Could Strava be hazardous to your health?

[Mitchb]

I'm 63, just started using Strava and have discovered Segment times. There's this really nice locally famous downhill run just a 10 minute ride from my house that I usually take twice during my routine ride. It has 239 ebike times recorded.

My problem, as Im sure most Stava users can relate, is the desire to move up in the standings by taking more risk with higher speeds. At 63 I should probably slow down a bit but its addicting. Ive got myself up to #35 overall and #2 in the 55+ group and I only need to shave 4 seconds to get to #1. Average speed is 17.1, the top guys are 20-21mph.

Im very pleased to know my times are currently faster than 85% of the 239 times recorded but want more! My wife doesn't think much of my thrill seeking either.

Anybody else experiencing their own Strava times obsession? Here's the run if anyone's interested, in San Diego, Ca.

 

[Zimmerframe]

Nice video, great riding !

Strava can be great. It's fantastic for finding trails, especially with the heatmaps and running it live on a phone on your bars.

For segments times, it can be interesting/fun - to know what's possible.

I think the problem arrises when we do get stupidly competitive and start thinking that "time" is what matters. In reality, enjoying your run, relaxing, riding correctly and having a great ride is what actually makes you feel good. Seeing you have "X" time after and even thinking about it, can ultimately turn a great thing into a bad thing/sad thing. It's like going somewhere, seeing something and only being interested in the picture you take - rather than actually appreciating the experience.

It's also really important to remember that the timing isn't always that accurate, especially if there's any tree cover. A lot of GPS recorders might be set to "low accuracy" (to save power) or have it by default (early iphones) - strava will generally jump peoples times up 8-10 seconds in these situations (when it should really go the other way).

So yes, it can be interesting, but you shouldn't really take it too seriously - it's just a small part of the experience.

 

[RustyMTB]

That's definitely one of Franklin's side quests in GTA V.

 

[Jurassic]

I don't get as much segment info since I've reverted to the free version again. It's definitely reduced the temptation to constantly race myself/others. What I found previously was that to a great extent the riding conditions were the biggest influence on whether I could do a PB or not. It rains a lot here in Scotland so no matter how well I was riding, I wasn't going to beat or get close to my previous best time unless the trails were dry.

 

[Durrti]

Strava is a great way to find trails and try to push yourself to go faster than you did yesterday. Those in the top 10 may have had their best day and best conditions, or truly pros! Have fun with it and don’t kill yourself for fake internet points

 

[RustyIron]

Anybody else experiencing their own Strava times obsession? Here's the run if anyone's interested, in San Diego, Ca.

Hey! Slow it on down, pops! You're gonna get a ticket!

I'm still young, at 59. My first bit of advice is don't tell your wife that you're among the elite. You don't want to stress her out unnecessarily. But since she's kept you around this long, she probably knows how you are and has given up trying to fix you.

I always look at segment times on Strava. On the less traveled trails, I can get trophies. On the most popular trails, fuggetaboutit. Nevertheless, I know who is faster than me, and who is not. If I can close the gap, or even surpass a better rider, then I have numeric confirmation that my skills are improving. It makes me feel good, but I don't delude myself into thinking that anyone else cares.

 

[mcboab]

Its fun but as above the times can be so inconsistent/inaccurate to make a mockery of the placing . I record my rides on watch and bike GPS both very current tech (as the old counterparts wore out their batteries) and the segment times set can vary significantly even when both devices have same view of the sky/GPS signal (& are set to max recording samples) . Still it is addictive to get an FTD or fastest in my age group time but its not big or clever

 

[brigcampbell]

Nice, MTB Mike.

There's a MTB Bill in your neck of the woods too. Great resource.

MountainBikeBill's Mountain biking Trail Reviews, Videos and Pictures

www.mountainbikebill.com

I use Strava free to track my rides. Don't care about times anymore and I primarily ride solo so getting home is a priority. If fact, started using the beacon feature for the Warden since I'm riding much further up into the mountains with the e-bike. I'm in Orange County

Also for those interested in finding segments, Trailforks is WAY better. No contest, in the US at least.

