bikerjp

I can put my garmin on the dash of my car and KOM too. While I'm sure most strava uploads are legit, the closer you get to the top the more you are likely to cheat to get or stay there - just like in professional sports. While I like to monitor my progress, strava is kind of stupid.

Elvo

You should seriously consider racing. You would definitely podium CAT's 5/4/3 and would crush it in the track with your 50 mph road sprint (which would probably equal a 55 mph velodrome sprint)

canam73

How do you get your car in the velodrome?

Elvo

You can just use the motorpacing bikes.

Nachoman

That's cheating. I just ask a cat1 buddy of mine to ride around with my garmin.

Hbrown

I wish that I could race, but I can't, I have responsabilities and a work schedule that won't allow it. I ride for fun, I ride because it makes me feel good, I ride because I always feel better afterward. Strava is an addiction. That I don't want to lose. I now realize that KOM's really meen nothing to me. I will always get them. I will always ride. But,

Let me ask you this, say you buy a box of ******* jacks, don't you expect a prize? You paid for it, you went to buy it, you took possesion of it. Then someone comes along and say's," you can't have it because I can't verify that you paid for it with change or bills". So we are taking your prize. Or you took the last box, so if I can't have it neither can you. What kind of sense is that? Why can't i get my prize?

+50mph is just a reference, some of the Kom's that were taken from me, were for uphills and downhills on the same street. Starting the ride and ending it.

I am no better than anyone. I just ride as hard as I could, for as long as I could, as much as i can. Its just bad that someone thinks I don't deserve everything that I earn.

People and the human race as a whole are sometimes very, very disapointing.

Thirstyman

That video looks like a great sprint training drill to me. The strava thing really makes little sense to me though.

merlinextraligh

there's always an excuse. If you want to race, you can find the time. It's a matter of priorities. If racing isn't a high enough priority for you fine.

If Strava works for you as a virtual substitute, fine, but don't expect people that do pin a number on to care.

There's a binary answer to any carping about how Strava does things in its virtual world: 1) accept it for what it is, limitations and all; or two, take it to the physical world and pin on a number.

Dudelsack 

******* Jacks?

Saltine crackers?

Graham crackers?

banerjek

We need to try not to scare this guy off -- the 41 runs deep in him.

Hey Hbrown -- a guy with with world record speed even without time to train or decent equipment should have no trouble attracting some sponsorship. You might show that 50mph sprint to someone (in real life, not on Strava). They should be throwing high end zoot at you.

EDIT: if your computer spells mph with a k, you might not be going as fast as you think. Also, you should not keep your spare wheel magnet on the wheel.

canam73

I read somewhere that it's called a 'derny'. I think Wiggins collect them. Here is a picture of Bradley, but I couldn't find one with him and a derny:

dmcdam

I love those jersey's that Team Jackazz is wearing this year!

dmcdam

When I was a kid someone unplugged the Pac Man machine at the local arcade after I held the high score for almost a year. I remember being really bummed about so I guess I understand how you feel. But I was like 12.

rjones28 

Maybe @Hbrown is 12. It's not always easy to discern someone's age on the internet.

Psimet2001 

Gotta admit I'm not around here nearly as much as I used to be and without knowing the current crop of personalities as we all moved to Facebook - it's hard to tell whether you're serious or not.

Biggest problem here seems to be that people have a weird idea of what racing and racers and races are like or about.

I've personally started more people in this sport both at a recreational and racing level than I could even begin to recall. I currently have a local team under my company name that has roughly 50 amateurs on it. I focus mainly on women racers with a core focus on top level performers. I do this because we have found over the years that women tend to come to the sport late in life and the depth of talent in the women's fields actually isn't nearly as deep allowing fairly athletic local triathletes, runner, soccer players who have decided to give up the other sports because of injury a huge chance at performing well...quickly.

The rest of my local team is cat 4/5 men. These are my people. Everyday working people with jobs, families, commitments outside of the world of cycling. We've met over the years on group rides or at events, or charity rides, etc. They've been the typical forum user types - closet competitive types. When I point blank ask them, "you ever thought of racing?" they almost always have a laundry list of preconceived notions about what that means and a laundry list of excuses for why they haven't or shouldn't.

I usually just explain the process, address a few of their biggest excuses/fears, and then offer to walk them through it and support them in the process. This usually result in almost 100% of them at least giving it a try. It is a daunting sport/activity that does send out an air of elitism...until you do it and realize it's just like anything else in your area.

So...with this in mind - what would I do if some heavy dude came out of nowhere and smoked everyone in a cat 5 race? I'd introduce myself and ask if he was on a team. Then I'd ask him about his life, job, family and what beer he liked because, well, I've learned that's how to make friends.

So...I have team(s). 1 locally. roughly 50 people. I don't pay a single one of them. They buy their kit. I give them discounts on wheels but I also show up every weekend with a tent for them to warm up in, reapair rack, tools, extra wheels, and general team support like waiting at the line to take their coats so they can be warm until the start and get a coat back the second they finish. I pick them up off the ground if they hit the deck, fix their stuff if it's broken, call their wife if they need someone to pick up the car, and hook them up with good deals on replacement gear if they need it.

In addition I sponsor 5-6 local teams including the National Club of the Year division 1 USA Cycling 2 years in a row with over 200 members. For their races I even usually am the announcer. I have a team in Denver that rides under PSIMET and I sponsor and coordinate a lot of individual athletes across the country as well as the Vanderkitten pro women's team.

