Yeah I feel ya. I came into the game late so everyone was talking about Strava. I like strava a lot but they lack a lot of basic things, they seem like they have no money to move forward.

I started on Strava for personal records but one aspect that is nice is the segments. It allows me gauge myself amongst the community. I know garminconnect has segments but only a few in my area. It's like a ghost town on GC.

Here are some pros to strava.
Heatmaps: May not be useful to you if you know your area but it will overlay a map with colored lines to show how popular a road is.

Flybys: This will show me riders and runners I either pass by on my ride or passed within (I think) 50 meters.
This could be a good way to catch up after as you can comment on their ride.

Challenges: Not needed for those motivated but these can be a nice way to help motivate you off your butt. Things such as ride x amount this month for a badge =] Climb x amount ect.