Viewing 40 posts - 1 through 40 (of 60 total)
  • Malicious flagging on Strava
  • Shackleton
    Full Member

    So I know it is a bit of a first world problem but….

    I recently started using Strava, mainly as a way of seeing how much I ride and keeping track of where I ride. On many of my local rides that include Templeton woods in Dundee I have been flagged for “bad GPS data”.

    The flags all appeared suddenly, straight after someone falsely accused me in a direct message of trail vandalism (I removed a trashed obstacle from the trail so that it was usable again). All of the flagged rides, historically and since, either include the bit of trail where I moved the wreckage or another nearby trail where I got KOM. Interestingly the one ride that isn’t flagged is where I didn’t get KOM for these trails.

    The account used to send the message has zero activity associated with it so I can only assume that it was created by someone for the express purpose of harassing me. I suspect that the flags also come from this account. I have tried to resolve this through strava but as soon as a flag disappears it is reinstated.

    Is there anyway to stop someone doing this? I know it isn’t the end of the world but this kind of petty malice really bugs me, particularly as it stops me using some of the things that strava is useful for.

    Humph.

    Shackleton
    Full Member

    Tried that a week ago with no result or acknowledgment. Is it normally a slow process?

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    taxi25
    Free Member

    If the flags are coming from an account with no activity, I would have thought Strava would suspend that account. Try them again.

    poisonspider
    Free Member

    Do you know the person? How did they know it was you (on Strava) that removed the obstacle?

    Could you just create a new profile and start again?

    the00
    Free Member

    c’mon, what was the ‘obstacle’?

    whitestone
    Free Member

    Strava support can be glacially slow, I think my last ticket with them took over a month.

    Submit a ticket, include links to all activities and segments that are under discussion. Explain that “a user” is continually flagging them as bad GPS data (I’m assuming that they genuinely aren’t) and as soon as the flags are removed then the user reinstates them. Point out that the account has no Strava activity. Then wait.

    Strava should have an email address associated with the account so it’s up to them to discuss it with the person involved. Unfortunately even if the account is deleted it’s quite easy to set another up from a different IP and email address.

    bigblackshed
    Full Member

    Or if your account is just for you to track your rides, then set it to private, don’t follow anyone, don’t let anyone follow you.

    You still get to see how you compare on the leader boards for segments, it’s just with less willy waving.

    Shackleton
    Full Member

    The GPS data all look fine to me. I’ve sent strava all the links, etc. so hopefully something will happen. I may just make a new account as I’ve only been riding with strava for 8 weeks so I’m not going to lose much.

    They “knew” it was me because I spent 15 minutes with my GPS signal bobbling around where the obstacle was. This was me working out what it was meant to be (best guess was a small hip jump), deciding if a repair was possible with what was left (not even with the best will in the world) followed by removing the logs from the trail, making sure that the wire and nails used to secure whatever it had been/was going to be weren’t going to harm anyone and generally making good. I also went and removed the branches that had been lain across corners and berms further up.

    We seem to have an aggressive stick man who has started to lay barbed wire into berms and puts rocks around blind corners.

    Shackleton
    Full Member

    You still get to see how you compare on the leader boards for segments, it’s just with less willy waving

    I thought if it was private you couldn’t compare? If I’m wrong that would be a good solution. Thanks, I’ll give it a go.

    Although I now feel that I want my activities reinstated just so that I can beat the nasty little sod and make sure that he knows he is beaten. Or is that getting too petty……

    Ming the Merciless
    Free Member

    We’ve a local roadie, who is blistering quick and will session segments until he KOM’s it, but should anyone take a KOM off him he’ll flag it instantly every time. It’s got so bad that people are going out in packs and drafting somebody through segments to KOM them just to wind him up!

    Oh and the outrage he expressed when being accused of using DEPO was hilarious.

    andysredmini
    Free Member

    I get it a lot on one section of trail that now has a cut through around the main obstacle on the trail. It’s a flat out rooty trail with a nasty left hand turn then a right round a few trees. I had the KOM for months then got flagged. I didnt care or think any more about it and went down a few weeks later and got the KOM again. Got flagged again. I didn’t do anything about it but got the KOM again next time I rode it. Straight away it was flagged. The next time I went down the trail with a mate he was in front and he didn’t turn left. He shot straight though a cutting in the bushes meaning he didn’t have to slow at all for the bend. I never knew it existed. Out of curiosity I looked at every other time other than mine in the top 10 ish and none of them slow for the corner and shoot straight through the bushes. Someone must be really sad to let this bother them enough to flag everyone who beats their time. I won’t use the cut through though. The trail has gone round the trees since I started riding it 20 years ago and if some tossers are that desperate for a KOM they are welcome to it.