Never once have I gone to look anyone up in Strava for any reason. Some racers love it. Just like some recreational riders love it. The racers and pros that I know that use it seem to use it as a way to give each other a hard time or bust each others...you know. One kid I used to sponsor on my team was one of the largest talents I have ever seen. Should have raced as a pro - but his wife was extremely against it. He's got a great relationship with a lot of near local domestic pros. All of which are on Strava. They love going after each other so much that they will drive hours to find some strange segment that the other did just so they can stick it to each other. They've been known to bring teammates and do leadouts, etc. They do it because it's fun.

...now does any one of them give 2 craps what anyone who isn't racing is doing on Strava? no. Not unless it's a friend of theirs. They don't look at leader boards and go, "hey....maybe we should go ride with this guy." No team's president or DS is scouting Strava for talent.

Why? ...because fundamentally it is meaningless when it comes to comparisons to actual racing. Everyone who has raced starts to understand that. Bicycle racing is one of the few sports where the fastest person isn't necessarily going to be the one who wins. It's more a sport about having the intestinal fortitude to go to a venue, sign the waiver and pin the number on and toe the line with 60-80 others who are all going to dive with you into the same corner at the fastest speed they can possibly achieve. It turns out it doesn't have much to do with numbers or uploads and in fact bears such little resemblance to going all out alone on a deserted country road on a segment that it's simply just not the same activity.

So why Strava? Because we are a competitive group by nature. Even though a huge % of us don't in fact have the drive to push us to take that step to actually "race" our bikes on a closed course where safety has been reviewed and officials are present to judge the outcome and to score performances we still have this burning desire to be know that the one time we turned ourselves inside out on our local ride that it somehow measured up and meant something when compared to others.

Like most said....if that makes some people feel good at the end of the day then good for you.

...but it's not racing. Won't ever be racing and bears absolutely no resemblance to what racing really is. There is no possible way to explain what racing really is unless you simply do it. That's why we all keep saying - pay your money, sign the waiver and pin your number on. Until then you're just guessing at best.

...and if you're at one of the 6 races I put on each year then stop by and introduce yourself. We don't bite.

gregf83 

You sound like you're wound a little tight on this Strava topic. I suspect someone (jealous of your 50mph sprints) was just messing with you.

If you're regularly hitting 50mph in a sprint on your own (or with anyone) you'd have no problem racing.

f4rrest

Have you tried to resolve your flagged activities by selecting the option "The activity is fine, trust me" instead of getting upset?
Instructions are here.

Psimet2001 

If he was hitting 13 mph in his sprint he would still have no problem racing. Turns out all it takes is money and the ability to sign a waiver. He just might have a hard time winning a race if that's the case.

....only thing I have ever won in a race is....welll...nothing... 21 years and nothing....

OldsCOOL

Hoo-ruh. Right on.

Will Goes Boing

It took me a long time before I finally gave in and tried Strava. I can see how it would be a great training tool and at the same time a huge d*ck measuring contest. The OP seems to be overly obsessed about measuring himself against other people to reaffirm is delusion of grandeur.

The problem with Strava is that you have people who will find out where the "segments" are.... and when they reach that particular segment will sprint full speed in an attempt to get a KOM. It doesn't really mean much when you were riding 13 mph as a warm up until you hit that segment and then with your fresh legs, sprint full speed.

Another problem is they don't count stop time. On my first Strava ride with a buddy we made a lot of stops.... and normally if you calculate the time and distance my average speed was around 12 mph. But because Strava only counts moving time, it bumped up my average speed to 16 mph. So if a guy wants to make it appear he has a higher average speed he can just take more breaks so during the time he IS riding he can ride much faster with fresher legs.

IMO people who take Strava way too seriously are seriously delusional. Kinda like those clowns who try to chase after me when I pass them while cruising on a recovery ride. If you're THAT competitive.... go compete. There's a time and a place to be competitive. When you're racing against somebody who doesn't even know a race is going on.... what's the point?

Dunbar

I like this feature since I ride in a place with lots of traffic lights and stop signs. And I doubt you're going to KOM many segments if you take lots of breaks.

CharlyAlfaRomeo

If you can consistently put down the fastest times on those segments and it matters that much to you then just go take the KOM again every time it gets taken down and stick it to whoever is flagging your rides.

Will Goes Boing

This kinda reminds me of one time back when I was working at a bike shop.... a customer came in asking me if there was a way to get back all of the "data" that he lost on his cycling computer. He said that he logged X amount of miles in the past year but when the battery died everything was reset so his miles were now reading 0.

He got all bent out of shape and was seriously upset about it. He said he was going to flip his bike upside down in his living room next to his couch and was going to turn the crank with his hand while he watches TV until he gets all of his miles back on the odometer.

MinnMan

You lose cool points for giving a semi-accurate answer to that question. The guy joined bf in 2012, so if he didn't figure it out earlier, then it's best to let him live in a virtual land of wonder, I think

zymphad

I agree. I have hard time believing he can sprint 50mph. Is he really trying to convince people he can ride faster than the fastest track sprinter on the most ideal velodrome? 75 kmph behind a pace bike! Normally around 60kmph solo, which is more like 37 mph. and he can go faster outside against the wind and natural area solo? Eh...

Cavendish claims he has the fastest sprint at 49 mph. Is he really implying he's faster than Cavendish?