Originally Posted by
cdp8
If they were competing on closed courses, I would agree with you 100%, but these competitions are taking place on streets and trails that are open to, and being used by, the general public. We the public are being forced to be in danger by these idiots and Strava is promoting and encouraging them. Like I said above, it has now come to light that the cyclist that killed the pedestrian in SF was also trying to beat a Strava record at the time of that accident.
So how is a Strava leaderboard any different to someone who sees a stonking great hill, wonders what speed they can hit going down it, and then later takes the same route to see if they can clock a faster time?
The fastest I've ever hit on my bike is 41.7mph - before I had the cross bike I hit 37mph on my mountain bike on a road with a 30mph speed limit without pedalling. I didn't even realise I was breaking the speed limit until I got to wondering why the car that had been very close behind me had dropped back so far. No need for Strava there.
Strava "promoting and encouraging" them is just garbage to deny personal responsibility. The guy who raced down that hill made a free choice to try and beat his record. Nobody forced him into it, and saying Strava encouraged it by listing the fact someone else did it faster is irrelevant, just as it's irrelevant to say God encouraged it by creating a bigger hill elsewhere that let someone else clock a faster top speed than he did.
For what it's worth I'm inclined to agree that speeds for downhill sections should be capped at the legal speed limit so if what you post isn't possible to achieve without speeding then it's disqualified for that reason. But even that wouldn't stop people chasing records by running stop signs, red lights etc. Ultimately there's no law that can fix stupid.