Yeah, that's the rub, innit? Is drafting a city bus for 2 blocks a greater or lesser infraction than blood doping? I have to kind of think it's not as bad. But there is all manner of less-than-honest behavior going on in pretty much any competitive activity.

I was talking with my wife about this very topic out on a ride this past weekend, after a 17-year-old member of the local Juniors racing team took one of my KOMs. She said, "Just get hopped up on drugs. It's not real racing. There's no one to answer to." She said it jokingly, and it is funny... but she's also not wrong. I'm sure there are plenty of doped riders on Strava, both chemically and mechanically. How long until we see the first Zwift doping scandal?

We already have with Tom Danielson going out and crushing a ton of KOMs the week after he was sanctioned. For the second time...

And Strava said no-go to flagging his rides with a "convicted doper" reason. I tried it a few times.

At some point Strava is going to have to de emphasize KOM's and find other carrots to make it more appealing. People complained about it years ago, but I think Age Group and Yearly KOM's should have their own status, with the caveat the first 1-3 months of each year aren't highlighted. That way it prevents those rides on the first where you're flooded with icons.

Yeah, spend enough time in sports (or even video games, for that matter) and you will see there are all sorts of scumbags and losers out there that would sell out their own mothers in order to get a "win." At least some of the skill sports are a little better on the amateur level, because doping alone isn't enough to overcome other deficiencies. And then I guess you have stuff like car and motorcycle racing, if you consider that a sport.

Yeah, but I more specifically mean Zwift-- where people have actually found a way to make money:

"The winner in Flanders, 27-year-old Dutch racer Anna van der Breggen, took home $1,415. The winner of the CVR Zwift World Cup, Carey Conabeare, a 42-year-old professional gardener from the UK, pocketed a cool $7,800."

This is one thing I never understood - the notion that amateur racers are in it for the prize money - it's laughable. Now, $7,800 is a lot more than gets handed to winners at any of the little local races I've ever been to (where 1st prize is hardly more than the entry fee), but it's still nominal when you think of the cost and trouble it takes to win it. But what do I know? Maybe just the idea of a money prize is enough to make some people do crazy things.

Guys here will claw each other's eyes out over a slice of pizza on a prime lap that they won't even eat because they're on a diet. It's not really about the prize money lol

The two women in the example are a world-class professional racer, winning $1400 at the Tour of Flanders, and a gardener from the UK who won $7800 for riding without moving. Amateur racers might not be in it for the money or the acclaim (as there is none of either to be had) but this is professional gaming mixed with exercise. People are absolutely going to find a way to cheat.

My first Smart Trainer read about 20 watts higher than it should and I crushed it in Zwift Racing. I was top 5 in a 200 person race, and usually got on the podium in others. It was a small enough discrepancy and my form was good enough that I wasn't sure; but after testing them side by side its was consistently 18 watts higher. Now I have a Neo that's about 10 watts lower than my power meter.

Zwift Racing is fun, but I was far from the only guy with a inaccurate PM, and about half the server lies about their weight (tbf I'm 140 in Zwift, 144 irl). Some PM companies (cough Stages) I just don't trust outright. Many have a bad pm every once in awhile. My teammate does close to 400 @ 5.6 w/kg in our Worlds Climb, and I drop him at 300 @ 4.6. Swears up and down his PM is dead accurate.

This is only a "problem" for the select few who can conceivably attain a KOM on a popular segment in the first place.

I'm not one of them, and thus I can use Strava without getting worked up about KOM cheating. The only metric I really care about for myself is power, and I can use that as a measuring stick to gauge my progress and compare my efforts to others on the same day/week.

When I replaced my Stages with a power2max Type S, my FTP abruptly dropped by around 40W. Initially disheartening to be sure. I think I'm over it now. Also, no more random spikes to 2,000W. Sad.


That's the wonder of a KOM. It means nothing, it gets you nothing... but once you have one, you want more, and you don't want to let them go.

meh. once you realize there's always someone faster than you (even with your 30 mph tailwind assist), the dream dies quickly.
the motivation is different for all. whatever gets you out there and keeps you coming back for more. if it's the kom's, so be it.

Strava Drama

I agree - rolling 7-day and 12-month leaders make more sense, and it might be cool if one could keep a record of those achievements.

VeloViewer (which uses Strava data) has a Rivals feature (people who have ridden a lot of the same segments with similar times as ones own) but participation is spotty, that is, not everyone who's on Strava is on VV, and many who joined have quit using it/updating it.

Question for you smart, tech-savvy Strava users: I got an email from Strava saying that someone had responded to an invitation I (supposedly) sent them from Strava. They're using a generic handle on Strava, so I have no idea who this is, but they requested to follow me. Is there some way I can find out who I invited over the years? I looked around, searched, but came up with nothing. Their profile on Strava is totally empty, no name, no riding, no nothing.