canklecat

Probably better when those are flagged by someone who doesn't have a stake in the game, as you've said.

I'd bet many unusually fast KOMs are unintentionally the result of people forgetting to turn off Strava before driving home, and not knowing how to crop. No harm in flagging those.

But some KOMs that may seem impossible at a glance may be legit. Under the right conditions a strong rider can get up some incredible speed on tailwind assisted downhills. On a nearby segment with only a 0.7 mile continuous downhill of 2%-4%, some local riders have managed 44 mph with 50 mph peaks, with a decent tailwind. My best on that segment is 33 mph with 40 mph peaks. Even with a tailwind I don't have the legs or bike to do much better. An aero bike and skinsuit might gain me a little speed, but I'd need better legs and tailwind to come close to those 40+ mph speeds.

But my mundane effort indicates a really strong pro could average 50 mph on that slope, given the right conditions. Although nowadays they'd need to run a four way stop sign to get up enough steam before the segment start. There were no stop signs hindering cyclists or drivers when those top ten records were set. The stop signs went up late last year and I've watched too many cars fly through without slowing, so I don't take chances now.

Ditto some seemingly incredible speeds on local climbs. Those are usually a combination of strong riders in peak condition and a healthy tailwind -- virtually all local KOMs on north/sound segments are wind assisted, including my own personal bests.

Normally I'm a mediocre climber, very middle of the pack on Strava. But this week I managed to snag the number 2 spot with a 17-20 mph tailwind, an unusual eastbound wind which we seldom get. Anyone who saw my usual 16-18 mph average on that segment might assume my 26-30 mph speeds this week were cheating, using an e-bike or something else. Nope. Just a healthy tailwind and unusually good legs and lungs that day -- less asthma induced airway constriction, legs felt fresh.

Personally I think Strava should adopt a "real effort" system of some kind to reflect wind conditions. By that system a local woman pro would hold the KOM, not just the QOM. Adjusted for the head wind she was facing her real effort was far more impressive. Let's be serious. I'm 60 years old with asthma and toothpick legs. On my best day in equal conditions I couldn't even draft her for long. She'd drop me on the first set of climbs.

Doge

I don't. Part of the art of Strava is playing the conditions. Yea, I'd rather it not be stop lights, but if someone plays the weather that seems fine. As in most things there are extremes like riding in the storm, but I rather like that part left alone.
Outside assistance and non race-able bikes I think should be marked as so.

But a fastest HPV with a fairing, or motor paced are interesting - just label them.

We all know when someone left the Garmin on and got in the airplane. So should Strava.

surak

Does anyone use Strava for Wear OS (formerly Android Wear)? I have a watch w/ HRM but it doesn't take readings without a separate app, so I use Heart Trace, which has a minimum interval between readings of 5 minutes. Just wondering if that granularity would even be useful for anything.

kbarch

Maybe good for tracking vitals when you're lain up sick in bed. I don't think there's anything "granular" about five minute intervals. That's like boulders of time when it comes to performance monitoring.

3949dxer

Do others here get weird glitches when uploading photos? I sure do. Sometimes I try to upload 5 or 5 photos, go through the steps, then find that only 2, or maybe none, actually appear. Sometimes I add one more photo and all the previous ones disappear. Sometimes the app on my phone shows say 6 photos, but not all appear can be seen in a web browser. Sometimes I upload say 3 photos, I see one photo with the numeral 3 superimposed on it on the app, then a minute later it changes to 2.

Weird. The only thing that seems to help is uploading just 1 or 2 photos at a time, then waiting a while before uploading more.

Is it just me?

surak

I checked out the challenges section for the first time and entered some of them. The Alpe du Zwift Challenge shows my climbing progress but the April Cycling Climbing Challenge shows zero progress. Is that a bug with the challenge or am I doing something wrong?

atwl77

Yes, it's glitchy.


What I do is drag and drop one photo first. If it's still showing the "uploading" icon for 2-3 seconds, it should be good to go and I drop the second photo, and so on. The glitch typically happens within the first 2-3 seconds so if the uploading photo doesn't disappear within that time, it should complete successfully.


