Local Legends are mildly embarrassing
Agreed. If I could turn that feature off I would.
Had a few KOM's that turned out to be new segments that only one other person has ridden. Some what disappointing compared to a PR on a climb I do most weeks.
I have a second place on a segment. Impossible as I'm old and slow. I paused my computer and forget to set it going again afterwards for a few seconds. It turns out I was mid segment so the moving time was ridiculously short.
Also tunnels (or really anywhere the GPS signal is compromised I suppose). There are some very brisk runs through the Manchester Airport tunnels. My first thought was cheating sods in cars. But no, the same happened to me. So it's loss of signal.
Local Legends are mildly embarrassing
They are also massively inaccurate. I'm Local Legend on a few sectors and Strava is giving me far more efforts in the last 90 days than I have actually done.
Mugdock is particularly bad cos everything's so windy and the trees are dense. What segments are they? In general for anything <1 min I'd take it with a fairly huge grain of salt. 15 second segments are just a lottery really.
There are some very brisk runs through the Manchester Airport tunnels. My first thought was cheating sods in cars. But no, the same happened to me. So it’s loss of signal.
I use the cycle paths when going under the Manchester airport tunnels and feel like it would be suicidal to go full gas down there. My GPS always cuts out when halfway under them like you say.
My PR for fire beaters in mugdock was gained when I went along the road beside it .
I could create a gpx file on Memory Map, add a date and speed with track editor and give myself a KOM without leaving the house.
The shine has definitely gone off Strava for me. I say this as someone who happened to start road riding around the time Strava took off (and definitely was one of the "young Strava idiots who are ruining rides" that the older riders complained about).
It's kinda fun for road, but less so now that basically all segments have pro-level KOMs. It's pretty pointless for MTB, unless you just like recording mileage, as GPS accuracy under tree cover is nowhere near good enough. Even on road, GPS accuracy varies hugely with the quality of the recording device, and signal level (affected by buildings, trees, clouds, etc etc), and Strava will do pre-processing on uploaded rides to "fit" them to roads.
As part of a recent mission to decrease my dependence on tech, I got rid of my Garmin, and have old-school bike computers on most of my bikes. Seems to me that it's more fun to pay attention to the people you are riding with.
I mostly use strava for height distance and fitness tracking as a ready reckoner.
It amuses me greatly to see how it makes people so competitive, especially given its obvious limitations.
That said, in lock down V1 I was stuck with one small woods for nearly all of my riding, and chasing friends times added a useful dimension to the same venue to avoid boredom.
I also like ones personal heatmap.
Segments kept me motivated last year during lockdown. I had some right battles with a few locals, it was great fun. It's pretty hilly around here (peak district) and I'm only interested in the uphill stuff which tends to range from 2-3 minutes long to almost 20 minutes. We even had a 43km mostly off road segment set up that took over 2 hours and found there was less than 10 seconds in it between myself and my mate that rode it at a different time!
In fact between a few mates we had a few "races". We picked 3 or 4 climbs / segments and all rode them flat out on the same day at a time to suit ourselves. The winner had the lowest overall time. That was a huge amount of fun in the absence of any proper racing. Pretty sure there used to be a 3rd party app that linked in with Strava called Mates Race a few years back which took care of the timings etc. Doesn't seem to exist anymore which is a shame.
I think segments are what you make of them. I think they're great fun and motivating for a number of reasons.
A guy near me rides to obscure places to create segments and then claim the KOM for his own segment. It could be in a field or on the side of a canal with no path. Met him once and he was like "I have 30 pages of KOM's" Weirdo!
Met him once and he was like “I have 30 pages of KOM’s”
You must be pretty quick then eh? Where do you come on <big local climb>?
It amuses me greatly to see how it makes people so competitive, especially given its obvious limitations.
I have worked very hard for a KOM, but it was a challenge to myself, nothing to do with the others. All they did was set an arbitrary but achievable goal.
they seem to have quietly dropped the feature that gave you the KoM for that year?
I did a ride early on new years day, the day they released it and it surprised me a little...
Met him once and he was like “I have 30 pages of KOM’s” Weirdo!
Anyone else slightly envious of their female riding pals who have similar numbers of legit QOMs?
they seem to have quietly dropped the feature that gave you the KoM for that year?
They dropped it within the year IIRC.
You can still see your ranking for "this year" (if you have Premium, probably). I find that useful for trails that have been substantially changed by weather, trees down etc.
Up at Mugdock there are a few trails that start and finish on main paths and when you look at the route the faster riders have done it is clear they are on the main path but have triggered the segment. Riverside trail and Ken's Mangina both have this. But then again lots of the fast times are held by very good riders and it is highly likely they are pretty accurate.
@sillyoldman
Half egils is the 42mph one, Mangina is the one with 10 attempts. Can remember if it was the first or 2nd part he has the KOM for and Rocky Mud Drop is another where the segment starts and ends on double track.
