Strava

[John Dorlon]

I've been uploading my ride data to Strava this year. It's a lot of fun competing in various segments with people I've never met. A lot of people near me use Strava, so the competition is usually pretty strong. Most of the segments that I ride have been ridden by hundreds of people.

I wasn't planning on riding today, but we had a strong wind from the south that made it very favorable on a segment near my house - so I went out to make a run at it today.

This segment is straight, on a very slight downhill. My average on the segment today was 35mph. That was 0.7 mph too slow! Ugh! So I waited an hour and went out again. Same result. Maybe it wasn't meant to be. I did beat my previous best time by more than 2mph though, so it was still a good day.

http://app.strava.com/activities/100969401

http://app.strava.com/activities/100990189

 

[Eric Winn]

I don't see much useful

I don't see much useful information when I click on Strava links like this. That said I'm not a member and quite fond of Ride With GPS so I haven't been all that interested in Strava. Does it do more if you are a member?

-Eric

 

[John Dorlon]

Hmmm...logging

Hmmm...logging out....checking....Oh, wow, yeah it shows a lot less when you aren't logged in. Sorry about that!

I like RWGPS too, but most riders around here use Strava, so the segments on Strava are a lot more competitive than those on RWGPS.

Another thing I like about Strava is that they have public and private segments. So all public segments just show up on my rides. On RWGPS the only segments I see are the ones I create.

 

[Eric Winn]

Hmmm, I thought so but didn't

Hmmm, I thought so but didn't feel like joining to find out. I like to share some of my rides with non-riders who are interested in what I do, typically family and friends and it seems like they pretty much get the full functionality just looking at my links.

Also, on RWGPS you can use the Find Rides page and click the "Rides with leaderboards" to find RWGPS segments. However, I suspect they may be much sparser than Strava based on Strava's popularity.

Does Strava let you replay yourself against the other riders like RWGPS does? Here is my most common one:

http://ridewithgps.com/segments/Butcher-Rd-Railroad-Bridge-Climb

On these I usually select the riders I want to compare myself against, click the COMPARE EFFORTS button which gives you a set of bar graphs comparing performance that defaults to 1/4 splits of the entire segment but there are some other quick split settings or you can define a custom split. When you mouse-over the segment section it highlights the corresponding section of map track and elevation graph. A green bar means that rider was fastest for that 1/4. So maybe you are faster on the initial ascent then slower and maybe finish faster - or not

I then click the RACE EFFORTS button and set playback to 1x or maybe up to 8x (everything faster is really too fast unless someone has defined a really long segment). I normally uncheck the "Pause when finish line is crossed" checkbox, then press play and watch color coded circles representing each rider "ride" the segment.

Then I watch to see what parts I do better at and what they do better at to see where I need to improve.

Does Strava do all of that? I should make a video, reading it sounds complicated but it is dead easy and fun.


-Eric

 

[John Dorlon]

Hi Eric,
  I know what you

Hi Eric,

I know what you mean about RACE EFFORTS (dot races!). Strava doesn't have that as far as I can tell, but I only have the free membership. It does offer a lot more analysis in the paid memberships. For me, the best thing about Strava is the fact that the (public) segments created by others that I happen to ride on show up automatically, and so many people around here use it. On my longer rides (50+ miles) I usually hit at least a dozen segments with a lot of people having ridden each one.

 

[Eric Winn]

Have you seen this?

Have you seen this? http://www.dcrainmaker.com/2013/07/cutting-removing-functionality.html

I had missed it when it was posted this past July but ended up seeing a reference to it in Jim Gourley's blog about the latest RAAM kerfluffle.

-Eric

 

[ratz]

Strava did address some of that.

Strava did finally address most of those 3rd parties that want to play by the new rules and added back bulk export. That said, I do record my rides with wahoo fitness iphone app and upload to stavas, Ride with GPS, and also email tcx files to myself for archival purposes.

In the end I find strava the easiest to use and veloviewer dot com make analysis a lot of fun. Rwgps makes a good back up but I don't like having to manually to it to use topographic data for elevation since the iPhone GPS does such a poor job on elevation data. Now that I have a RFLKT+ (thank you kick starter) with a real barometric altimeter it might not be such pain. We will see this spring.

 

[Eric Winn]

Yeah, I got a RFLKT+ through

Yeah, I got a RFLKT+ through Kickstarter as well and now I'll have a set of Magnic Lights coming too. So far I'm liking the RFLKT+ but like you, I'm waiting for the snow to be gone.

-Eric

 

[Oddfella]

Magnic & RFLKT+

I am awaiting the Magnic through Kickstarter, the Mk2 version and it should be here by April. I use the Topeak holder for the iPhone but only use if for the phone as I'm normally out for a few hours and have battery problems if I use the phone for GPS or HRM.

Bruce

 

[Eric Winn]

At first glance I still like RWGPS better

I created a free account on Strava so I could look at Willie Hunt's comparison between his Quest velomobile and the Rotovelo he has borrowed from Nanda Holz to evaluate.

See the Rotovelo vs. Quest on BROL thread.

The Strava non-member view is worthless so not much choice but to create an account to see anything worthwhile.

So far at just the first glance, I like Ride With GPS better. Willie has posted some analysis links from his premium account that let you see some of the aspects of the premium features and that looks a little better.

Willie's analysis links post on BROL.

