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Earlier quoted context omitted.
Flagging should be reserved for ill-made segments that go through stop signs. One man's flag-worthy segment is another man's easy descent (and QoMs).
What about segments where you need to break the speed limit? What about segments that go down single-lane bike paths at 60km/h?
It would seem that there's an easy solution. Strava knows the grade of a climb. If the segment has a negative incline, don't have a leader board. Otherwise it looks to me like they're just encouraging dangerous racing on a non-closed course. Breaking speed limits, running stop signs and lights: imagine Strava for motorcyclists and ask yourself how long that would last. I've hit more than 50mph on a bicycle plenty of times, but it sure as hell hasn't been in the Castro District of SF. The rider carries the responsibility of choosing an appropriate time and place for such antics, but let's not egg them on.
This article makes it exceptionally clear that Flint is a classic "rookie" in the sport with few if any real bike handling skills - no programmer or policy will ever prevent these types from hurting themselves or others.
At a club level, the sport is rife with cyclists that have quickly found a bit of fitness and not taken the time to let their skills catch up - and they are always dangerous.
Its also true that experience != good judgement and unfortunately (as the article points out) there are a good number of experienced riders who don't factor safety into their riding.
I'm not sure which type of cyclist is more dangerous. Fortunately, both are easy to pick out and I make a point of not riding with them. My riding and my life are simply to precious to let someone else's mistake become my penalty.
(As background, I hold a world record in Ultracycling and ridden as much as 25,000 km in a year. I didn't ride much this past year, taking a break to spend some time with my family. Stories like this don't discourage me from wanting to jump back wholeheartedly into the sport I've loved all my life. And oh yeah, I adore Strava - and I also realize that using it requires a tiny bit of common sense...)
OTOH, if I was the developer of strava, in light of this kind of behavior I don't think I'd have these kinds of segments on the site. It seems like any KOM on a downhill section would be faster than the speed limit and faster than is probably safe for that road. Does the community at strava really gain from that? Does it add value to the experience?
(in the cycling community, no one really cares that much how long it took you to descend from one point to another. What really matters is how long it takes to climb back up.)
On the running side there are almost no downhill segments and the site still seems to be popular enough. I know it's 2 different sports, but downhills bike run KOMs seem to be little cause for bragging rights.
[0] http://bikesnobnyc.blogspot.com/2011/05/probing-for-answers-...
(Odd, this exact link was on HN last night, and I'm the only one that commented on it: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6578639 . Should this be a dupe? Anyway...) It would seem that there's an easy solution. Strava knows the grade of a climb. If the segment has a negative incline, don't have a leader board. Otherwise it looks to me like they're just encouraging dangerous racing on a non-closed course. Breaking s…
I've flagged quite a few on a local multi-use "bike" trail - there are just too many pedestrians, joggers, and horses to try and chase the clock.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
>That being said I think Strava needs to have a way to limit the Downhill segments how about just taking a bit of personal responsibility? if a downhill segment is too dangerous, don't do it. blaming an app when you crash is one of the stupidest things i've ever heard of. I don't see how strava has any responsibility to do anything.
Not a Strava user - but the mention of 70mph winning speeds, makes me think that Strava should eliminate segments from their database where in order to win you need to violate the speed limit. As a baseline they should not be encouraging people to break the law. It's not just the user of the program that should be taking personal responsibility, but the coders as well.
From memory, Strava's most popular markets are the US, the UK, Australia, Japan, France, Italy.
Speed limits vary widely across jurisdictions and change frequently.
IMHO the best thing to do would be to remove the leaderboard from segments over (say) 3% negative gradient.
(For non-Strava users, Strava does have segments where no leaderboard of the fastest users is shown, but your own times are shown.)
On the running side there are almost no downhill segments and the site still seems to be popular enough. I know it's 2 different sports, but downhills bike run KOMs seem to be little cause for bragging rights.
That's because every KoM award I've ever heard of involved going up the hill(s). (Note: I know very little about MTB racing, maybe they have one for going down.) The downhill Strava segments strike me, and maybe this is a little mean or judgmental, as something to strive for if you're a Cat 6 [0] racer who can't climb. The first person described in the article was a mid-packer in an actual climbing competition. But w…
One problem is that the default leader board display is just too hard for even semi-decent riders in some areas.
In my area pros come out for early season training and the season opening race. The climb leaderboards are pretty damn competitive - the KoM of one is held by a junior TT world champion, and another by a semi-anonymous rider who rode the Vuelta.
I suspect some changes to the UI (eg show the 10 people ahead of you be default as well as the top-10) could improve this for many people.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Not a Strava user - but the mention of 70mph winning speeds, makes me think that Strava should eliminate segments from their database where in order to win you need to violate the speed limit. As a baseline they should not be encouraging people to break the law. It's not just the user of the program that should be taking personal responsibility, but the coders as well.
How does Strava know what the speedlimit it? From memory, Strava's most popular markets are the US, the UK, Australia, Japan, France, Italy. Speed limits vary widely across jurisdictions and change frequently. IMHO the best thing to do would be to remove the leaderboard from segments over (say) 3% negative gradient. (For non-Strava users, Strava does have segments where no leaderboard of the fastest users is shown, b…
It doesn't need to be precise - it just shouldn't encourage reckless, illegal behaviour.
On the running side there are almost no downhill segments and the site still seems to be popular enough. I know it's 2 different sports, but downhills bike run KOMs seem to be little cause for bragging rights.
That's because every KoM award I've ever heard of involved going up the hill(s). (Note: I know very little about MTB racing, maybe they have one for going down.) The downhill Strava segments strike me, and maybe this is a little mean or judgmental, as something to strive for if you're a Cat 6 [0] racer who can't climb. The first person described in the article was a mid-packer in an actual climbing competition. But w…
Downhill racing can definitely be dangerous, but it is my belief that the people who do it are much more experienced than your casual "let's go down this road really fast" amateur on a road bike. Looking down a downhill mountain bike track and set off at full speed takes guts, and no one in their right mind does it without knowing the trail.
Also, there are no cars on mountain bike trails.