Seattle Forrest

Ok, here's the real question:

https://labs.strava.com/heatmap/#12/-...2058/blue/bike

Is it really possible no one has ridden a bike to the end of that road?

It's long, the "missing" section is steep dirt, and there's nothing up the road but trails (that don't allow bikes) and campgrounds. It's 65 miles from the nearest population center, whether you ride or drive you'd have to be pretty dedicated - more likely to use Strava? There's better scenery nearby than 95 % of this road, and much easier to reach. Plausible no one has bothered?

GeoKrpan

They are roadeez and reach the end of the pavement and turn around?

No, I am not a Strava nerd.

Homebrew01

Maybe more dedicated riders are LESS likely to use Strava, because the novelty has worn off, or they never bothered with it in the first place (me).

Marcus_Ti

Novelty Schmovelty.

I and many use it because there are very few ride tracking softwares that are maintained that compare and "just work" with GPSes like Garmin Edge. The other major one, Garmin Connect has and continues to suck for a variety of reasons.

RJM

Garmin connect does suck. I use Strava but have often thought of using it only privately. Sometimes, I do feel like knowing that the ride will be uploaded to Strava takes the fun out of it.

I'd be surprised if that road hasn't been ridden by gravel riders or mtb'ers who just don't upload to Strava.

PepeM

Some group rides I do have 50+ people show up but then at the end I only get 'rode with' 3 or 4 people on Strava. So yes, there are tons of riders out there who don't use it.

Marcus_Ti

Yea I have the privacy options clicked on....for a while, I let my route highlights be public in the hope that maybe seeing lots of people using bike paths would get the city maintaining them....but no, they destroy and rebuild and block paths will-nilly without regard for cyclist traffic flow. For nearly a calendar year now I;ve been unable to use the city's MUP system for work commuting or riding because of all the construction blockages at one pinch point after another.


It has been so bad for so long, I haven't even seriously looked to see if MUPs are yet operable as viable commute routes again. One section (less than a block long) was posted to be closed for a calendar YEAR per their official schedule.

Machka 

I've never used Strava ... Rowan does, but keeps his data private.

Dan333SP

That's probably because you're only with the larger group for a few hundred meters before the hamer dropes and you're off the back with 3 or 4 others.

OP- I'd throw out a ballpark guess that 15% of people who ride roadbikes regularly use Strava. 100% of serious roadies use strava, though.

PepeM

ftfy

Homebrew01

PepeM

It's the truth. KOMs are very prestigious.

Doge

I've also noticed it is regional and based a bit on ride type. I will see some rides with 50% sharing.

gregf83 

Likely because everyone has different routes getting to the start of the ride and they're not close enough for Strava to make a connection.

i think overall the % is somewhere between 30 and 50% and growing every year. Local crits have at least 80 people posting their rides.

Dan333SP

Not just KOMs. Even a top 5 will get you closer to a USAC upgrade, see the new guidelines above.

Homebrew01

April Fools Photoshop ?

Dan333SP

It's May.

USAC is aware that a lot of would-be racers are scratching their competitive itch with the new social media-linked cycling tools like Strava and Zwift rather than signing up for a real race. They're trying to stay ahead of the curve and offering pre-upgrades in some circumstances where people have proven themselves to be ready-to-race fast on Strava.

They just released a plan for a series of Zwift races where the winner after an elimination format event gets an instant Cat 3 license. It seems like the reception has been very positive from what I'm hearing in Virginia.

aubiecat

The only time I use Strava is when my seat post and saddle are in geosynchronous alignment.

Marcus_Ti

I do not see those new rules on USAC's page here.

https://www.usacycling.org/news/user/story.php?id=580

Dan333SP

That's an outdated version of the page. You should clear your cookies.

Erzulis Boat 

It comes up when I check the page.....

PepeM

Works for me too.

Do you think it still counts if the 500 efforts are all done by myself? I want to race but I know I am too fast for Cat5 so I would rather start at 3 or maybe 2.

Hypno Toad

I was going to say very few riders have gone to the end of the road, but then I checked my area for some rarely used routes... check out the tracks on Lake Minnetonka!



Winter fatbiking is very popular around here an you can see tons of people ride the lake in the winter and you know that most riders are taking unique routes. Look at the far right bay (Grays Bay), I ride that a few times each winter, leaving the boat launch on the southwest corner and ride to the east coast. Those tracks don't really show up here. Therefore, I'd say Strava won't show tracks for 3 or 4 riders. For the OP example, less than 3 or 4 riders with Strava have ridden that road to end.

For the Strava haters, don't use it, that's fine with me. I'm a fan, I started using it to track commuting miles. Now it's a great tool to track miles on each bike. 5 years ago, Strava was all about KOMs, but they have evolved. Case in point, these maps! I use Strava routes with heat maps all the time to find roads that are well used to get where I need to go.

Homebrew01

Trolls aren't constrained by time of year

Seattle Forrest

Bummer. I have plans to ride it tomorrow (it's been closed for construction for a month, and by snow since last fall) and got excited about maybe being the first. Still going to have a great time. I've never seen a bike up there, but I only hike trails off that road 3 or 4 time a year. But I've wanted to ride that road ever since I started going up there.