Monday 30 June 2014

to Strava or not...


How Strava is changing the way we ride


Interesting read - I am a Strava newbie, but find that I do like it, and find that for me, at least, it has not changed the way I ride. 
It might, however, focus me a bit.
Mostly, I think it somewhat dorky, a quintessential expression of pure Fredliness, but since I dropped my Garmin GPS and broke it (sigh...) it has become a useful way to track what I am up to. I like the data collection aspect of it as I have been collecting and plotting my mileage for years, either on a spreadsheet or on Garmin Connect. For me, the collection of data does not take away from the ride itself. I have been using bicycle computers since the first CatEye devices which used double A batteries, and still love to ride. 
I don't care so much about the leader boards, and since my BlackBerry has no Strava app, I truly have no idea where the timed segments are while I am out. An upcoming switch to the iPhone, with all its app goodness, won't change that because I am too busy riding when I am out to really care what my phone is up to. 
While I find it interesting to note what other people have done over certain distances, it is largely meaningless.
Think about it. Locally at least, the segments with leader boards are so short that overall effort on a ride is rendered meaningless, supposing all you care about is leaderboards. If you can hammer it like a mad fool for a kilometre or so, you can scoot up the leaderboard. Then, you can die, and take forever to recover, and try again.
Sorry, but I am more impressed with dropping the hammer over a longer segment. Like at least 100km. At a minimum.
For you see, I don't race and don't care to.
So I miss out on the rah rah that comes with participating in local events (although, truth be told, that rah rah seems missing from cycling races and appears confined to triathlons and running events from what I have seen). I see Strava as a good way to get the rah rah without having to actually race and subject myself to the crazy that is the sport I love so much.








One thing I like about Strava though, and can see myself participating in, are the challenges. I have few people to ride with, and having these artificial challenges is a real motivator. Again, I don't care to be at the top of the leader boards, but having a goal just hanging out there and hitting that goal and being able to say, "See? I did it!" matters to me.



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