Strava-hole

[robertjuric]

So I'm trying to avoid doing this. I live relatively close to a few Strava segments (<15 miles), some of which I'm in the Top 5 or so. I'd like to go attack for the KOM, but I noticed that the current KOM holds the title on longer rides (some 80+ miles). I never ride that far, would I be a strava-hole if I got out to attack a KOM on a 20-30 mile ride? I've noticed another ride beating my position on short 15 mile rides and I know it made me mad. What' the minimum ride distance to be fair to KOMs?

Just looking for some opinions as I'm trying to avoid being a Strava-hole.

 

[Volnix]

I suspect that some of the Strava records are made with motor vehicles...

 

[alienator]

I don't think that really matters. There are no doubt a great number of folks who will ride a particular segment just to get the KOM. There's certainly no requirement to ride a certain number of miles before attempting a segment. How do you know that those other people are giving true data? There are many means by which you can cheat at Strava, and here's one: http://digitalepo.com/ IMHO, if you really want to race, get a racing license and go do actual races. For me Strava is a way to share ride data with a couple of friend far away and an easy way to compare similar rides and track improvement, understanding that Strava comparisons don't take into account the many things that can influence a given ride.

 

[maydog]

You don't need fancy websites to fake data, notepad will suffice.

Strava's entertainment value is based on the honor system. As long as your are posting honest efforts - you can avoid being a strava-hole.

The KOMs on segments are not always the strongest riders, many KOMs are set on windy days others are set by guys at the back of the pack. Many times they are set by people just having a good ride, unaware than a segment even exists.

 

[alienator]

You don't need fancy websites to fake data, notepad will suffice. Strava's entertainment value is based on the honor system. As long as your are posting honest efforts - you can avoid being a strava-hole. The KOMs on segments are not always the strongest riders, many KOMs are set on windy days others are set by guys at the back of the pack. Many times they are set by people just having a good ride, unaware than a segment even exists.

Yup.

 

[steve]

Originally Posted by maydog .

The KOMs on segments are not always the strongest riders, many KOMs are set on windy days others are set by guys at the back of the pack. Many times they are set by people just having a good ride, unaware than a segment even exists.

Also in races!

 

[CAMPYBOB]

So someone is faster. No big deal. As far as minimum sniping distance for KOM's? There is none.

Whoever throws down the challenge should expect someone else to take it up and the odds are (for most of us) someone is going to be faster. You ride at a certain distance range so no way would you be an ass for competing with others in that KOM range.

As far as ride logging goes, if you want to eliminate the artificial competition you can, as suggested, use a day planner or purpose-printed cycling log book.

You can also use BikeJournal.com for pure logging functions for cloud-based data storage. Lastly, one of the commercial, shareware or freeware computer software logs that are on the market make training data use easy.

 

[jpr95]

The KOM stuff on Strava is interesting, but like others have said, it can be faked. To me, what's more valuable about Strava is that it allows you to compare times on segments with your own past efforts, so you can compete against yourself. I've got a regular route I ride, and I can check my times on the various hill segments and get a feel for whether or not I'm getting stronger on those hill climbs or in terms of the overall ride time. Having a couple people ahead of you on the KOM times can just be motivation, faked or not. You can bet they'll feel stupid if you honestly beat their faked time...

 

[Volnix]

Originally Posted by jpr95 .

The KOM stuff on Strava is interesting, but like others have said, it can be faked. To me, what's more valuable about Strava is that it allows you to compare times on segments with your own past efforts, so you can compete against yourself.

+1. In addition its even hard to compare your own data. One more beer last night and a little windier day results in +10seconds or something. Strava also sometimes exports some crazy stuff. I got some GPS drift or whatever its called in the last few rides where it says that I was doing 60km/h on a small road...

Of course all the segments on which I have the fastest times, are genuine and accurate readings, which somewhat, (but not entirely as this is impossible) represent my immaculate physical and mental condition which results in such extraordinary efforts. /img/vbsmilies/smilies/biggrin.gif

 

[maydog]

By internet standards, if there are no pics or video then it didn't happen.

 

[CAMPYBOB]

 

[alienator]

By internet standards, if there are no pics or video then it didn't happen.

Yup.

 

[CAMPYBOB]

 

[CAMPYBOB]

 

[Volnix]

Originally Posted by CAMPYBOB .

lololololol /img/vbsmilies/smilies/biggrin.gif