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Will Local Legends encourage you to record your commute?

With the new Local Legends feature I wonder how many more people will now record a bit more regularly on Strava. My commute is via a busy route straight into the city. I tend to take the long way home and do Strava in the evenings and at weekends. My fastest commute is never going to trouble the leaderboards as I ride cold and slow in the morning to avoid needing a shower. Now there was that one time I was running late for a 7am start on a Sunday morning, which I wish I had recorded as there was practically a hurricane pushing me up the road. I know that is very unlikely to happen again, but if I am recording every commute I might get some laurel wreaths.

Would the ongoing nature of this competition attach some people to record more? Or is the rolling 90 day total just mean you don't care? Do you record everything or just see short rides as clutter?

If you're new please join in and if you have questions pop them below and the forum regulars will answer as best we can.

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25 comments

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Rick_Rude | 4 years ago
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Given up on going for anything on Strava, mostly because I think that day has come when your PRs are all in the past. It's been a wasted year for my cycling as I've been squeezed by parenting and old parents and covid, when I have gone out I've been about 2mph down on my averages. Strava is depressing then.

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Organon replied to Rick_Rude | 4 years ago
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Don't let that get you down. All you need for a PB is to ride a new road, Strava can be about exploring too.

And what is a 'mph'? Is it the noise you make hitting your knackers on the crossbar?

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mdavidford replied to Organon | 4 years ago
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Well - no - you need to ride a segment at least twice to register a PR. So ride it slowly the first time, and then again at normal speed. 

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RafatheRed | 4 years ago
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love strava, i like the fact that it records segments.i can pick and choose which parts of the ride i can improve my time and gives me goals to work towards.Love it shows the achievements and i alway get a boost when i see PB's on the board. Love the fact i can check and see im 400th out of 2549,again gives me a boost that im not unfit 50+. I also can see it my fitness levels are going up or down. I love the Active challenges which motovate's me to get out more to complete them.

i dont mind paying for this ,after a good ride i get extra boost from seeing how well im doing against my older and younger peers.

My starva is always on,and if i wanna stop to take in views or photos then i stop and not worry about times. The local legend is something i dont concern myself with.

 

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matthewn5 | 4 years ago
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I record commutes on a Cateye Velo 9, wired old school cyclocomputer. Cost less than a tenner, batteries last years, and turns itself on and off automatically. Survived a fall down the stairwell at work. Gives totals and averages. But can't be uploaded to Strava or anywhere else.

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Nick T | 4 years ago
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If I ever get a local legend "award" I'll be absolutely devastated, it'll confirm to me that I'm a boring old fart with no imagination 

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Cargobike | 4 years ago
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I've tried Strava for a few months following a 3 month free trial and binned it off. Who gives a toss about being the quickest from the bus stop to the bridge or whatever crap people think they need to compete over. It's marketing bollocks and spoils the actual enjoyment of going out for a ride.

I'm sure many of you will disagree, but Strava isn't the be all and end all.

As long as my times keep reducing for the overall distance that I've ridden I'll know I'm making progress.

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Oldfatgit | 4 years ago
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I record all my rides and TBH I'm not really bothered if they are on Strava or not.
As long as they are on Garmin (while I'm using Garmin), then that's all I'm bothered about.
I'm not bothered about PRs, medals, segments, KOMs, comparing with anyone else - I couldn't care less that I am 1978 out of 2010 on a segment.
I don't ride to feed numbers; I ride because I've got a wife and four kids and it gets me out of the house for 3 or 4 or 5 hours.
I realise that I might have a slightly contrary view to most of the readership ... but I'm not entirely alone. 
 

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fenix | 4 years ago
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All commuting is recorded anyway so I can see what mileage the bike has done.
Really not bothered about being a local legend.

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Tom_77 | 4 years ago
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I'm the Local Legend on a running segment.

When Lockdown kicked in I started doing my running at the local business park, because it was pretty much deserted. Twice per week I'd run there and do half a dozen laps, so I've racked up 130 odd efforts on one segment over the last 90 days.

All seems a bit strange to me, I don't really feel like I've achieved anything. I've not been running more often, or further, just always in the same place. But I suppose it's just a bit of fun.

I do record all my runs and rides, so I can see how far I've gone in a year.

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mtb_roadtripper | 4 years ago
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If its not on Strava, it didnt happen. I record every ride and I admit that Strava is a big part of my life. 

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Awavey | 4 years ago
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Between a third and nearly half of my yearly miles are commute miles...not so much this year though  1 but why wouldnt you record them,they all count,one of my friends I saw gained a local legend on a route I didnt think they rode that often so I'm not sure quite how it will work until I see it in action for myself.

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IanEdward | 4 years ago
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I record everything just on general principles, am chasing a completely arbitrary yearly total (have set my eyes on 10000km) but also like to keep track of my hours, I'm prone to silly injuries but also over-enthusiasm so need to be careful not to suddenly start doing 15 hour weeks if I've only been doing 8 hours weeks etc.

What I like about Strava in general as it gives some rides a bit of silly purpose, good if you might otherwise just have been ambling. Try for that local KOM? why not. Do another loop of a local road to try and sneak a local legend? why not. It's all miles and (hopefully) fun.

