Originally Posted by
kbarch
We all have our favorite type of segments I suppose, but what's so bad about these "bad" segments that you want to kill them?
Unless it's a mountaintop or something, why should a climbing segment necessarily end at the crest, and why should a descent necessarily not begin before the road heads down? I just think it's important that descents end well before any T-intersection, stoplight or the like. Also, the start of a segment can ensure that the best times aren't the result of an unusually advantageous start, and that the riders came from a certain direction.
Well I can't exactly singlehandedly "kill" a segment . . . Anyway, a segment's a segment, and it shouldn't depend on which direction a rider came from. If there's a reason to have a limitation like that then the segment should be a lot longer. Otherwise it just feels like an intentionally "hidden" segment. As for where to start/stop on crests, IMO it shouldn't be past the logical stopping point for someone taking a breather - besides, at that point it's not a climb! Descents are silly, but why would it make sense to start a descent segment before the descent actually begins?
Anyway, my bigger peeve is your point re segments and stop points like lights - I've come across a number in my regular riding area that do just that, although the worst was the one that started in a parking lot just before a stop sign and continued on through another stop sign before it ended. (The parking lot was close enough to the road that it got picked up by pretty much everyone riding by).