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Damn Strava!

SCARY

Not long enough
I'm kind of addicted to this thing,but it's revealed too much about myself .
I started using it to help recover from last years accident and it's done a great job keeping me on track and motivated to recover fully ,but...

1)I suck as a cyclist.I have NO power compared to people on Strava that I know and if they do ride with me it's cuz their legs are tired from the 25 miler they did before lunch.

2)I love road bikes.I love to look at them,to ogle over the carbon fiber and the newest cool techy stuff on them.But,after about an hour,..Im done.I have no Idea how these guys ride for hours on end.Although,I do like riding in traffic.It wakes me up and makes me think I could be a bike courier....if I liked riding for hours on end and people didn't mind their packages being hours late.

3)I think everyone else likes riding their bikes alot more than I do.I mean, I rode for 45minutes 5 days ago,isn't that enough?

4)I've quickly figured out that the fast guys in pro class have an innate skill/fitness/balls combination that they are born with and they've figured out that their natural abilities combined with effort,gets you somewhere.This is not me.I may have some of the "balls" ,but just enough to get me short of the podium and usually in an ER.

5)Also,I suck at cycling.I only enjoy going down a mtn really fast on a DH bike.Like 35-45 mph range.I don't like climbing much at all.I wish I did.Alot of people seem to get a sense of accomplishment with it.I just get what I guess feels like an aneurism and a certainty that lactic builds up in my legs at 8x the normal amount.

So,thanks Strava.I hate you and love you at the same time.I love your sexy techy-ness and your brutal honesty and I hate,well...I hate that youve pointed out that the bar of "good cyclist" is further away than I want it to be.

See,you tommorow,damn Strava .
 

csermonet

Monkey
Mar 5, 2010
942
127
In my experience, running strava on an iPhone 4S, it has been highly inaccurate. Our local DH trails are only 1:15 for a fast guy, and I've seen strava times fluctuate as much as 20 seconds. Apparently I'm using it incorrectly, or its just a stupid gimmick. Imma go with the stupid gimmick ;) haha, I ride first and foremost for fun, and strava takes the fun factor down by turning everything into a race. Not to mention you have people taking cheater lines and logging faster times, assuming it is accurate. Strava is the gayness
 

OGRipper

back alley ripper
Feb 3, 2004
10,647
1,116
NORCAL is the hizzle
Just ride your bike, have fun, and don't worry about other people.

And for sure don't buy into the notion that slower guys don't deserve nice bikes. If you like it and you can afford it, rock it.
 

jnooth

Monkey
Sep 19, 2008
384
1
Vermont Country
I think strava is great if used as a training tool. I love being able tp track mileage and every other espect of every ride. I love being competitive, especialy with myself. It pushes me to ride harder every time im out and since I have started using it as a training tool I have seen improvements in my riding for sure. I have no problem forgeting about the clock when all I want is just a fun ride through the woods.

I use the iphone app and so far i have onoly ran into a few instances of inacuracy. for example i was following a buddy also using the app and our times for a particular segment were minutes apart when realisticly they should have been within a few seconds. But those are maybe 1 or 2 times out of hours and hours of use. that seems acurate enough for me concidering its a free service.
 

mattmatt86

Turbo Monkey
Feb 9, 2005
5,347
10
Bleedmore, Murderland
I've never used strava but if it's anything like the 10 other Iphone apps I've tried to track mountain biking it's highly inaccurate. Take everything with a grain of salt.
 

OGRipper

back alley ripper
Feb 3, 2004
10,647
1,116
NORCAL is the hizzle
Yes it can be hard to go really fast for many hours on a bicycle. If you are just discovering this, you probably need to ride with other people more.

I mean, what you're saying is like saying: "The thing about lifting weights is that they are so damn heavy."
 

SCARY

Not long enough
I occasionally ride with other people.But mostly I ride when can squeak it in and it tends to be on short notice from being self employed.

It's not that it's hard to go for that long(it is)but its more that it dosent interest me,on top of sucking.Its a bad combo for motivation.And I can't justify spending 10 hrs a week riding just to prove I can do it.Ive known I kinda suck a certain aspects of cycling for a long time ,I just can see why now,that's all.
 

bizutch

Delicate CUSTOM flower
Dec 11, 2001
15,928
24
Over your shoulder whispering
Strava does math for me. That's what I like about it.

Wish I had the Garmin Edge 250 though. I hate leaving my damn phone on during my rides. Getting a call on Black Mtn trail ruins my run, even if it's on vibrate.
 

gonefirefightin

free wieners
I dig strava a lot. It is a little qwerky using a mobile device but I mostly use my edge devices. It sorts my bikes and has odometer for each one so I know when maintence is due on all components like chains, wheels, cables etc. plus the mapping and number crunching is good for me since it is at a glance for instant feed back. Def worth the premium membership if you ride as much as I do.

The challenges are fun as well
 

djjohnr

Turbo Monkey
Apr 21, 2002
3,001
1,693
Northern California
I only use Strava to find poach-able trails that dumb asses are nice enough to map for me. Unfortunately they also do it for rangers at the same time.
 

Kanye West

220# bag of hacktastic
Aug 31, 2006
3,740
470
Although,I do like riding in traffic.It wakes me up and makes me think I could be a bike courier....if I liked riding for hours on end and people didn't mind their packages being hours late.
This is definitely in the top 5 dumbest things you've posted. Maybe the top 3.


I've found the whole Strava thing to be silly. >90% of the time peoples times aren't anywhere near accurate anyway because their I-phones or Droids aren't getting data fast enough or with enough repeatability to matter.
 

SCARY

Not long enough
This is definitely in the top 5 dumbest things you've posted. Maybe the top 3.
I'm sure you're trying to make a greater point ,but I think we all know I've written some pretty dumb things and this is nowhere near top 5.

I'm not sure if your deriding the slow courier profession or the fact that the only exhilarating thing about road riding is the potential danger,much like DH.
 

Optimax150

Monkey
Aug 1, 2008
208
0
Japan
I'm sure you're trying to make a greater point ,but I think we all know I've written some pretty dumb things and this is nowhere near top 5.

I'm not sure if your deriding the slow courier profession or the fact that the only exhilarating thing about road riding is the potential danger,much like DH.
I would take my chances with a tree instead of a car. At least trees don't move, but you do get that occasional tree that seems to jump out at you.