Same with training, I like trying to do lots of easy base miles at the moment because it's as good as reason as any for that drizzly, early morning circuit of a familiar 1hr loop. Better to get out than stay at home and if 'training' says I need to get out then I'm more likely to do it, and, inevitably, enjoy it.

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Organon replied to IanEdward | 4 years ago
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Good luck with the 10KK. That is at least 30km a day and any skip days means even further on another. I also love the massive range of targets Strava gives. It has taken me to places I would have never seen otherwise.

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Daveyraveygravey | 4 years ago
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I record everything - I'm trying (and failing badly!) for 10,000kms so I need every metre!  I went to a mates house to borrow his ebike for my daughter, that got me another 1,000m.

I just looked at the Local Legends near me, I'm hugely behind some people on roads I think I ride a lot, so not sure how much interest it will have for me long term.

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Simon E replied to Daveyraveygravey | 4 years ago
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Daveyraveygravey wrote:

I record everything - I'm trying (and failing badly!) for 10,000kms so I need every metre!  I went to a mates house to borrow his ebike for my daughter, that got me another 1,000m.

I just looked at the Local Legends near me, I'm hugely behind some people on roads I think I ride a lot, so not sure how much interest it will have for me long term.

I wouldn't worry about it. Strava are just looking for new ways to keep people interested in their product, it's not compulsory.

I keep a record of my annual mileage using a spreadsheet. All my commutes are logged, I enter the 1- or 2-letter routes used each day (between 11 and 36 km each way) and it updates the total on the summary page.

Rides are recorded in another tab. If I go for a ride on the commuter bike (no computer) I use google maps to work out the distance. I don't include short trips into town ~3 miles each way, I don't go often enough for it to make much difference. TTs are added manually but only the distance raced unless I ride out to an event.

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Organon replied to Simon E | 4 years ago
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Um, recording to the nearest KM? Not the most accurate log. I hope you round down as much as you round up. #13Parsecs

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Simon E replied to Organon | 4 years ago
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Organon wrote:

Um, recording to the nearest KM? Not the most accurate log. I hope you round down as much as you round up. #13Parsecs

Probably best not to assume too much based on a single screenshot. It uses array formulae, set not to show decimal distances for clarity. Running totals after today's commute, shown to 2 decimal places:

3864.53 + 1131.16 = 4995.69 km *

Each route distance is as accurate as I can get to 0.01 km after repeated wheel calibration checks and cross-referencing across a series of separate rides.

If that's not sufficiently precise then please bring your calibrated TT course measuring tool and we can ride each one. CTT guidance note 1 may be useful (if you don't already have a copy) and there's a measured mile just south of Whitchurch you may find handy. A close friend of mine is a CTT course measurer so he will want to see your workings afterwards.

* As previously stated, this does not include short trips or occasions when I stray from the defined routes. If I do that and it's shorter I always ensure that I cover at least an equal or greater distance on a subsequent journey.

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Nick T replied to Simon E | 4 years ago
4 likes

How do you find time to ride your bike after all this 

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Simon E replied to Nick T | 4 years ago
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Nick T wrote:

How do you find time to ride your bike after all this 

After all what?

Edit: I should have said that once a year during Xmas hols I add the Mon-Fri date values and set up the summary tab for the imminent year (duplicating the previous year's info and editing the range they reference) then just need to type in the route letters after each commute. I bet many people spend considerably longer than that on strava - uploading, looking at time on segments and whatever else they do on there.

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Kapelmuur | 4 years ago
2 likes

Not a commuter but all my rides start from the same place and use the same roads for 3/4 miles until I get to where I can have a choice of routes.

I guess I'll become a legend by default on those initial miles.

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EddyBerckx | 4 years ago
1 like

I log everything anyway...just because.

I don't quite get this new feature. Isn't cycling more about exploring new routes etc and so on? This rewards people doing the same boring routes every day!!

...which means it'll reward me as that's exactly what I do. But still, feels like they're getting a little desperate to get people to engage with the platform.

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mdavidford replied to EddyBerckx | 4 years ago
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EddyBerckx wrote:

Isn't cycling more about exploring new routes etc and so on?

I quite like the Heatmaps for this reason - I'm less interested in the 'heat' aspect, and more in the coverage (and gaps). Can't say the Local Legends holds any particular appeal.

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TheBillder | 4 years ago
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Record everything is my choice. It's all distance and I don't do enough. It also helps to check lifetime of consumables as I tend to note a new chain etc.

Not sure about the local legends though. People who commute through the worst weather will do a segment once a day and they're worthy of respect. So there will be a few 65-65 draws (assuming 5 day weeks) on a lot of segments plus a few enthusiasts who game the system and ride around in small loops until the novelty wears off.

I do get it for rural climbs though. One of my friends is already LL on a hilly road I often avoid, so chapeau to her. And when club rides restart I'll be getting dropped on climbs even more often.

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Simon E | 4 years ago
1 like

I don't have a Garmin. But if I get one I'll not be bothered about recording commutes, even when I'm giving it some beans, only longer rides.

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