Random things about Strava

[Tricia]

I have not been very good at using Strava.
With the new bike having a remote without a screen I'm finding that I'm using it more and more, and I'm learning things.

If anyone has a tip or trick to share I'd be happy to glean from your experience.

A few things I've learned lately.

• I need to update my gear as I switch things up (hiking shoes, bikes, etc)
• I need to switch my ride type to e-bike instead of bike. *somoene flagged my ride TWICE because I finished my ride but it took me a bit to add the description and change the ride type.* Who does that???
• My rides from home have a false high speed because of the 1/4 mile down hill on the street coming home. My rides from trailheads have a real (sloooooowwww) highest speed)
• I am getting faster with this new bike that fits me better, but all of my Strava friends are much faster.

 

[scott43]

I dunno about high speed. Is what it is.. My high speed is something like 85kmh...it was a 1km downhill..what can you do??

I take Strava with a grain of salt. I mean...I'm not a hero. I use it for fun and a little bit of comparison from one ride to the next. But really...I'm so out of shape..let's be serious here...

 

[cantunamunch]

• need to switch my ride type to e-bike instead of bike. *somoene flagged my ride TWICE because I finished my ride but it took me a bit to add the description and change the ride type.* Who does that???

Hah. It might be a person but it doesn't have to be. Strava have plenty of data to build several dozen NN algorithms and flag rides independently of the community. Remember when throwing your GPS over the finish line was a thing? Yeh, they auto-flag those too now.

Back to e-bikes, do you know the classic elementary school physics experiment of two billiard balls, one on a V track and one on a flat? The one on the V-track gets to the end point faster.

Well that doesn't happen with most human cyclists on non-pro rides, especially not with upright MTBs because aero drag is too high compared to the engine (human).

It's a lot closer to happening on e-bikes than on all-leg bikes and Strava know that and can flag it. Put another way, an e-bike on a \_/ segment looks a lot more aero than even a triathlon bike - and it's obvious when that happens.

If it is a person, it's guaranteed to be a subscriber (they are the only ones who see segment leaderboards) - and if Reno is anything like around here, they probably invested several 12-week training cycles to achieving that place on that leaderboard. Heck, on the more popular segments it takes *years* of training to move up. Anything disrupting that order, especially from a newcomer, is doping either chemically or electrically.

 

[Tricia]

I dunno about high speed. Is what it is.. My high speed is something like 85kmh...it was a 1km downhill..what can you do??

I take Strava with a grain of salt. I mean...I'm not a hero. I use it for fun and a little bit of comparison from one ride to the next. But really...I'm so out of shape..let's be serious here...

I'm not a Strava junkie at all, but I'm getting into the use of it for tracking my rides and fitness goals.
What's the name they call those people that are addicted and competitive on Strava...? Yeah, I'm not one of those.

 

[Jwrags]

I use Strava like Facebook, for keeping track of what my cycling friends are doing. I also use it to track my mileage. I do not track segments or get caught up in any particulars. If a I get a PR it is done organically and not because I am actually trying. I can only think of 1 or 2 times in the last 4 years where I intentionally tried to get a PR on a particular segment, a hill climb. I could not care less about KOMs, maybe because I know I will never get them

 

[cantunamunch]

I use Strava like Facebook, for keeping track of what my cycling friends are doing. I also use it to track my mileage. I do not track segments or get caught up in any particulars. If a I get a PR it is done organically and not because I am actually trying. I can only think of 1 or 2 times in the last 4 years where I intentionally tried to get a PR on a particular segment, a hill climb.

Here's a thing: try to figure out how far from home you get PRs and 2nd or 3rd medals. The further away from home those occur, the better shape you're in.

The other thing to do, especially on longer rides, is to avoid medal level efforts within the first 90 minutes. So that's an hour and a half of telling yourself "Softly softly softly - Piano, Piano, Piano!" - don't burn your matches early.

Medal level efforts 2hours+ after start are where metabolic fitness (and quality nutrition) really shows.

 

[luliski]

One thing I really enjoy about Strava is living vicariously by looking at my friends’ rides when I’m injured (like now) or working on a weekend. Sometimes if I’m not familiar with an area someone rode in, I’ll click on the map and scroll around to see the trails or roads. When I ride or hike in areas away from home, I’ll look back at my maps to see what other trails or landmarks are nearby.

Back when I first started using Strava, hardly any women in my area were on there, so I actually did have some QOMs on the bike and course records for running back then. No longer. I hardly ever even see trophies now.

I had a ride flagged when I left my Garmin on in the car driving back from a ride. It’s easy to crop those out. I often look at Strava on my laptop, and I find it’s easier to edit that way.

