Coed Brenin Enduro 2014

Coed Brenin Enduro 2014

Saturday 15 June 2013

The Strava effect

I've just discovered Strava, which is an app that allows you to share information about bike rides using GPS data collected during the ride.

So today I downloaded the app and headed out on the road bike, whilst logging the route. The idea of tracking your fitness makes the whole thing pretty addictive for a lot of people. When I got back from my short ride, it presented the data in lots of graphs, maps, and provided stats so immediately I can see why lots of individuals (men) get addicted to it. 

Two strava addicts taking it way too seriously....
I pulled the following text from the singletracks website, and it makes interesting reading (particularly the last paragraph):

"........despite launching just a couple years ago, it’s already having real effects on the sport of mountain biking.
Improving Fitness
Perhaps the biggest positive effect Strava is having on mountain biking and endurance sports in general is making fitness fun. Adding a competitive element to every workout, even if it’s just trying to set a new personal record, makes everyone stronger. It would be interesting to see how ride times trend for Strava members over the course of their membership… my guess is they improve trail times much faster than for those who don’t use it.

Here in Atlanta there’s a pretty good group of folks who use Strava but in outdoor hotspots like Denver, Strava use has truly exploded. In fact, we heard from multiple people (including staffers at IMBA) that it’s not unusual for riders in Colorado to fail to yield the trail while shouting “Strava!” to let you know they’re trying to set a new PR on a particular trail section. With Strava, every ride becomes a race with the resulting ego clashes and occasional conflicts.

Some riders have taken things even farther, risking personal injury to themselves and others. In 2010 a rider died after losing control while trying to set a new speed record for a descent in Tilden Park in Orinda, CA because someone had recently posted a faster time. His family sued Strava, saying the man was “obsessed” with Strava which could easily describe a lot of folks."

(Article found at http://www.singletracks.com/blog/gps/the-strava-effect-on-mountain-biking/)

I also know of someone locally who is struggling with his strava addiction (being a very good cyclist) and its causing relationship issues particularly for his partner!

Clearly by blogging/using social media I'm firmly connected to this brave new (ish) world of narcissistic behaviour, even though I try to convince myself to the contrary. It just seems that the extent to which technology is nudging into our lives is catapulting forward exponentially in this facebook generation era.

So..........I've survived up to this point without strava but now that I've discovered it will life be better, more enriched or more stressful. Will it make me want to ride more or less, trying to beat 'that time' again, and again. We shall see............come find me on strava ;-)

No comments:

Post a Comment