JC Cyclists.

Great morning riding in the rain and enjoying some hero dirt.

10300167_10203956629424074_8704756455029856153_n.jpg
 
@BEEF SUPREME rad man! Chain-less DH races are way fun.

Congrats on the PR/high finish and being able to race on something you put so much sweat into. Hope to make it out and ride someday.
 
Come out next year @bike21. Extra bedroom and a pool at my place or you can camp out at the Access for Bikes camp onsite! 3 races, short track, chinless and XC. Not a bad way to start with Marin riding and stay a few days extra to check out the local trails. Guide included, as long as the phone doesn't ring for a flight of course :D
 
@BEEF SUPREME sounds like a blast, I'll keep it in mind for sure.

Yesterday after getting up at 3am, flying all day, washing the wife's muddy bike from her ride in the morning and then finally my own quick spin...

10414480_10204000665564950_406733931099921192_n.jpg
 
jtrain609 said:
That's cool. Oh and hey, sorry about your penis.

:)

I view Strava as the jacked up truck of the cycling world.
Click to expand...

Why is that? It's not that different from Map My Ride. I pretty much just use it to track my training and see what friends have been riding.
 
 
Nope, I just use it like I have used Map My Ride. I found Strava to be a better design and switched over. I scanned those links and I have never had any of those issues. Sounds like some folks are griping about a very small percentage of riders. Further, Map My Ride has the same competitive element to it, so I don't think you can claim it is any different in this regard other than maybe Strava has been more successful.
 
jtrain609 said:
You're not familiar with the hatred of Strava?

http://utahadvjournal.com/index.php/the-silly-self-importance-of-strava

http://reviews.mtbr.com/the-angry-singlespeeder-why-strava-sucks

http://303cycling.com/are-you-a-stravasshole

http://bicycling.about.com/b/2012/08/15/has-strava-ruined-the-group-ride.htm

http://evenmydoghasablog.blogspot.com/2012/07/suck-it-strava.html
Click to expand...

I read through those links this morning and some of it was pretty comical. Perhaps these issues are more common in the mountain bike world? Also, the author of the first link claims that KOM is a strava created term, but it is from the Tour de France and I think has been in use for 80 years. Anyway, I don't have a hard time seeing some riders using Strava that way, but I have yet to notice any issue in my small circle. It's all about how you use it. I admit that there are certain segments that I like to push myself on to see if I can be competitive, but they do not dictate my rides.

I also went back just now and revisited Map my Ride, since it has been awhile. Compared to Strava, I really do not care for the layout, but besides that it has the same darn features that those anti-strava links complain about: http://www.mapmyride.com/maps/courses (actually Map My Ride has more competitive awards that strava). I suspect it is just that Strava is more widely used, but they both do the same thing.
 
I used to make fun of Strava and then I reluctantly signed up. Wait, I still make fun of Strava. There's a guy in my neighborhood who must weigh his bike, his ride titles regularly include the fact that his fixie weighs more than 22kg. Or there's the guy who regularly puts in more than 250 miles a week and has to make it clear his GPS crapped out and he got shorted 10 miles on his ride. And then there's the Stravasshole in my hood who has most of the local KOM's but never goes on a ride longer than 15 miles.

I'm also on Mapmyride, I mostly used their site to map routes and download them to my GPS, but after a firmware update the turn by turn directions haven't been working so I switched back to Garmin Connect.

I actually like Strava, the interface is easier to use and it's faster than Mapmyride and Garmin Connect. I've got a good group of people I follow on there and we're actually a very friendly and complimentary bunch.
 
EDUC8-or said:
I actually like Strava, the interface is easier to use and it's faster than Mapmyride and Garmin Connect. I've got a good group of people I follow on there and we're actually a very friendly and complimentary bunch.
Click to expand...

Yep, same here. I can easily buy that there are dorks out there using it, but that sure is not the case for myself or for the friends that I pay attention to. It has a good interface, it is a fun way to connect with friends when you cant ride together, and sometime it offers a little incentive to push yourself a bit when you are out on your own. Most importantly, it has great tools for tracking training and setting goals.
 
Maybe it's just the marketing, but I just can't get past the image that Strava is trying to sell. I mean...really?

IMG_4715_cropped_large.jpg


This is the thing I'm trying to distance myself from in the sports that I do, which is hard where I live. Everybody around my local area is already too hopped up on energy gels and roids, and when I run into other riders they want to turn a regular training ride into a race. Or the guys at the climbing gym (The Gun Show™) who brag about how awesome they are at climbing in the gym, but refuse to go climb outside, and then proceed to yell "STRONG!" at everyone around them.



So maybe what it boils down to is this: the best don't have to prove anything, they simply go out and perform. In fact the best riders I've ever run into want to hang out, maybe offer some help to anybody trying to improve their cycling, and then go grab a beer after the ride. I'm not interested in proving anything to anybody, I'm out there to ride my own ride, log it for training so I can keep track of where I am for the week, and then go play with my kid.



The image and community that Strava is trying to create is pretty much the antithesis of that. So even if Map My Ride has many of the same features, I don't get the impression that it's serving the same purpose.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top