 

[scott43]

One thing I don't like about Strava...seeing that I'm 296 out of 500 people on a climb....

 

[cantunamunch]

seeing that I'm 296 out of 500 people on a climb....

Hey, that's pretty good.

 

[scott43]

Hey, that's pretty good.

This is why we're friends.

 

[Tom K.]

One thing I don't like about Strava...seeing that I'm 296 out of 500 people on a climb....

I kicked over 200 people's a$$!

 

[Lauren]

What's the name they call those people that are addicted and competitive on Strava...? Yeah, I'm not one of those.

I've heard Stravidiots and Stravassholes.

If anyone has a tip or trick to share I'd be happy to glean from your experience.

Don't become one ^^^

If you are competitive by nature (like me), it can be tough to not get caught up in the records...even if it's not necessarily against other people, it can be against yourself and striving for a PR. Nothing wrong with doing it occasionally, it's good to have concrete goals to work towards. But don't let it affect the "for fun" rides.

I've learned to strive for your PRs when you're by yourself or with someone else that has a common goal. A few seasons ago, I got a bit too hung up on trying to better my times almost every time I rode. It made group rides less fun, because I would start to feel a bit annoyed by not going as fast as I was capable of. So for some time I stopped recording group rides...this gave me what I needed to reset.

 

[Philpug]

I was looking at mine and it shows my rides as an Activity, not Ride. I cannot find where and why.

 

[cantunamunch]

I was looking at mine and it shows my rides as an Activity, not Ride. I cannot find where and why.

Your rides clearly show the ebike logo and you're using the iPhone app - I'll bet it just remembers the previous activity type and just continues using that setting.

 

[Primoz]

One thing I don't like about Strava...seeing that I'm 296 out of 500 people on a climb....

Back in days, where you could still see full leader board for segments, I was somewhere around place 2000 out of god knows how many 10.000 on Mt. Ventoux (but I went up with mtb ), so 296 is not that bad
As for flagging goes, yes I did that in past, where most of people were still riding bikes. Now it's useless to bother anymore, as most of top 100 on more popular segments should actually have names of motors not riders, so you could at least see if Bosch is better then Shimano or Yamaha Especially on MTB it's pretty easy to see that, when there's segment on course of some big mtb race and World's top mtb guys are placed around 30 or 40 and several minutes behind some overweight couch potato with seat 10cm to low (yeah from this what I see that's typical ebike rider)
But honestly, I didn't feel bad at all when I flagged those rides. If someone is already fooling themself they are riding bike (with 500+W motor), then at least have so much decency to change activity to proper ones (or skip Strava completely as I have no idea why to even bother with Strava if you don't bother pedaling), not to pretend they are so good they can keep up (and beat the hell out of them) with pro riders.
In case someoe has urge to tell me how wrong I am, don't bother. I know, I'm totally wrong about mopeds, but just in case if not noticeable, I don't really think mopeds are greatest thing ever invented in cycling. For 80 years old people sure, for everyone else, not even close. But then again, feel free to ride a "bike" with two pro riders in your motor "support".

 

[Mike Thomas]

I was looking at mine and it shows my rides as an Activity, not Ride. I cannot find where and why.

Hahahahaha... you- "While there can be that release of endorphins that can add to the enjoyment from time to time..at least for me, it is not required to have a good time." I think Strava has you figured out.

 

[Tom K.]

@Primoz, let's not turn this into an e-bike thread. It's about Strava, which I believe to be the devil. Everybody else must be wrong!

 

[Philpug]

Hahahahaha... you- "While there can be that release of endorphins that can add to the enjoyment from time to time..at least for me, it is not required to have a good time." I think Strava has you figured out.

I was waiting for that.

 

[Mike Thomas]

I was waiting for that.

I try not to disappoint. I mean, I do all the time, but I try not to.

 

[Rudi Riet]

Your rides clearly show the ebike logo and you're using the iPhone app - I'll bet it just remembers the previous activity type and just continues using that setting.

Exactly. @Philpug, have you considered switching to a GPS bike computer instead of using the smartphone app? Aside from many of the benefits (namely battery optimization for the GPS unit, as well as better mapping and routing on the newest models, more accurate tracking due to multiple satellite system use, etc.), it will always make your ride a "Ride" and not just an "Activity."

Given it's [REDACTED] Prime Day, there are some deals to be found on some Garmin GPS bike computers and watches, and new models from Wahoo and Hammerhead are simply gorgeous. That said: Garmin and Hammerhead have great integration with TrailForks, which is the big kahuna of MTB routing and navigation.