 Not a numbers geek? Neither is Jenn. She’s still a Strava addict, though.
Ah, Strava. What did we do without you? GPS gave us routes, spreadsheets and mileage logs to fiddle with to our hearts’ content in the privacy of our own desktops. But what’s the point in knowing how far and fast you’ve gone if nobody else knows?
It was only a matter of time before social media caught up with the sportsman’s desire to willy-wave* in public. Sure enough along came Strava**, swinging off the coattails of the streams-of-consciousness favoured by the textually incontinent. With the GPS-enabled internet in your pocket, you can register your commute KOM (King Of the Mountain) and let the world know about it before you’ve even sat down at your desk to start work for the day. Got a PB (Personal Best) thanks to a galeforce tailwind and in a generous mood? Let your mates know that today’s the day to pin it on that climb. Not feeling altruistic? Keep your data to yourself until the weather pattern’s changed…
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It can’t be that long before the pursuit of a KOM is implicated in an accident which causes serious injury or worse, and clearly that’s not going to give mountain biking’s reputation any good at all. Racing downhill on open trails is only going to end in tears. Cut it out, Strava heroes.
*Just as there are fewer female riders than male, so there are fewer female Strava users. And while there are technically QOMs to compliment the KOMs, there’s not much to shout about when you top a league of two. The same goes for claiming a KOM in your age group/weight group: lame. MTFU, please.
**What about Endomondo? Well, Endomondo’s corporate colour is apple green. Strava’s is fiery orange. You can work out for yourself which one of these communities is the group hug and which one is out to get you…
I’m safe me. I don’t needs GPS to tell me I’m slow
There’s risk whether you’re Stravaing or not, you never know what is around the next corner. I used to ride as fast as I could without Strava, now with it the limitations are bottle and fitness, so little has changed.
I’m a bit of a Strava junkie but more importantly I keep things relatively safe and maintain sportsmanship.
I switched from Endomondo’s benigness to Stravalooniness as the Endo app sucked the life out of my battery, Strava on the other hand sucks the life out of riders. If Endo improve their apps power hunger I’d go back. In the end though Strava will die out, like all these trends do, most of the people I know on it are only interested in PB’s not real competition. The issue for MTB’rs is that the routes you thought were sweet and secret are getting trashed by the oversharing generation.
I love Strava, it shows me how shit I am.