DropDeadFred

So most of our segments are ridden by groups and have some pretty outrageous speeds and times that can't be matched by the lone average cyclist. Most have been won during large, fast group rides. So me and my riding buddies (team) have been including stravassaults on these segments with the intent of one of our riders taking the KOM from whatever other group is out there.

Question: is it fair? Do any of you do this.

I really don't care if it's fair or not, I just know we're doing it and we are becoming faster and working better together for it. It's fun, and it's good practice.

Adrianinkc

Fair game. As long as you don't throw your Garmin in the car and drive up a segment.

Ricanfred

Why would it be unfair? I see it just like you, fun and very good practice.

jmX

"Stravervals" is what I call them. Some days I do my intervals from one underpass to another, and of course that is how people broke up the segments on this particular MUP. The end result is I end up being in the top few people out of 1000 on a segment sometimes. All my rides are solo though, and on a short enough segment (<1.5mi?) I doubt a group really has much of an advantage.

My intervals were done like this long before I heard about strava, and I have to assume others are out there doing something similar so I don't feel too bad about it.

Anyway, if you're using a group specifically to take down a strava KOM I guess its fair game, but it does seem kinda lame.

DropDeadFred

well, only on the ones we know were gained by the current leader with a group. Other rides we have split up and each done separate spaced out attacks because we know that the leader probably got it on their own, or at least its possible. this particular route is the frequented group ride routes. We have a rival shop with their own group ride that goes out on the same day who also upload, they leave at different times so its nice to see who went out and put down the faster times.

island rider

I was thinking about that. Wouldn't you have to be in the back of a pickup truck on a trainer and spinning in order to make it convincing? Otherwise you would have gotten the KOM with a cadence of 0 and a heart rate of around 50 bpm. Now, where can I get a pickup truck?

DropDeadFred

yeah, I'd call out that BS in a heart beat.

island rider

It would make a fun conversation at their ride start. You could roll up like the jets and sharks. As for your original post, I don't think there is too much etiquette involved in competing against people you don't know in a nonexistent competition with nothing at stake but bragging rights. If you feel comfortable that your results are accurate and you are not being underhanded, keep at it. Enjoy.

Ooompa Loompa

If a person only uses a smart phone they wouldn't have cadence or bpm. That's all I do.

DropDeadFred

most everybody knows each other, especially if you're riding hard enough to be on the KOMs...that being said, most have garmins too...I don't think many guys hitting segments at 25-30 +mph are running strava on their smart phone.

mtalinm

but it gets scary for urban segments where the only way possible to beat KOMs is to blow through intersections etc

TrojanHorse

Eh, you think that's bad, there are segments out here with real live pros sitting on top. Freddie Rodriguez on the MUP? C'mon Fred.

Then again, wind can make a big difference too. Should a wind assisted leg be discounted?

Having said that, I read a piece the other day about one of the other GPS sites creating something similar, but you'd get points for consistency (e.g. frequency) so you wouldn't have to necessarily be the fastest guy up the hill.

What ever gets you out on the bike and moving is good in my book.

OldsCOOL

Man, I'd love to see that. That on youtube would go redneck viral.

rangerdavid

absoutely fair, and cool as hell to do. everybody does it. we do KOM searches and segment assaults. rock on!!

island rider

Cheater

I'd make the same bet.

They list people as pros on the site, you would think they could sort them out of the rankings. Think about it. How cool would it be to have the KOM in one of the Tour of California segments, or a normal pro team training route segment? Does anyone who rides those routes know how that gets handled?

Right Said Fred

Why? I do it all the time on fast group rides. Don't own a Garmin or a Power Meter.

DropDeadFred

mapmyride is going to a points system. I read that yesterday, I'll only be interested if it takes garmin data, I don't care to kill my phone every time I go out and ride.

It would be nice if there was a team vs. individual option. there are clearly segments where we and others have 2 or 3 sharing spots with identical times and speeds. You would think it would be some simple programming to detect TOD, with speed, distance and location to see that it was more than one rider (considering they all uploaded like we do)

Vlaam4ever

If it is a KOM it really does not matter if it's a team or solo ride. However if it is a long flat stretch or a sprint segment, none the top times will be solo efforts. It would be nice to be able to log your own time as a solo effort to keep track of your own data to track progress.

DropDeadFred

thats what the personal records are for.

RacerOne

Perfectly fair, and downright dirty pool. I love it.

island rider

Nah, dirty pool would be if you took turns pushing one guy to the top so he could get the KOM.

island rider

I would say that puts you solidly in the minority. Frankly, most of the stronger riders I see are using some sort of GPS based bike-specific system, and most commonly, they have a garmin (usually a 500).

As for the power meter, that's less common, and in fact I am often surprised to see the types of people running a snare drum for a rear hub. Not sure what they are doing with their power numbers, but I hope they view their purchase as a good one.

merlinextraligh

Virtual MUP racing. Fredilicious!

island rider

Just wait. In a few years, once people realize that you can get hurt racing bikes, this will be the only way that anyone under 18 can race in the US.

Then it will creep up to the pro level since nobody will have learned anything at the junior level.

Then USA Cycling will sue the UCI to allow US atheletes to compete in Grand Tours by Strava comparions since there is no other way they would be able to compete against the belgian kids whose parents brought them out to the road made them pedal like crazy and threw rocks at them to develope focus and mental toughness.

waterrockets 

^^^ Strava is actually a fun system. Seems like I end up going for a KOM somewhere every week or two. I don't put much stake into how many KOMs I have or don't have, but in my circle of training partners, we have a lot of fun with it. Fits into training just fine. I also think it's good practice at course analysis and strategy.

It's pretty much just social networking centered around actually riding. I enjoy it more than Facebook, for what it's worth.

...and back to the OP: my teammates and I have assaulted the hell out of some KOMs with the goal of sending one to the top.