@meikle_partans
Yes they've triggered the segment but then they intentionally gone as fast as possible to achieve the KOM with full knowledge of what they are doing. I hit one of these going flat out and achieved 15 seconds. Now I know I said I'm not super fast but I am pretty decent and I've been biking 28+ years and ride regularly and came within 3 seconds of the KOM on a single attempt. But this proves that they're doing it intentionally. I just find that sad as they're not really allowing the person who truly has the KOM on that segment to be happy with themselves that they've achieved something.
the feature that gave you the KoM for that year?
AKA "the plastic crown".
i'd lost most of them by the end of the day...
Load of old bores on here!
Me and my mates regularly set segment challenges with each other, similar to @r8jimbob88 above. Keeps things interesting, especially being as we've been confined to pancake-flat South Manchester for months on end when we'd normally be riding the Peaks most weeks (on the MTBs).
Road riding is dull. Strava makes it slightly less dull, Strava coupled with mates makes it almost bearable.
Plus, it's fun to go out on a fully racked commuter and try to burst some blood vessels beating times set by whippets on TT bikes...
Yes they’ve triggered the segment but then they intentionally gone as fast as possible to achieve the KOM with full knowledge of what they are doing.
That's... the point?
Strava is toss. 900ft different in a ride last night same start n end point....
times set by whippets on TT bikes…
riding in a big group slipstreaming a lorry doing 55 mph with a following gale. That's pretty much what you've got to do round here, but we've had the TdF go past twice and Td Yorks raising the bar.
riding in a big group slipstreaming a lorry doing 55 mph with a following gale. That’s pretty much what you’ve got to do round here, but we’ve had the TdF go past twice and Td Yorks raising the bar.
Meanwhile, Sam Hill has the KOM on one of my favourite local descents.
He probably only rode it once, blind. I've ridden it 352 times and I'm still two seconds off his time (and probably only got that close thanks to a favourable GPS trace).
Still, at least I'm the Local Legend, eh?
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bloodsexmagik
Free MemberMugdock is particularly bad cos everything’s so windy and the trees are dense. What segments are they? In general for anything <1 min I’d take it with a fairly huge grain of salt. 15 second segments are just a lottery really
This.
Mugdock = bad
Short segments = very bad
Mugdock + short segments = just forget about it
That’s… the point?
It's fun? It winds up boring sods? Both?
I have a few running KoM's, only 1 I got my targeting it, I'd got close the week before without trying and thought I'd have a crack.
KoM's are fun, they can add a bit of focus to otherwise innocuous training runs/rides.
Plus, what's wrong with being competitive, it's not a proper race but it's still enjoyable.
d. I’ve ridden it 352 times and I’m still two seconds off his time
I'd be telling everyone too.
(I actually would. Quite often. This thread is basically for telling everyone you have or have had KoMs, but they're obviously just for fun and you don't take it seriously, oh no. I've probably a few unpopular off road uphill ones left, and a few downhill leaderboards where the kids don't ride. Forget it where they do.)
@Haggis1978 - Half Eglis is glitchy as hell - as is Rocky Mud Drop. GPS not accurate enough.
I don't mind folk trying segments over and over, though 10 attempts at Mangina may be a bit OTT! Main issue I have is people straight-lining trails, and modifying them to be easier. Ruins it for everyone.
Mangina is a case in point. A group of us built it (inc Ken obviously), and keep going back to block the myriad of new straight lines through the 1st section, only for them to be opened up agin a day or two later. 1st section is supposed to be awkward/janky - that's its "appeal".
Strava is a strange phenomenon. I dont care but I really do.
On Friday I rode a trail i have ridden over a hundred times, didnt feel fast at all/some muddy bits but took 22s of my PB. It was def an error but I still took it happily.
Another trail i was riding with a mate. I started first and he took of just after me, 2 or 3 seconds at most behind me. We finished the trail side by side. Our times? He was 18seconds faster. Should I have cared? No. Did I? Yes! I bitched about it for days.
Strava is toss. 900ft different in a ride last night same start n end point
Not Strava, your GPS is toss. Guessing it doesn't have a barometric altimeter does it?
Must admit, there is a bit of a buzz from getting a kom, mainly from the fact I've probably taken it from one of the local racers who take it seriously.
I don't like the KOM thing because it encourages the competitive people to be even more competitive, yeah they usually end up top on strava, but don't appear top at the races (I'm more on about enduro/dh racers, the top xcers on strava seem to be the fastest at races).
Then the fast sponsored big names are usually at the pointy end of the leaderboards but not usually topping them.
Don't know if this is an observation peculiar to where I ride (Surrey and Hampshire), but a common trend.
Ie if you're taking every ride seriously and trying to "win" all the time, you're probably shooting yourself in the foot.
