Strava madness

[vorsprung]

I discovered that there was a Strava segment going up the hill past my house

I didn't notice it before as it starts at the bottom of the hill and I rarely come up the hill and go past my own house, however one time I did and I noticed it was there

Next day I had a proper go, got a PB but realised that being in the "top ten" was almost in my reach

Next try I was just about top 20

I've just spent a couple of hours fitting a faster tyre, wheel , lighter seatpost etc on my second best bike (it climbs better)

The bike is now about a kilo lighter

I am gripped by a madness

[quixoticgeek]

I discovered that there was a Strava segment going up the hill past my house

I didn't notice it before as it starts at the bottom of the hill and I rarely come up the hill and go past my own house, however one time I did and I noticed it was there

Next day I had a proper go, got a PB but realised that being in the "top ten" was almost in my reach

Next try I was just about top 20

I've just spent a couple of hours fitting a faster tyre, wheel , lighter seatpost etc on my second best bike (it climbs better)

The bike is now about a kilo lighter

I am gripped by a madness

Now you go and set a privacy zone on your home, and find you can't claim the segment at all...

J

[grams]

Privacy zones only apply if they coincide with the start or end of your ride, which is a bit shit, but does mean if you do a big enough loop you can get the segment.

The other way to get a KOM if you’re already top 10 is to flag all the people ahead of you as suspicious.

[perpetual dan]

Privacy zones only apply if they coincide with the start or end of your ride, which is a bit shit, but does mean if you do a big enough loop you can get the segment.
…

My work privacy zone would put weird gaps in some rides if it applied mid-route.
I’m quite pleased with top 50% , so mostly avoid the madness

[Blade]

Just around the corner from where I live is a short Strava segment. A local cyclist lives nearby and he does around 250 miles a week. When beginning a ride, he does a 2 mile route around our estate which includes the segment,which he repeats up to ten times before setting off into the adjacent countryside. He'll probably be the Local Legend on that segment forever.

[vorsprung]

the only segment i have a KOM on is one I made for a time trial practice and it's such a dumb out and back that few people are going to bother.  A couple of locals have seen it is there and had a go but - surprisingly - they were even slower than me

The one past my house I just want to get a top ten.  Looking at the numbers I should just about be able to get in at 9th place.  Of course if there is a nice lunchtime I can have a go almost any day so that's the advantage

[vorsprung]

I discovered that there was a Strava segment going up the hill past my house

I didn't notice it before as it starts at the bottom of the hill and I rarely come up the hill and go past my own house, however one time I did and I noticed it was there

Next day I had a proper go, got a PB but realised that being in the "top ten" was almost in my reach

Next try I was just about top 20

I've just spent a couple of hours fitting a faster tyre, wheel , lighter seatpost etc on my second best bike (it climbs better)

The bike is now about a kilo lighter

I am gripped by a madness

Now you go and set a privacy zone on your home, and find you can't claim the segment at all...

J

I turned off the privacy near my house feature and suddenly i have 55 attempts on the segment

[Rod Marton]

the only segment i have a KOM on is one I made for a time trial practice and it's such a dumb out and back that few people are going to bother.  A couple of locals have seen it is there and had a go but - surprisingly - they were even slower than me

The one past my house I just want to get a top ten.  Looking at the numbers I should just about be able to get in at 9th place.  Of course if there is a nice lunchtime I can have a go almost any day so that's the advantage

Got one on a short loop near my house because I used to ride it with my (then) 9 year old son and he wanted his own KOM. Still standing.

[Lightning Phil]

Noticed that this years KOM on a segment not far away is slower than my 2020 time. I’m fitter / faster than 2020.  Might have to head over to grab this year’s KOM whilst it’s possible. I haven’t ridden the segment this year.

[CrazyEnglishTriathlete]

I have had some really strange local legend titles - often through commuting, where some of the longer segments are on roads that people wouldn't normally repeat. The oddest one was a segment near St Jean Pied de Port in the Pyrenees, which I used three times as it was a quiet way out of town and became the local legend on a segment 900 miles from home.

