Strava thread (for users of)
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Dogsauce
I’ve got Skol but I’m not a Scholar
Rode in a different (longer) route this morning that I've not done before because I'm tired of traffic lights (still finding it difficult starting and clipping in with my new Look cleats/shoes), picked up a third (out of 892) without really going for it (though I was working quite hard), so going back out at lunchtime for another go 
I only need to knock four seconds off over 2.5km, and the forecast has the wind 4mph stronger. Bound to get stuck behinds a load of cows or something.
I only need to knock four seconds off over 2.5km, and the forecast has the wind 4mph stronger. Bound to get stuck behinds a load of cows or something.
plurker
tú no tienes la culpa mi amor que el mundo sea feo
I'm still in two minds over cleats; knowing they'll improve my ride, but FEAR as my commute is traffic-light heavy that they'll be less use anyway. I never do long road rides.
And back on Strava topic, been off the bike for a month as enjoying paternity time, so pretty please to have picked up 2 PBs in the first two days back on the bike - both on downhill segments over Blackfriars Bridge where I'm sitting at 66/12852 riders. Yep, sixty-six of 13 thousand
And using it for running, I've now realised that loads more runners go round Tooting Common in an anticlockwise direction than clockwise!
Dogsauce
I’ve got Skol but I’m not a Scholar
Went out for my lunchtime tactical strike and took 22 seconds off the KOM 4:02 vs 4:24.
Feels a bit mean though, it's a segment that starts at a junction half way up a climb, most people coming at it have already slogged up the relatively steep 30m or so from the bottom, or have suffered the long drag along the very potholed joining road. Simply rolling half-way down, turning round and then powering back up with a 12mph wind up your arse doesn't really feel like a comparative measure of ability! But strava is all tactics!
(and I was only 3s off doing it 'properly' this morning, without really going for it)
plurker How many of the 66 above you were in cars! I'm seeing it quite often up here and that's on segments with only a few hundred on. And how many 'attempts' at a segment with 13,000 on? 66 is very decent. Think 1/1775 is my best KOM, not seem many segments up here with more than about 5000 on, even on the TDF route. Best I have in London is 20-something coming down the east side of Pentonville (just checked, 23/5179), but stuff like that's always hit by lights and traffic, just got lucky with a tailwind and a clear road one evening.
4:02 vs 4:24.Feels a bit mean though, it's a segment that starts at a junction half way up a climb, most people coming at it have already slogged up the relatively steep 30m or so from the bottom, or have suffered the long drag along the very potholed joining road. Simply rolling half-way down, turning round and then powering back up with a 12mph wind up your arse doesn't really feel like a comparative measure of ability! But strava is all tactics!
(and I was only 3s off doing it 'properly' this morning, without really going for it)plurker How many of the 66 above you were in cars! I'm seeing it quite often up here and that's on segments with only a few hundred on. And how many 'attempts' at a segment with 13,000 on? 66 is very decent. Think 1/1775 is my best KOM, not seem many segments up here with more than about 5000 on, even on the TDF route. Best I have in London is 20-something coming down the east side of Pentonville (just checked, 23/5179), but stuff like that's always hit by lights and traffic, just got lucky with a tailwind and a clear road one evening.
plurker
tú no tienes la culpa mi amor que el mundo sea feo
It's hard to tell isn't it
I can get to 34mph, so no reason so think others can't get to 38 or more, on a steep downhill. I'll safely discount the 66mph guy
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rubbershoes
not the only raver in the village
It's hard to tell isn't it
I can get to 34mph, so no reason so think others can't get to 38 or more, on a steep downhill. I'll safely discount the 66mph guy
A mate hit 50mph on a downhill near here
#ballsofsteel
Dogsauce
I’ve got Skol but I’m not a Scholar
I've done 45.6 on the Pashley, down a fuck off straight hill on the A30 dual carriageway in Cornwall. I also had 47mph on the analog speedo on my old Raleigh Magnum going down Midford Hill near Bath when I was a teenager, with a full load of camping kit in the days when that weighed quite a bit. My dad must have been over 50 since he was shooting off ahead of me. Gravity gets the credit really! I wouldn't do that sort of speed on a hill with junctions, bends or crap surfacing.
Dogsauce
I’ve got Skol but I’m not a Scholar
Around here they tend to give it away by going on the inner ring road motorway at some point. I was flabbergasted when a local rider (who is actually very fast) did 47 seconds on a segment where I was chasing the KOM of 1:08. Knowing the guy it was almost plausible until I realised they hadn't come up the slipway and had been on the A58(M). I think it would be possible to do it that fast if you did ride it on the motorway as there's a good decent before you hit the non-motorway bit, whilst everyone else would be ascending the ramp up. They did delete or crop the ride.It's hard to tell isn't it
weepiper
I fix the machines that fight climate change
Cleaned my drivetrain and pumped my tyres up after work, got a 2nd overall on a segment on which previously my best effort has been 8th. I had to slow down quite a bit too because there was a slower cyclist that I came upon just before a corner and I couldn't safely overtake. I can take that QOM I reckon 
will be deeply satisfying if I do because I vaguely know the current holder and she's got a swanky carbon road bike so if I take it on my steel hardtail mtb it'll be a proper scalp
will be deeply satisfying if I do because I vaguely know the current holder and she's got a swanky carbon road bike so if I take it on my steel hardtail mtb it'll be a proper scalp
Dogsauce
I’ve got Skol but I’m not a Scholar
I haven't made any improvements to times on my commuting segments since 7th Aug, and it's last week of the school holidays now so I'll struggle to do any better in term time. Haven't slipped down any further on any segments either, although someone's giving me a bit of competition on some of them. Still need two to have top tens on all of them, ones where I was previously on the leaderboard but slipped down to 11th. One of them is so technical with lights, timing and traffic that it's near on impossible during commute times. Anytime the wind is favourable for it there's a fucking bus at the lights. My new shoes aren't great for this either as it takes ages to clip in, so I can't simply pull up 100m before and wait for the right phase of lights as I'm then bound to make a panicked hash of trying to clip my second foot in. I need to go up there at 3am I think, but I'm not that dedicated!
weepiper
I fix the machines that fight climate change
I did my home commute nearly a whole mph faster average speed than the time I got a 2nd the other day, my max speed was two mph faster too but for reasons known only to itself randomly Strava decided not to match the segment 
*cries*
However I did get 7th out of 50 on a segment on the way in.
