Well yes... but it seems to miss the point that many of us do have a history, and have bikes that have distances they have been ridden before the advent of Strava. Note that I am talking about the bike list... and in particular, this distance issue can be helpful in tracking component wear, which is offered by Strava, too.

I set my Specialized Pro computer to read in KMs, and I felt like I rode further and faster than ever before.

To those who consider me a Luddite, let me say that it isn't disdain for modern technology that drives my avoidance of Strava. Witness my post count here for proof. I long ago vowed that I wouldn't fall behind the technological times like my dad did. He never used the air conditioner in his cars because he didn't know how, and that is just one example.

No, my disdain is for recording the information at all. Whether it be by pen and paper, computer spreadsheet or now Strava, etc. I have never recorded the details of a ride. Not the date, distance, speed, weather condition. As a corollary matter I have never known exactly how many miles my tires, chains, wheels, brake pads have lasted. How many miles I have ridden a particular bike. If I had electronic shifting, I wouldn't know how long the battery lasts between charges. It is simply of no concern to me. I ride what I like, when I like, for how long I like, and nothing I write in a notebook or save to a computer file is going to make it any better. I don't train. I don't compete. I just like to ride the bike for enough time and distance and fast enough to get some joy and aerobic benefit. You would be surprised how easy it is to accomplish that still being ignorant of all the facts.

Full disclosure requires I say I do use a $5 bike odometer/speedometer. It helps me keep track of the time and distance I have gone away from home in order to get back there in the allotted time.

I started riding and racing on the road in the mid 70's. It was definitely simpler. Milage for a given ride was always approximate although then and now training was/is more about time on bike than miles. Everything was by feel, you really had to develop a good feel for what now would be a well defined Power/Duration curve. The only history is what I kept in a journal.

I think in general it steered you (at least me) towards even small group rides over solo as a way to sort of "legitimize" your effort with your peers. Now I can throw down a solid solo effort, that in the past would have been totally between me and the road, and get instant positive reinforcement. So there is a loss of one motivation for group over solo rides.

That said I enjoy all of the new tech. Went from PE to HR to Power. Strava early on & was a Beta Zwift rider.

One thing you youngsters are going to miss out on. You will never be able to play the "older I get the better I was" game. Because everything is a matter of public record

I considered myself late to Strava. I've only been on it for 4.5 years. Before that I was manually entering my routes into RWGPS to figure out my elevation. That was a big PITA. Before that I was using BikeWire (Does that still exist?) and a CatEye Double Wireless. Before that I was using BikeJournal until they put most of their stuff behind a pay wall. Before that I was using a paper journal.

Strava has been great for me. There's a lot of inspiration out there. If you think you're riding a lot, check out Amanda Coker. If you think you're fast, check out any of the many pros out there. If you think you're climbing a lot, check out Thibaut Pinot this week or the Cannondale guys in Tenerife. If you want to see someone recover from injury, check out Levi Leipheimer.

Cool.

What's funny to me (I'm the opposite) is how you keep track of time so you know when to go home, but you don't keep track of where you happen to go. I really don't worry about how long I'm out or how far I get from home, mileage wise (I maintain a sufficient sense of all that and often have wide latitude - my disdain is reserved for people who look at their watch during a ride ), but once it is all over I am often eager to discover where, how far and how fast I actually went: what WAS that? It's quite in vain, of course, but I like the sense of having captured the magic of it somehow.

I look at the historic accumulations now and then, but more out of idle curiosity than concerned interest. Of course such records are meaningless if they aren't consistent, so I've gotten in the habit of maintaining them.

I'm totally with you on the batteries thing - one of the reasons I've been so slow to start riding in the mornings again is because I hate worrying about the lights.

Yeah, wow...Strava launched in '09, which is older than I thought. I didn't join until '12.

Back in the day, at stop signs and traffic lights I'd ask drivers how fast they were going when I passed them.