I briefly had a share of a KoM into Basingstoke.  I was on a good day on the club run and there were two of us lining up for the sprint on the B3400, propelled by a solid tailwind.  To my surprise I held his wheel up through Newfound and so was well placed for the sprint, probably the second time in 20 years of club runs, I've taken that one.  I promptly sat up, and my friend continued past to the top of the rise, where the Strava segment turned out to end. He synchronised his ride, which was 4 seconds faster over the segment, about an hour later than me, at which point I was no longer equal top of the tree.  I still had bragging rights for the sprint. 

[CrazyEnglishTriathlete]

Case in point - I am now the Local Legend on A331 to A247  - (Aldershot to Old Woking = 16.7km) with 4 attempts (4 summer commute routes).  It's a bizarre segment to set up, as its only civilised before 7am which is fortunately when I ride it. 

[Phil Hears A Who]

Local legends is a funny one, I did a tour through a rather rural part of Spain last year and picked up a handful of LLs as it appeared I was the only person to ride that segment in the last 90 days. Similarly entertaining getting 8th on the KOM leaderboard for a 40km segment that included a 1hr stop for lunch - can only assume it had only be recorded 7 times before!

[LittleWheelsandBig]

I took my Brommie on a fortnight work trip to commute between hotel and work site. I was the uncontested local legend on a Moroccan road for the next three months, though I have no idea why somebody created that segment.

[Asterix, the former Gaul.]

I've no claims to fame on Strava but I know what I need to win.  I shall wait for the next storm-force wind and find a segment going the right way. No-one else will think of that.

[JonBuoy]

I've no claims to fame on Strava but I know what I need to win.  I shall wait for the next storm-force wind and find a segment going the right way. No-one else will think of that.

I did exactly that on Saturday on a local gravelly segment that I don't usually ride as it turns into a footpath that dumps you out onto a main road.  Unfortunately there was a guy walking a dog part way along the bridleway section so I had to slow down as I passed him.  Uploaded the ride and was pleasantly surprised to get on the leaderboard.  An hour later and someone had beaten my time by 1 second 

[CrazyEnglishTriathlete]

I've no claims to fame on Strava but I know what I need to win.  I shall wait for the next storm-force wind and find a segment going the right way. No-one else will think of that.

The Hague based cycling club that I am associated with had a debate on that, with the moderator raising a warning that it might not be that safe to ride in Force 10 -11 winds.  (I think Force 11 is where they cancel the World Headwind Cycling championships because of too much wind - I've ridden in it once - at 7mph on the flat, where it felt like I was pushing 300W)

[Asterix, the former Gaul.]

Cycling the Route de la Bonnette last year it was windy.  Rounding a sharp bend and leaving the shelter of the rock gave me the full force, lifting my front wheel off the tarmac and blowing it sideways.  With not a lot of road to play with I just about managed to stay on and steer away from the edge.  At the top, the inevitable posse of motorcyclists gave me a round of applause, which meant I was some sort of local legend, if not on Strava.

[sojournermike]

I chased a segment straight to A&E with a broken collar bone a few years ago - night, off road, rigid, single speed…

I also once held a running KOM for a few months. What made me snail was that it was off road in Derbyshire, near where I grew up. I ran it half way around a 13 miler one Christmas Day in deep snow and basically trudge jogged up the hilly. Still took months for someone to spit how soft a target it was.

Mike

[Solocle]

I created a segment for a section of motorway which I ended up on due to illegally awful signage...

I'm Second. Of Two. 

[vorsprung]

update: I haven't had another go yet as removing the last mudguard from the second best bike took a couple of days (don't ask - a screw extractor didn't work)
Tonight I have to cycle to a pub (I have to) and won't be back until 11pm
Tomorrow I am having a metric tonne of logs delivered and will be stacking them in the shed

Maybe Friday then.....

[sojournermike]

I created a segment for a section of motorway which I ended up on due to illegally awful signage...

I'm Second. Of Two. 

With or against the traffic flow - I know a man…

[Solocle]

I created a segment for a section of motorway which I ended up on due to illegally awful signage...

I'm Second. Of Two. 

With or against the traffic flow - I know a man…

With the flow 

The other guy seems to have gone down a farm track, and then found some stairs onto the motorway spur.

[vorsprung]

I am pleased to report the incredible achievement of number 9 (joint with 3 other people) in the top ten