Bicycle thread

[Mercury264]

Originally Posted by Aurelius

Your head remains firmly buried in the sand on this point, Gummee. Your comparison to loud pipes couldn't be further off the mark. Loud pipes do nothing but harm your hearing. Strava allows riders of all levels to track their performance and assess their abilities. It allows you to monitor your heart rate, the energy you've expended in watts, and the total calories burned. It also shows you the areas where your performance is strong and where it's weak. By comparing my times on certain segments to those of other riders, I can see that I'm very strong when it comes to outright speed of flat grades. I'm in the middle of the pack on climbs and on technical trails, so these are the areas I need to devote more time to. I wouldn't be aware of any of this if it weren't for Strava. As for the allure of setting personal records, what exactly is wrong with that? Setting goals is what drives people to improve their abilities and achieve things they never would have thought possible at the outset. Why you continue to insist that only certain goals (i.e. race results) are legitimate is beyond me. The very fact that you need to make non-sensical comparisons to loud pipes shows that your opposition to Strava is devoid of any rational justification.

You sure do need to do a lot of justification eh...

[Gummee!]

Originally Posted by Aurelius

Your head remains firmly buried in the sand on this point, Gummee. Your comparison to loud pipes couldn't be further off the mark. Loud pipes do nothing but harm your hearing. Strava allows riders of all levels to track their performance and assess their abilities. It allows you to monitor your heart rate, the energy you've expended in watts, and the total calories burned. It also shows you the areas where your performance is strong and where it's weak. By comparing my times on certain segments to those of other riders, I can see that I'm very strong when it comes to outright speed of flat grades. I'm in the middle of the pack on climbs and on technical trails, so these are the areas I need to devote more time to. I wouldn't be aware of any of this if it weren't for Strava. As for the allure of setting personal records, what exactly is wrong with that? Setting goals is what drives people to improve their abilities and achieve things they never would have thought possible at the outset. Why you continue to insist that only certain goals (i.e. race results) are legitimate is beyond me. The very fact that you need to make non-sensical comparisons to loud pipes shows that your opposition to Strava is devoid of any rational justification.

You keep dancing around the point. If you wanna race, race. The rest is hogwash.

The reason people use strava instead of Training Peaks, the Garmin software, or even MapmyRide is they WANT people to see their results. ...just like loud pipe riders want people to look at them and think 'they're kewl.'

All the strava KOMs in the world don't mean diddly except for 'feel goods' and 'lookit ME!s'

Comparing yourself to others is great IF it means something. IF its a means to an end. If you're 'racing' for yet another KOM what do you get other than 'I feel good about myself.' ?? Congratulations you're the fastest Fred.

You wanna track mileage, speed, HR, power, etc? Great. Its a good thing to do! There's sites (above) that let you compare you to you over time that aren't pseudo 'races.' After all, if you're not racing, what's it matter that you're the KOM? If there's no number on your back, its pretty well irrelevant how fast you are comparatively.

If you're 'racing' for KOMs, why not put on a number and make it a real race? Go find out where you stand IRL rather than 'racing' someone electronically. The biggest thing that bugs me is the passive aggressiveness of 'racing' without really racing that strava is perpetuating.

If you care that much about 'being fastest' but don't wanna race IRL...

M

[ducnut]

Sub 18lb, rigid Niner MTB with Di2.

[Gummee!]

Originally Posted by ducnut

Sub 18lb, rigid Niner MTB with Di2.

ooh pretty!

You see the one where Fairwheel bikes hacked DI2 and made it sequential?


M

[Chisenhallw]

[YakSpout]

Originally Posted by ducnut

Sub 18lb, rigid Niner MTB with Di2.

Almost makes me want to ride dirt again. ;)

[Mercury264]

Originally Posted by Gummee!

You keep dancing around the point. If you wanna race, race. The rest is hogwash.

The reason people use strava instead of Training Peaks, the Garmin software, or even MapmyRide is they WANT people to see their results. ...just like loud pipe riders want people to look at them and think 'they're kewl.'

All the strava KOMs in the world don't mean diddly except for 'feel goods' and 'lookit ME!s'

Comparing yourself to others is great IF it means something. IF its a means to an end. If you're 'racing' for yet another KOM what do you get other than 'I feel good about myself.' ?? Congratulations you're the fastest Fred.

You wanna track mileage, speed, HR, power, etc? Great. Its a good thing to do! There's sites (above) that let you compare you to you over time that aren't pseudo 'races.' After all, if you're not racing, what's it matter that you're the KOM? If there's no number on your back, its pretty well irrelevant how fast you are comparatively.

If you're 'racing' for KOMs, why not put on a number and make it a real race? Go find out where you stand IRL rather than 'racing' someone electronically. The biggest thing that bugs me is the passive aggressiveness of 'racing' without really racing that strava is perpetuating.

If you care that much about 'being fastest' but don't wanna race IRL...

M

[Mercury264]

Watched 24 Solo last night. LOVED it

Those guys are fooking NUTS.