Trailforks | Trail Database & Maps

World's largest trail database and management system for trail associations, builders and riders. Started for mountain biking trails, now including all trail uses.

www.trailforks.com

Here's Mission Trails

Mission Trails Regional Park on Trailforks

Mission Trails is a large park right in the middle of the city with easy access from all points. Most of the trails are doubletrack or fireroad, but the singletrack to be found...

www.trailforks.com

 

[Mitchb]

Its fun but as above the times can be so inconsistent/inaccurate to make a mockery of the placing . I record my rides on watch and bike GPS both very current tech (as the old counterparts wore out their batteries) and the segment times set can vary significantly even when both devices have same view of the sky/GPS signal (& are set to max recording samples) . Still it is addictive to get an FTD or fastest in my age group time but its not big or clever

I have a Garmin 830 I ride with linked with Strava and assume the Garmin GPS is more accurate than the phone GPS. Is that an incorrect assumption? Excuse my limited knowledge of the technology.

 

[Jurassic]

I have a Garmin 830 I ride with linked with Strava and assume the Garmin GPS is more accurate than the phone GPS. Is that an incorrect assumption? Excuse my limited knowledge of the technology.

I find my Garmin frequently drops the satellite signal for a few seconds when I'm riding under heavy tree cover so I don't think it's particularly accurate. I can see these anomalies as straight lines on Strava (presumably where the Garmin has lost and regained the signal and straight lined between the two points). I dunno if a phone would be more accurate or not.

 

[brigcampbell]

Your phone uses the same GPS technology as a Garmin, some are implemented better, but the phone can also calculate your location from the cellular signal.

 

[7869hodgy]

Don’t get drawn in by it. I was and then you realise there are twats out there who cheat. So you could be chasing an unrealistic time.

Local to me there is a guy who has pretty much all the ebike KOMs….some by a stupid margin so his bike is obviously chipped. He can climb some steep segments at well over the 26.5kmh limit.

I have nearly killed myself to get closer only for it to be improved by the guy a few weeks later.

As well as very sad, it spoils it for the rest of us. I now ignore the KOM holder and just try to improve my times where possible.

Race yourself, not others (who probably cheat)

 

[Zachy]

I'll be 50 later this year and am totally addicted to getting KOMs on primarily downhill segments. I usually tell myself I'm just gonna take a chill lap and end up getting a PR or KOM, lol

 

[RustyIron]

I have a Garmin 830 I ride with linked with Strava and assume the Garmin GPS is more accurate than the phone GPS. Is that an incorrect assumption? Excuse my limited knowledge of the technology.

Well... determining which is "more accurate" might not be as easy as it sounds. There are a lot of things to consider. GPS accuracy is a factor, of course. Take a look at the map of your ride after you get home. Zoom in. You'll see the trail on the map, but your GPS route will be wiggling around on the trail. That's GPS inaccuracy. It's not much, but it's there. There's also altitude, which isn't very accurate. It's been my experience that the Garmin will always show less elevation gain than the iPhone. The discrepency is due to the way the data is analyzed.

Another consideration is sampling rate. I don't know the frequency, but just suppose the Garmin samples every six seconds, and the iPhone samples every three seconds. In a perfect world, your GPS would sample your location exactly when you start the trail, and exactly when you exit the trail. But maybe it doesn't see you on the trail until five seconds after you started. If the KOM does the segment in 60 seconds, then five seconds of inaccuracy is huge.

If you're interested, you can download a Strava file and get all the locations and times. It's a big list of numbers, but it will give you an idea of the data the apps generate.

It's interesting that you never hear people who have the Top Ten Trophies complaining about how Strava is too inaccurate to be useful. It's the people at the bottom who are the most vocal. But the apps don't discriminate. Why don't the complainers have the KOM's? Generally, the people at the top are the better riders. Those at the bottom need to try harder.