*cries*However I did get 7th out of 50 on a segment on the way in.
Dogsauce
I’ve got Skol but I’m not a Scholar
So many fuckwits leaving their strava running then getting in the car at the moment, or doing it in the car just for LOLs, it's all getting a bit messy and pointless. It's the destiny of any 'social media' platform that sooner or later the knobheads turn up.
Dogsauce
I’ve got Skol but I’m not a Scholar
Had my first ride flagged yesterday, accused of doing it in a car. I was working in Carlisle so I took my bike in the back of the hire car so I could pop over to watch the TOB pass through at lunchtime, did a quick check on strava's segment explorer and found a couple of easy scalps on the residential roads near where I was working so pelted through them on the way to take a couple of new KOMs, which clearly someone took umbridge with! I feel strangely proud. It was only out of eleven riders FFS. Got one on the way back on the main road too, but that was a shared one (equalling the previous KOM) so doesn't show up on my profile list.
Dogsauce
I’ve got Skol but I’m not a Scholar
A guy at work was using Strava on an electric bike, just to track their ride quite innocently without thinking that people would attach much meaning to the segments. I think he got a few KOMs on hills (and probable got flagged) before realising people gave a shit and this was 'cheating'!
weepiper
I fix the machines that fight climate change
I am deffo getting faster 
That last one's frustrating, the QOM is six seconds faster than me but I'm not sure I believe she was doing it on a bike. I'm 19th out of 524 including the men and I dunno how I can get an extra six seconds but will keep trying. Edit, I see I also beat my managing director by two seconds on that segment 
That last one's frustrating, the QOM is six seconds faster than me but I'm not sure I believe she was doing it on a bike. I'm 19th out of 524 including the men and I dunno how I can get an extra six seconds
but will keep trying. Edit, I see I also beat my managing director by two seconds on that segment 
DownwardDog
Riding a Brompton with a power meter.
All KoM/QoMs are considered dubious unless they have HRM and power meter figures on them. Although someone from my cycling club did wait for a favourable wind and did a blood bag to secure a particularly prestigious KoM...
Dogsauce
I’ve got Skol but I’m not a Scholar
Picked up another couple of easy crowns on the way in this morning, now up to 50 (with a few more shared ones). 80% of these are crap KOMs, but still fun chasing them. Really thick fog today and I had a rucksack, so it was supposed to be a mission to scope out a couple so that I could have a proper go at them on a better day, but apparently this was still fast enough, even with a pause at the lights.
There's a London-based rider up here at the moment who's out hunting segments around my bit of town and smashing a lot of them, doing rides like this:
Bike Ride Profile | Local ride near Leeds | Times and Records | Strava
I've been untouched so far, but it feels a little bit tense knowing they're out there! Only a matter of time before they take a couple off me and I know I'll be cross about it. Some very impressive times on some of the local climbs, taking segments that have been held for years.
There's a London-based rider up here at the moment who's out hunting segments around my bit of town and smashing a lot of them, doing rides like this:
Bike Ride Profile | Local ride near Leeds | Times and Records | Strava
I've been untouched so far, but it feels a little bit tense knowing they're out there! Only a matter of time before they take a couple off me and I know I'll be cross about it. Some very impressive times on some of the local climbs, taking segments that have been held for years.
plurker
tú no tienes la culpa mi amor que el mundo sea feo
Dogsauce
I’ve got Skol but I’m not a Scholar
Another detour on my commute, another two crowns on the pile (pile now stands at 54, 52 of which have been done on the 'new' bike since June). Didn't expect the first one (long, mostly flat, quite a few good riders on the leaderboard), was just sizing it up but took it by four seconds, the second that looked easy (shortish drag, only 32 people ridden it) I only scraped it by one second.
I've kind of given up for now on trying to get a top ten on all the segments on my inbound commute, the last two can't really be done in traffic, short and technical, requires luck with lights and traffic. I have been in the top ten on both since I started this challenge so I've sort of achieved it, but I've never been on the leaderboard for all thirty at the same time.
With autumn kicking in you have to ride a bit more sedately when commuting, damp roads and darker skies require more defensive cycling. I was filtering at some lights this morning and my back wheel slipped on some painted double yellows which woke me up a bit.
I've kind of given up for now on trying to get a top ten on all the segments on my inbound commute, the last two can't really be done in traffic, short and technical, requires luck with lights and traffic. I have been in the top ten on both since I started this challenge so I've sort of achieved it, but I've never been on the leaderboard for all thirty at the same time.
With autumn kicking in you have to ride a bit more sedately when commuting, damp roads and darker skies require more defensive cycling. I was filtering at some lights this morning and my back wheel slipped on some painted double yellows which woke me up a bit.
rubbershoes
not the only raver in the village
Anyone else got any concerns about strava's accuracy? Strava recorded my run as 15.7 miles but my mate's fitbit clocked it at 14.9
I'm telling everyone I did the full 15.7 of course
I'm telling everyone I did the full 15.7 of course
