Sunday Times: Strava records achieved by speeding and ignoring red lights

My issue with Strava is that my commute to work can vary between just over 5 miles to just under 7, despite taking the same route. Endomondo seems to be more consistent.

Has nobody else thought of the possibility that the writer of this article fancied himself as a bit of a sprint merchant and whilst blowing out of his arse, checked his results only to see he was miles down the leaderboard and then decided in a hissy fit that it wasn't down to him being too slow, but that everyone else was cheating/jumping reds etc.

Just a thought...

I tried using Strava, but I gave up on it pretty quickly. For 2 basic reasons:

1) a bike GPS just isn't accurate enough to reliably record you across a short distance, especially when Strava only uses recorded GPS positions and doesn't interpolate to the start and finish of the actual segment. the segment in question (just 290m long) is a perfect example, as ben so excellently explains in his piece, but even on a long climb i know people who've ridden together and had times more than 10 seconds different.

2) anything that allows a large user base to create their own data invariably fills up with rubbish. Strava's not well moderated or peer reviewed, nor is it currently clever enough to weed out multiple segments on the same climb. so it gets increasingly difficult to get meaningful data back.

I've put together an article explaining why the headline fuelling "41mph" statistic is actually a not quite so shocking 31mph once you remove those riders with GPS errors: http://veloviewer.com/blog/41mph-the-evidence-against-the-sunday-times-a...
When interviewed last Thursday I pointed out to them how unreliable these speeds can be on Strava (he actually asked how the top speed could be over 100mph on the segment they mention) but chose to ignore the advice. (Although at least they didn't use the 100mph+ speed for their headline!) I also pointed out to him at that time that it wasn't illegal to go faster than the speed limit on the bike to which he said he would get the legal people to look into it.
Also worth noting that The Sunday Times itself was a contributing factor for those of us wanting to turn the roads into racetracks: http://www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/sto/news/ireland/article1111334.ece
@VeloViewer/Ben Lowe

The link sends me to a list of news headlines - have they pulled the story, is it because I haven't paid, or do they hate mobile phones?

Interesting stuff I think the Sunday Times point was that Strava is directly responsible by encouraging this behaviour just like having cars that do a top speed over 30 mph directly encourages drivers to break speed limits. Or having pubs and supermarkets encourages drink driving. Nothing to do with individual decision and free will

There are some insane speeds on some of the segments I do in and around Sydney Australia. I used to live in Switzerland and Strava made a lot more sense to me in the mountains than it does here. People have become a little obsessed with the whole KOM thing. As for fake times I have to laugh at some of the more obvious blunders where people forget to switch off the Garmin before they pack it into the car.

I like Strava and enjoy using it as a fitness tool. Use it sensibly and it's very valuable.

I like Strava. I live in the Texas and have lots of mates in the UK still and it's a great way of seeing what we are doing, how training's going etc. I think flagging segments could kill it though; I've definitely seen some flagged that I would in no way consider dangerous.

And not sure of its real relevance to this story, but the cannon with 'Come & Take It' that LA used for his profile picture is the Gonzales Flag; it's a common sign of Texas pride here. It's a good story of when the Mexicans tried to take one of their cannons back and were defeated by the Texas rebels. Could easily be taken out of context in this case if you didn't know your Texas history...

What a load of old balls.
Only div s chase KOMs on downhill sections and likewise those with any traffic furniture on them.
Those people are just plain idiots whether riding a bike, driving a car or walking down the street.
Same old typecasting of cyclists - bore off.

Horse shit like this makes my bloody boil, every day with or without Strava people try to beat other people in their group, their previous best times recorded in the old fashion way with a watch, this is not new, even now my mates goad me into going faster because up and down hill, for some its an essentially part riding, because some people don't like it tough, I don't these people averaging 10mph do I, I wish all the do-gooders would F**k off and let riders ride how they have ridden for years... before we had stuff like GPS.

The ST needs to make it up it's mind (not illegal for riders to "speed" either but you knew that eh NI)

Apparently I was travelling at 389.6km/h on a Regent's Park Segment this morning, and still failed to get the KOM.

Strange.

iamelectron - seems legit concern. Sounds really busy, but then is it busy all the time?

So iamelectron, I suppose you also agree that electric cars are dangerous to pedestrians?

So, the riders, rather than the segment. People need to stop being dicks, rather than segment needs flagging.

In what way is it dangerous? Is it not the idiots riding it which are the dangerous aspect?

The thing that narcs me slightly is the quote of 20,000 cyclists on the segment. You might not be competing for a segment, but because you ride through it you're logged on it. Probably only 5% of those on that segment were aiming to 'compete' or log something special.

I only check my times against climbs, though if I get a podium it makes me interested to see what the segment was. It's a good site to just log a ride though.

Interesting to see Liestrong took his profile down. Actually I don't care if he keeps it up, but I can understand he doesn't need the scrutiny right now.

Completely agree at the retarded 1m etc sprints in traffic which depends mainly on catching a good draft be it uphill or flat. Also lately there's been a mass of almost duplicate and quite small segments as no doubt more and more people begin to use it.

Personally there are a few segments around my area that are through traffic lights and flat. If a light changes for me and I'm going well I think "well there goes my chance". The same on a hill with light or junctions - if something slows me down I try another time.

I like going fast downhill and if I get a "KOM" doing it then so be it, but to take big risks at 50mph for the sake of that KOM is beyond me. Sure it probably encourages more risks if you are trying to beat a long downhill mixed with almost flats etc but it's no doubt safer than doing that in a race rendering whole article redundant.

I personally haven't read the article mentioned (wouldn't chuck that paper on the fire!) but correct me if I'm wrong this is the paper a certain Top Gear presenter writes for?
The very TV programme where a car will race another mode of transport across a set distance in which 9/10 times the car wins! Are you telling me this sets a good example? and is done by driving within the speed limits?

The hint's in the name, KOM. No mountain = no point. Descending segments or "sprints" are just ego boosts that people set up for themselves. If you want to race, go and get your BC license and find a local crit, Strava is a great idea and I love the power analysis features they've added recently which are making software like Golden Cheetah almost redundant, but the people who feel the need to set up segments to make themselves feel better about their riding are just pathetic. No matter who you are, there's almost always going to be someone faster than you.

Its slowing being killed off by people like the above commenter. (iamelectron)

There were around 10 segments around my local routes not long ago, but people keep flagging them for no reason, they are on decent roads and with no speed limits or dangerous sections....

If idiots keep flagging segments, with no way to have them unflagged, its killing the whole idea of Strava off.

But I do think anything in cites should be taken off.