And here:

http://www.strava.com/activities/109614169
http://www.strava.com/activities/110038692

I uploaded one of my longer rides to Strava to see what it looks like there:

http://www.strava.com/activities/110729781

Frankly, too much emphasis on segments and at the moment I don't see how to edit the already saved ride data - e.g. add my bike, description, etc. Is there a way to do so? On RWGPS you click the edit button....

Nevermind, it is the "Add description" button...

Ahh, and some analytics from one of my KICKR trainer sessions:

http://www.strava.com/activities/110735775

-Eric

 

[Eric Winn]

Second look shows RWGPS much more refined

Unless it is another limitation of premium vs. non-premium (I'm a premium RWGPS member) there are a lot of things that are just much better and more refined with RWGPS.

For example, when I select a section of one of my rides in RWGPS, everything zooms in to give much finer control of the selection. The scale never changes in the graph overview in the Strava analytics view although the map does zoom in. But this makes it hard to fine tune the selection to say, only include a slope or only include flat sections. This is dead easy to do with RWGPS.

Also Strava only seems to display some of the summarized data based on the selection. E.g. it displays the length of the selection, grade, elevation, and time but nothing else is summarized. With RWGPS every displayed metric is updated for the active selection - avg speed, power, etc, etc. I find this surprising with Strava since there is such an emphasis on segments. I would have expected Strava to at least be on par with RWGPS but then again it could be the difference in membership levels - free vs. premium.

-Eric

 

[John Dorlon]

> Frankly, too much emphasis

> Frankly, too much emphasis on segments

Well, this is exactly what I like about Strava. I like that in Strava, if someone else creates a segment and I ride it, the segment shows up on my ride. I don't have to go and create segments on my own. I enjoy remembering where the segments are and trying to move up in the ranks on them. Other than that, I don't look at the numbers much. It seems that you like analyzing the numbers more than I do, and perhaps RWGPS is better for that. Vive la différence!

By the way, I finally got King of the Hill on that segment I was talking about in my OP! On to the next segment.

 

[Eric Winn]

Wahoo Fitness Strava Segments App

Hmmm, Wahoo Fitness makes a Strava Segments app that allows you to use their KICKR to ride Strava segments to see if you can beat the other riders. It doesn't let you take any KOMs but should provide a similar level of effort even riding it virtually, depending on how good the data is for the segment.

See http://www.dcrainmaker.com/2013/08/available-fitness-segments.html

What say you John? Should I get the app and see if I can beat you?

I may need a new iPad to use it. I'm not sure if it works with my iPad v2.

-Eric

 

[John Dorlon]

Hm - interesting idea.   It

Hm - interesting idea. It would be cool if one day that technology taps into the google streetview data - then you could see the ride too!

> ?Should I get the app and see if I can beat you?

Well, I won't be buying a KICKR trainer any time soon to do the same, but sure, if you want to...

 

[ratz]

Eric,
If you get it; let me

Eric,

If you get it; let me know you can try and ride my local rando of doom. 30 miles; 4000 feet of climbing; that'll get you in shape.

 

[Eric Winn]

Rando of doom, eh Bob?

Rando of doom, eh Bob? Currently, one of the limitations of the app that some have asked Wahoo about is only being able to do segments and not entire routes. Do you have a 30 mile segment defined in Strava?

-Eric

 

[Charles.Plager]

Rando of doom, eh Bob?

Rando of doom, eh Bob? Currently, one of the limitations of the app that some have asked Wahoo about is only being able to do segments and not entire routes. Do you have a 30 mile segment defined in Strava?

Oh, just shut up and ride it without making excuses.

And happy birthday, too Eric!

 

[ratz]

Why yes I do... advantage

Why yes I do... advantage premium users. I should go drive it in my car with Strava running; I can set a nice brisk pace that way.

 

[Eric Winn]

Bob, Can you give me a link

Bob, Can you give me a link to it or tell me how to search and I'll see if I can see it from my Strava account. If so I'll do a virtual KICKR ride of it if I can get everything setup and working. Probably won't be until late February the way things are going now, haven't even gotten in much training rides lately for Sebring due to work, clearing snow and such.

Thanks for the birthday wish Charles.

-Eric

 

[Drew]

Strava obsession

I'm pretty competitive on my bike but Im definitely not the fastest thing on two wheels. At first I enjoyed Strava seeing how I compared to others, watching my segment placing improve and even winning a few KOM accolades and medals for my age group. I was hooked.

Then I would get an email that some guy took my KOM and it ruined my day. I'm probably taking this crap too seriously. So the next day my riding buddies are going left but I go right to hit that segment again. Victorious and alone I regained KOM status. Why would I leave my buddies to compete against a virtual guy? That was the start of my Strava Problem. I would gear my rides to suit the conditions most favourable for known Strava segments. West wind at 20 today, I have to hit Gobblers Hill (or some other ridiculously named segment). But this helped me move up the charts and fed my fixation. There were many I couldn't conquer but I swear one guy was either in his car with the GPS or holding onto one. Every ride was more obsession than enjoyment.

I used to to enjoy getting on the bike and riding for hours with no planned route and no agenda. My Strava obsession made that impossible. My Strava account has now lapsed and I'm getting better now. Plugging the routes into Garmin Connect is just fine with me and I no longer worry about my ranking. I only compete against people I can see and talk to. . Other recumbent cyclists I know we're ejected from Strava and we're devastated. Strava will strip results if others complain you ride a recumbent. If your dark secret gets out they may come for you too.

Now I start each ride by admitting "I am a recovering Stravaholic and it has been 4 months since my last recorded segment." Cycling has become fun once again.