I Strava every ride, but have zero interest in HR, Power or virtual rides and regarding segments times it’s pretty easy to look through the leaderboard and judge what times are genuine and what aren’t.
I use it more for an digital diary of my riding and name each ride with photos, and enjoy looking back over them, especially this last year, I did 253 rides and when looking back through can remember something about all of them.
I’ve also learnt various new trails and variations of routes by looking other peoples rides from the leaderboards, and even met new riding friends, from Kudos and comments.
[Smurf Matt mode on]
Although on a local loop last week, I saw someone on on the other side of the hill heading for the same run I was, I caught and passed them on the 40 second segment, but Strava had just the 2 of us that day and he was 2 seconds quicker than me. Frikin Apple Watch wearing mincers.
[Smurf Matt mode off]
bruneep
Full MemberThat’s a “sorry you’re not good enough to get a kom but thanks for turning up lots of times trying ” 😉
Exactly! That's why it's serious.
(OK seriously, I'm not trying for KOMs, not since some bastard took my one legit one away... I barely even try for personal best at the moment because my hated enemy Fit Northwind From Five Years Ago got there first. But I do like the local legend thing of just racking up efforts)
I’d be telling everyone too.
It's taken me seven years to chip it down to 2secs, so yes, I rarely shut up about it.
Not Strava, your GPS is toss. Guessing it doesn’t have a barometric altimeter does it?
Posted 33 minutes ago
No neither did my mates, so both GPS based overlapping the same ground from a gps trace 900ft, I clocked 1000 and Jason 900ft
Over an 11mile loop that's some error.
Strava Ft are pointless but you'd expect a closer alignment than that
KOMers, you're an extra easy target for thieves so make sure you tighten your Strava security right up (Request to Follow, Fakename, Privacy Zones)
my hated enemy Fit Northwind From Five Years Ago got there first.
Ha ha ha ,yeah I look at some of my fitter and more evil twin's times from years ago and celebrate when I get anywhere close to those times.
One of my commuting routes has the ToB down it regularly. The segment is just under 5km long and the KoM is around 60km/h average! On a really good day I'm only 25km/h slower.
@sillyoldman
Thanks for building That. Think Mangina is great , like a pump track in the trees with a bit of pedalling to go uphill
I'm definitely a bit of a KOM hunter but its for nothing other than gauging my speed - I race and I'm a competitive b*gger and Strava is good for that (minus the inaccuracies that you'd expect from GPS in a dense forest), I don't see anything wrong with it as long as you're responsible.
Have had a fair few battles with Sillyoldman on a number of the trails in Mugdock and in particular Mangina where there is 1sec between us - we know the trail very well and ride the proper line and I know if I'm close to him on any trail up there I'm riding well. It's frustrating though when some riders just smash the fireroad that runs parallel, or straight-line a trail to take your time by quite a fair bit...it happens loads in Mugdock for the reasons others have mentioned, not much you can do though.
Not that it really matters but I know who has the KOM on Mangina, and he races XC. So the 'Did it 10 times to get the KOM' might not necessarily be more than him using it as part of his training loop. As I have done as well. Or maybe he just wanted the KOM, who knows.
And his time is beatable I think, so just get out there and pedal harder.
Most of the straight lines are still blocked I think (and some are just slower anyway...). Does need to be dry for a good attempt though. There used to be a few attempts where people had gone along the fireroad and joined the trail at the fire break uphill bit but they seem to have all been flagged now, so think the times left are fairly legit.
KOMers, you’re an extra easy target for thieves so make sure you tighten your Strava security right up (Request to Follow, Fakename, Privacy Zones)
have we ever seen any proof that this occurs?
it all seems to originate from 2 cases where people were quick to decide without any real evidence that they must have been followed on strava rather than, you know, followed in real life.
There's a whole cycling club "squad" of post-middle aged lycra-clad mountain bikers around me.
The KoM's aren't particularly difficult to grab - so I ended up whilst in lockdown taking most of them (300w for a few minutes, that kind of thing). Apparently they were all held by the same nerds, so I have found myself this year recieving about two emails a week as these blokes go out in a small team, bimble up, go full ham and then claim a few seconds off my time. I've had to turn emails off.
it all seems to originate from 2 cases where people were quick to decide without any real evidence that they must have been followed on strava rather than, you know, followed in real life.
Not sure you'll find proof, but without decent privacy settings in Strava and on wider social media you will be followed from the other end of an internet connection which is infinitely easier and more scalable for organised gangs than driving around. It's obvious you can be a victim of both but it's super-easy to mitigate the Strava risk, so why not?
My statement comes primarily from my own dabbling into the best / easiest / fastest sources of Strava data that are likely to yield high-value equipment amongst the background noise of casual activity recording. There are other techniques too but I'm not going to blab too much - just keep insisting people button up their Strava profiles.