It's a pain in the behind if you have more than a half-dozen photos to upload though.

em.jay.el

Are you riding outside or on a trainer? Zwift rides even with a smart trainer don't count for most challenges.

ctpres

Was doing legit 40 plus going down Hurricane Ridge with road closed to vehicles. Garmin Edge 500 recorded 60 plus section.
https://www.strava.com/activities/35...ysis/5092/5200
Turns out to be due to lost wheel magnet so Garmin edge converted to GPS for speed. Went thru tunnel, lost sat. and Garmin just updated when sat picked up. So there can be other technical reasons for some. BTW at 75 that was by far the most exciting ride of my life. I will never forget that one ride.

woodcraft

Climbing ride last weekend, & on one (steep!) climb,

we started together, I finished 1st & waited as he stopped twice & walked part,

but his time on the Strava segment was almost 2 min faster (18 vs 20 min).

Me- Garmin 500, him- Garmin 820? I think my time was off.

surak

Nope, riding outside. But today I rode and now I see something there. I probably won't finish the challenge anyway, I misread meters as feet.

bikingbill

iPhone Strava Users:

Yesterday's (4-10-2018) update (41.0.0) to the iOS Strava app has broken the RESUME ride feature.

Avoid this update.

atwl77

Could also be you stopped a little short of where the segment ended (or at least your Garmin reported that) while your friend did complete the segment when he reached you. After resting almost 2 minutes, both of you descended together. Easiest way to check for that is if you select your effort on that segment and Analyze Effort to see if you have your speed dipping to zero near the end before rising again right at the end (works on smartphone, not sure if desktop/web shows the same data).


Over here, we have this one climb where the uphill segment ends somewhere past the peak, and the downhill segment starts before the peak. So if you stop at the peak (either to rest or to wait for friends), your segment times are screwed both uphill and downhill, and they way they overlap you can only ever choose to attain good times on one or the other unless you do not stop at all.

johnu

Question: On a 18 mile ride, my Garmin Edge 20 runs about one mile+ less then my friends Strava on his iphone. Why are they so far apart?

jordanair45

So, is there is a strava group for this forum yet or nah?

TimothyH

BFRC

https://www.strava.com/clubs/bikeforumsroadcycling

This should be fun.



-Tim-

kbarch

That's the way to go if you ask me. My highest rankings have come from creating segments that continue more or less level well past a crest. I've never been any good at cranking out the watts on level roads except in occasional sprints, but I'm the opposite of a sprinter type. However, I often manage to keep cranking out the watts that get me up a hill a little faster than average for a bit after going over the top. Where most people decide to catch their breath, it makes a huge difference to follow through with the power instead - kind of a one-two punch.

WhyFi

Phones tend to track less accurately. Combine that with small differences in start/end points, and it's not hard to imagine that kind of discrepancy. Take a look at the ride maps side-by-side.

furiousferret

https://www.strava.com/clubs/bike-forums

Half the guys in there don't even post here, they're in 100's of clubs trying to farm kudos. Which kinda makes the whole group function less appealing imo.

kbarch

What's that about anyhow? I actually find it annoying when people kudo EVERY ride I do. I make a lot of them private, but sometime I just want to share the story, as it were, or maybe garner some sympathy when the ride is completely unworthy of a kudo.

If they want to be more social AND make the kudos a little more meaningful, maybe they could have a buttons for "sorry about that" "keep at it/don't give up" or the like. It's kind of weird how people will clearly indicate the ride was a bust - flats, crash, called for a car, etc., and still collect a bunch of kudos.

As it is the only thing kudos actually indicate is that people happened to check their feed, typically only when posting their own rides.

noodle soup

I rode about 1/10th of a mile to check the adjustment of a derailleur, and saved the ride by accident. Later that day, 5 people gave me kudos for the ride. WTF?

furiousferret

I do it for like the 10 rides below me but that's about it.

A few of my followers have a script that automatically does it, so they don't have to check. I saw one of the guys at a race and said, 'hey, I'm so and so you give me kudos everyday' and he just looked at me with a blank stare, and then said it was automated. Kinda annoyed me.

DiabloScott

I mark my commutes private because I don't want the kudos. Then I unprivate them after a week or so so I get credit for the mileage but somehow this makes them pop up on my followers' feeds near the top.

My commute is 5km... completely un-kudo-worthy.

BTW - do all English people say "cue-dahs" instead of "coo-dohs"... or is it just that one woman I listen to?

Dan333SP

There are a few people who have developed tools to do exactly what you're talking about-

Strava Analysis

Of course, there still are a million variables (drag of the rider/bike, drafting other riders, micro-gusts, cars passing, etc etc), but it at least helps you identify when a ride was done with a massive prevailing tailwind.

Dan333SP

We have a secret club. You'll have to ask @WhyFi to invite you.