Funny thing is, as I listened to the guy (Chris Eatough) I thought I detected a smidgin' of an English accent sprinkled in amongst all the southern drawl and sure enough, he was born in England but is now and American citizen....

Anyhoo, fantastic video and I won't spoil the ending but boy, some people just have this ability to push their bodies to the limit and beyond.

[Gummee!]

Originally Posted by Mercury264

Watched 24 Solo last night. LOVED it

Those guys are fooking NUTS.

Funny thing is, as I listened to the guy (Chris Eatough) I thought I detected a smidgin' of an English accent sprinkled in amongst all the southern drawl and sure enough, he was born in England but is now and American citizen....

Anyhoo, fantastic video and I won't spoil the ending but boy, some people just have this ability to push their bodies to the limit and beyond.

I've done 1 24hr race. The solo folks are effin nutz. No thanks!

Even more nutz than the single-speeders! ...and that's sayin somethnig

M

[fullmonte]

Originally Posted by Gummee!

I've done 1 24hr race. The solo folks are effin nutz. No thanks!

Even more nutz than the single-speeders! ...and that's sayin somethnig

M

Totally agree. Cracking the ribs during a night lap left a bitter taste for the rest of the race. The second trip to Moab, I wised up and rented a KTM 450exc, which was much more relaxing and allowed me to cover alot more ground.

[ducnut]

Originally Posted by Gummee!

You see the one where Fairwheel bikes hacked DI2 and made it sequential?

No.

Honestly, I have no interest in electric shift, but, realize many people dream of it.

[Mercury264]

Originally Posted by Gummee!

I've done 1 24hr race. The solo folks are effin nutz. No thanks!

Even more nutz than the single-speeders! ...and that's sayin somethnig

M

Pretty sure there was a single-speeder in the race....

[Aurelius]

Originally Posted by Gummee!

You keep dancing around the point. If you wanna race, race. The rest is hogwash.

The reason people use strava instead of Training Peaks, the Garmin software, or even MapmyRide is they WANT people to see their results. ...just like loud pipe riders want people to look at them and think 'they're kewl.'

Who are all these thousands of 'people' whose minds you presume to know? When you make these sorts of pronouncements, does it cross your mind for even an instant that Strava leader boards display listings of hundreds of riders, and that only the ones near the very top would have anything to brag about? Do you really think that the guys in 300th or 400th place posted these results because they wanted everyone to see them? I don't know what these other software packages you mention are. I've never heard of them. Like many people, I began using Strava because other riders recommended it to me. It seems to be the most popular software of its kind. That's why we use it.

All the strava KOMs in the world don't mean diddly except for 'feel goods' and 'lookit ME!s'

The KOMs mean just as much as any other placing on the leader boards: they tell their owners what their performance level is compared to what it was a month or a year ago. There is an entirely understandable amount of pride attached to being at or near the top, but placements on the leader board are in a constant state of flux; the guy who holds the KOM today knows full well that he's only in first place because none of the riders who are faster than he is have bothered to ride that segment.

Comparing yourself to others is great IF it means something. IF its a means to an end. If you're 'racing' for yet another KOM what do you get other than 'I feel good about myself.' ?? Congratulations you're the fastest Fred.

You wanna track mileage, speed, HR, power, etc? Great. Its a good thing to do! There's sites (above) that let you compare you to you over time that aren't pseudo 'races.' After all, if you're not racing, what's it matter that you're the KOM? If there's no number on your back, its pretty well irrelevant how fast you are comparatively.

If you're 'racing' for KOMs, why not put on a number and make it a real race? Go find out where you stand IRL rather than 'racing' someone electronically. The biggest thing that bugs me is the passive aggressiveness of 'racing' without really racing that strava is perpetuating.

I find it very peculiar that all of your arguments proceed from the same unquestioned assumption that only race results 'mean anything'. Why should anyone believe that? Why do you think that racing from point A to point B is somehow more 'meaningful' when multiple riders do it simultaneously rather than when a single rider does it? What makes the former any less arbitrary than the latter? You do realize that a bicycle race is just an artificial game that someone made up, don't you? It's no more 'meaningful' than any other contrived game like basketball or soccer. The only reason you invest it with greater importance than other games is because it's something YOU happen to love doing. Blinded by your emotional investment in it, you've come to imagine that everyone who doesn't race, secretly aspires to. Put this fantasy aside for just a moment and consider that to an objective observer, bicycle racing is just as trivial as pole vaulting, bowling, or seeing who can eat the most hot dogs in an hour. None of these 'mean' anything, except to the people who think it does.

[mud]

I guess peoples perception of Strava differ.... Imagine that.

Can you knock if off now?

[Gummee!]

Originally Posted by mud

I guess peoples perception of Strava differ.... Imagine that.

Can you knock if off now?

Yes dad.

Just got off the bike. 2:48 out and about SW of here. Headwinds suck. Tailwinds rawk!

M