    Junkyard
    Free Member

    trail vandalism (I removed a trashed obstacle from the trail so that it was usable again)

    This was me working out what it was meant to be (best guess was a small hip jump),

    So essentially you decided someones jump should not be there and removed it and you are surprised this pissed them off? 😯

    Shackleton
    Full Member

    @Junky – did you bother to read my earlier posts? Where did I say I removed a jump? You even quote me saying that it was trashed!

    I found a pile of wreckage on the trail. I guessed that it had probably been a small hip jump (mainly based on the tyre tracks immediately after it) before it became the pile of strewn logs ,loose nails and sprays of sharp wire that confronted me. As I said earlier I looked it over, decided that it was vandalized beyond repair so I moved the remains out of the way so that the trail was rideable again and no one was likely to come to harm from the remains (not the case with the way the wreckage was left). It had been very deliberately broken: wire cut with cutters, every branch used snapped in half, etc.

    Unfortunately you and the petty Stravtard seem to have the same ability to look at minimal evidence and effortlessly leap to the wrong conclusion.

    JEngledow
    Free Member

    I found a pile of wreckage on the trail.

    If you were the first person to find the trashed jump the person who’s flagging your rides may think it was you that did the trashing!

    chakaping
    Free Member

    Do you have a local FB group where you can broach the subject with the aggrieved party?

    Shackleton
    Full Member

    If you were the first person to find the trashed jump the person who’s flagging your rides may think it was you that did the trashing!

    I suspect that this is the case. I replied to their PM explaining the situation ( I even offered some help with maintaining the trails as I just do bits and bobs on my own at the moment), heard nothing back but now seem to be under siege from mad flagging guy.

    No idea about facebook. I don’t use it but there may be something local. Thanks, good idea.

    jambalaya
    Free Member

    I would be tempted to session the section multiple times, each as a new Strava ride and then upload the lot, if he flags them report him and just reload again (not sure if you can do that). Then you have a set of times all done on same day and all probably quite close.

    TBH I find the whole strava-ego stuff ridiculous especially for MTB descents. It can understand it for timing roadie climbs or loops but mtb descending – thats ridiculous as the “corner cutting” shows

    fifeandy
    Free Member

    So essentially you decided someones jump should not be there and removed it and you are surprised this pissed them off?

    Just to play devils advocate you could also argue that someone adding a home made jump to a trail is equally vandalising the trail for others. I’m pretty sure the trails themselves didn’t construct a jump out of branches/wire/nails as a freak occurrence of nature.

    Junkyard
    Free Member

    did you bother to read my earlier posts? Where did I say I removed a jump? You even quote me saying that it was trashed!

    I got lucky with the quote function
    it as unclear as to whether you considered the jump “trash” r it was trashed”
    It is not unclear now as to why you removed it

    they may have reached the same false conclusion I jut did

    ferrals
    Free Member

    Just to play devils advocate you could also argue that someone adding a home made jump to a trail is equally vandalising the trail for others

    I wouldn’t say that’s devils advocate, I’d say that’s fact. If your building a trail from scratch do what you want, if its a natural trail its out of order… not to mention dangerous if they aren’t in clear vis

    D0NK
    Full Member

    I found a pile of wreckage on the trail.

    one man’s wreckage is another man’s “feature”. Either you trashed someone’s pride and joy or someone else trashed it and your clean up operation on strava looked to them likely candidate for the original offence. Either way it’s understandable how they might jump to the conclusion they did.

    As others said should be easy to clear up the misunderstanding if you can get in touch with them.

    joeydeacon
    Free Member

    How do you tell who’s flagging a KOM? I’m 2nd on a climb, with a bit of a gap til 3rd, and someone keeps flagging the KOM leader as having cheated (he didn’t, he’s way faster than me) so it probably looks like it me doing it?

    Rockape63
    Free Member

    TBH I find the whole strava-ego stuff ridiculous especially for MTB descents. It can understand it for timing roadie climbs or loops but mtb descending – thats ridiculous as the “corner cutting” shows

    I dunno…as long as everyone sticks to the trail then clearly it shows who’s the biggest badass descender in toon! If you feel the need to take shortcuts…you’re only cheating yourself.

    as for the roadie stuff, thats waay more suspect, as theres all sorts of things that can influence a fast time, from high tail winds, drafting, e bikes and ….doing it in your car!

    Rockape63
    Free Member

    where do you live/ride Shackleton?

    Shackleton
    Full Member

    For

    one man’s wreckage is another man’s “feature”.