Now I ask kids how fast their Big Wheels are going when they pass me.

A whole FEW months on STRAVA here!!!

In my life, Strava still doesn't exist. Neither does Facebook/Twitter. I honestly believe they are anti-social and people who use them most are. I have co-workers you can't have conversation with because they are too busy being anti-social with these apps.

When I first started biking about. I just used a paper map and wrist watch. Local Townhall had bike path maps. Really more of a budget issue then anything else.

It is rather alarming how much phones have changed the way we interact. When on lunch I'd guess 9/10 are on some kind of device. The older workers tend to use tablet for reading or simple games. rest are on social media/ youtube.

Admittedly I primary read books via the Kindle App, Twitter, news pages while on break.

Yet you come here to BFs. And I am not sure you quite understand the meaning of anti-social. Unsociable might be a better description for those you describe.

As to Strava, I am not quite out there in public. My initial settings were private, but then I loosened up a tiny bit, and now I keep on getting Kudos messages from some woman called Machka. Imagine what it's be like if I went full public!

Go back to the days before the electronic devices. People were sitting at those same tables reading a newspaper, magazine, brochure of book, doing the crossword or some other paper-based puzzle, maybe writing a postcard or letter, or playing with a Rubik's cube... or simply just gazing off into the distance lost in their own thoughts. Now, they use an electronic device for all those things. Humans haven't really changed what they do, just the way they do it. Like bicycling.

+1 I'm surprised about the effort people put into recording their rides. Like Bob, I never recorded anything except what sticks in my memory. I know my best time for an hour, because it was exceptional and memorable at the time, I know (roughly) how long it took for some of my ultra long 24hour rides, ie. NYC to DC, NYC to Montreal, and likewise other details of memorable rides.

But other that what sticks, I never felt the need to record data that I knew I'd never look at again.

It was similar when I took up scuba diving. Divers are encouraged to keep logs, and early on each dive was recorded with plenty of detail, then after 50 or so, progressively less detail, and after 200 or so, only the dayt and location, and now not at all.

So, for me, before and after Strava is all the same

I think so, too, except that because people rely on these single devices do so many things, they seem a lot more firmly tethered to them. It wasn't so often that you'd see people walking down the street or even driving while trying to read, write, or play with a Rubik's cube at the same time. It happened, but not nearly so often.

Was that 55 minutes for an hour?

Recording the data for me has to do with building endurance and strength, and while Strava's algorithms aren't accurate as a PM, they are consistent enough for my current purposes, and will provide me with a baseline assessment and then an indication of improvement in areas such as HR, power estimate, and average speed (which although discounted for the average cyclist, counts for a lot when doing long-distance events such as randonnees and 24H time trials). Plus, my phone does double duty as a communications and entertainment device, so it works out a damned sight cheaper than a power meter.

No, I'm from NY so it's more like 15 minutes.

Actually, it's a carry over from how we discussed speed BITD. We didn't have instruments (or want to do math in our heads), so speed was stated as the time for a given ride, ie "my time for a Montauk ride" or X minutes for a lap of Central Park.

It's been a long time since those days, but I still think of speed in terms of time.

Some of us like data. It's what I do!

I've only been on Strava for about a year, so like others, it's easy for to remember the days before it.

I actively resisted computers and other gadgets, though started using various websites to create maps and log distances. For a short time I used a GPS tracking tool on my phone, but my GPS broke so I gave it up.

Basically, I use Strava - on my cell phone app - because it's convenient. Because I have a competitive/addictive personality, I like to see if I can beat my time on segments - I can't lie there. If it gets to the point where I'm more interested in Strava than riding my bike, it will probably get deleted.

I understand, and my post wasn't a value judgement of any sort. It's a big tent out there, and there's room for anyone who wants to come in out of the rain.

Classic

I started in VisiCalc.

Meh, Asteroids ftw.

Careful, she might be a stalker.