick average of "last four weeks" or annual mileage/time, this data is hard to fake.

Retro Grouch 

That's bike computers for you. Everybody wants to know how far and how fast they've ridden but that knowledge comes at a price. The price is a tendency to compare every ride to how far and fast you went yesterday. Therein lives the seed of dissatisfaction.

The Zen alternative is to forget the computer try to mindfully enjoy every day's ride for what it is.