    See

    It had been very deliberately broken: wire cut with cutters, every branch used snapped in half, etc.

    It was quite clearly wrecked, despite apparently being well built originally. Even if they did think it was me aren’t there more grown up ways of going about it that don’t involve jumping to conclusions (rarely a good thing to do)? Maybe start a dialogue, explain the situation, investigate and go from there rather than flag sniping?

    Next time I’m going to take a photo. It looked like something you would have found between trenches in WWI. Or possibly modern art. If I knew who it was I’d try and talk to them. I did attempt that with the “blank” account but didn’t get a response other than a load of flags.

    Shackleton
    Full Member

    where do you live/ride Shackleton?

    Dundee

    Rockape63
    Free Member

    I got lucky with the quote function
    it as unclear as to whether you considered the jump “trash” r it was trashed”
    It is not unclear now as to why you removed it
    they may have reached the same false conclusion I jut did

    Or Junky…you could just say I leapt to conclusions, Sorry!

    Rockape63
    Free Member

    I ignored Strava for years as I’m far too competitive for my own good and likely to kill myself….however when I compare my times on some of my local mtb descents, I’m sooo far off the pace its not something that bothers me too much.

    Did one last night that was new to me and was terrifying in places. When I reached the last bit at the bottom, I decided to dismount and warn my pals behind to do the same…however he ignored me and 2 hrs later was in A & E. 😮

    Being older and wiser does have its benefits occasionally! 🙂

    anyway back OT, its clearly not a geographical thing for people to go out and break up new mtb tracks and leave obstructions…in my closest area Norbury Park, we have a Phantom Log Dropper. (fortunately wooden logs tho!)

    fasthaggis
    Full Member

    Shackleton
    If you mail me I can give you a name in Dundee council( he helped set the trails up) to get in touch with about trail vandalism.

    Shackleton
    Full Member

    Cheers fasthaggis. The trails aren’t the official tangle ones. Do you think they would still be interested?

    fasthaggis
    Full Member

    Yes, because it will get passed on to the countryside Rangers as well. They already have enough headaches with the motocross kids, but if someone is intentionally setting up traps in some areas it’s worth letting them know.

    Shackleton
    Full Member

    cheers, have sent you an email.

    Junkyard
    Free Member

    Or Junky…you could just say I leapt to conclusions, Sorry!

    just after you say sorry i was a bit vague 😉

    hora
    Free Member

    OP why not just move on and simply ride your bike?

    Anyone who goes out to get repeated KOMs against complete strangers should mix with humans more in social situations away from the bike.

    Shackleton
    Full Member

    OP why not just move on and simply ride your bike?

    Anyone who goes out to get repeated KOMs against complete strangers should mix with humans more in social situations away from the bike.

    Dear Hora,

    Thank you for completely missing the point. Again. If you read from the top you will see that this is about preventing petty malice against me rather than KOM willy waving. Being bullied isn’t nice, particularly when it is done anonymously and for no other reason than spite.

    Being new to strava I was unsure of what to do but as others have pointed out I can get all of the functions I want without having to have any of my rides publicly visible. So that solves the problem of me receiving harassment. It doesn’t solve the problem of there being a nasty, small minded douchebag deliberately being unpleasant and malicious towards people who can ride better than them.

    Having moved to the area 3 years ago, and with many heavy and unavoidable demands on my time, I’m grateful that you reminded me that I don’t know anyone besides my wife to ride, climb or really do anything with. It is easy to forget until you realise that you are talking to yourself. I must put “making new friends” on my to do list. As you seem to be something of a master at getting people to like you on here could you come up to Dundee and give me some tips?

    Best wishes,

    Shackleton

    aracer
    Free Member

    To be fair, it is compulsory on any thread about Strava for somebody to post suggesting that people using it are complete losers (though we’re still awaiting the post suggesting that it’s pointless as everybody cheats)

    makecoldplayhistory
    Free Member

    Strava’s pointless and everyone cheats anyway 🙂

    Hora and most of us ae adept at missing the point but from the sound of it you can

    a) wait for Strava to get around to your ticket although the Strav-tard can simply set up another account

    b) you set up another account

    c) turn your account to private

    But you should find out if there’s a local facebook group for riders. Mention it on there. You’ll either make some new mates to ride with, find out who’s so pissed off with you and end it or, preferably, both. Riding with the OH or by yourself is fun but it’s nice to ride in a group too.

    hora
    Free Member

    I’m not into Strava. It just adds data, figures and is the opposite of a relaxing hobby out with nature to me.

    Keep your point to yourself!

    Lifer
    Free Member

    Oh the ironing

Viewing 40 posts - 1 through 40 (of 60 total)

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