Are apps like Strava dangerous?

[Flying Dodo]

There seems to be an increasing use of apps like Strava to get people racing against other cyclists. I've even found that RideWithGPS, which I use for plotting routes, seems to have jumped on the bandwagon, as out of the blue I started getting notifications that I'd slipped down some notional list of some random segment of a road somewhere in the South East.

It's as though the typical boy racer in a Corsa has swapped 4 wheels for 2. Already there's there's been a number of deaths, probably due to people trying to beat some record.

It's one thing to do this on roads, but it seems every stretch of path accessible by cyclists is up for grabs, including shared use paths. At a recent Sustrans meeting we were advised that Strava refuse to automatically remove shared use paths. You can flag a segment as dangerous, but someone can still list a timing on a bigger segment.

Given the increasing popularity of cycling, I can foresee increasing conflict with pedestrians, in the same way that the minority of red light jumpers get all cyclists tarred as law breakers.

So for anyone who does go on shared use paths, please bear in mind Sustrans' Code of Conduct.

 

[byegad]

Is that the one that says there will be totally useless barrier to progress in any path that I'd like to use?

 

[Venod]

You may be interested in this thread.

http://www.cyclechat.net/threads/the-strava-affect-is-it-dangerous.138981/#post-2634665

 

[Flying Dodo]

Ah - that'll teach me for being lazy and not searching for someone else having a whinge.

 

[Hip Priest]

Yeah, there's a shared path I use on the way to work which has become a Strava segment. The KOM averaged over 30mph. They'd probably claim they did it at a time when there were no peds about, but it sets a pretty bad precedent.

 

[wisdom]

They are only dangerous if you let them get to you.
I use endomondo
1 for a record of my journeys.
2 As a training aid on the commute.i know how long it normally takes,some days i surprise myself.
But i never ride dangerously to beat a time i previously set.

 

[Cycling Dan]

Strava is as dangerous as a knife. Use it correctly and there is no issue. But hold it up and run along a slippy floor you're going to stab yourself.

 

[MrJamie]

Yeah, there's a shared path I use on the way to work which has become a Strava segment. The KOM averaged over 30mph. They'd probably claim they did it at a time when there were no peds about, but it sets a pretty bad precedent.

I'm not that fast, but when I was into strava I'd go out at night when I could blast down the shared paths around the lakes and river with no one about to slow down for. I'm not sure the other people on those segments did that though

It's the downhill segments I don't like, some of them with very steep hills in residential areas are particularly stupid and while you don't have to bother with those segments, it does encourage idiots IMHO.

 

[Dusty Bin]

You can flag segments which you think are unsafe and Strava will remove them. I flagged one which some idiot had set up, which went right through the town centre, including the main shopping street, two busy junctions and a zebra crossing, followed by a left turn onto a busy A-road. Whoever thought up that one needs shooting...

 

[User6179]

You can flag segments which you think are unsafe and Strava will remove them. I flagged one which some idiot had set up, which went right through the town centre, including the main shopping street, two busy junctions and a zebra crossing, followed by a left turn onto a busy A-road. Whoever thought up that one needs shooting...

A segment near me has 13 roundabouts and 2 zebra crossings and a set of traffic lights, hardest KOM I ever got

 

[RWright]

I thought about creating a Strava segment on a steep hill in my neighborhood. It has a lot of kids playing on it, cats, dogs, walkers. Most driveways are inclined down to it so I always see kids blast down their driveways on small bicycles, tricycles and whatever else they can find to ride, onto the road. I thought about naming it "baby killer" but I really don't want to bring down the wrath of that aggressive, hostile, unstoppable force known as motherhood on myself. I can see it now, a new organization called MASU (Mothers Against Strava Usage).
.......before anyone gets upset I am kidding!!!

Actually I don't go up or down the hill very often, I go the other way because of all the kids. I do think I could get near 45 on it if I made a fast tight turn turning onto the road. Strava is only as dangerous as some of the idiots using it. I use it and like it but can see where there are and will be more problems. I was reading some traffic laws here and it is illegal to race bicycles on the streets here without a permit, but it would be Hard to prove without another bicycle around I guess. It would even be hard to prove with another bicycle riding with you.

 

[Nigel-YZ1]

It's how people choose to use Strava that makes the difference.
I record rides for the fun of it and to let friends know I'm still out there. I used it to record a walk up to a hilltop in Garda on Wednesday.
I don't give a stuff how fast anyone else is, and am not interested in being any faster then anyone else.

 

[MrGrumpy]

There seems to be an increasing use of apps like Strava to get people racing against other cyclists. I've even found that RideWithGPS, which I use for plotting routes, seems to have jumped on the bandwagon, as out of the blue I started getting notifications that I'd slipped down some notional list of some random segment of a road somewhere in the South East.

It's as though the typical boy racer in a Corsa has swapped 4 wheels for 2. Already there's there's been a number of deaths, probably due to people trying to beat some record.

It's one thing to do this on roads, but it seems every stretch of path accessible by cyclists is up for grabs, including shared use paths. At a recent Sustrans meeting we were advised that Strava refuse to automatically remove shared use paths. You can flag a segment as dangerous, but someone can still list a timing on a bigger segment.

Given the increasing popularity of cycling, I can foresee increasing conflict with pedestrians, in the same way that the minority of red light jumpers get all cyclists tarred as law breakers.

So for anyone who does go on shared use paths, please bear in mind Sustrans' Code of Conduct.

if your not fast your last /joke

in all seriousness,I like Strava, if you want to use it as a training aid its great, but can see the pitfalls with it. However lets not all jump on the bandwagon and blame Strava for all the reckless cycling!

 

[HLaB]

You can flag segments which younarrownk are unsafe and Strava will remove them. I flagged one which some idiot had set up, which went right through the town centre, including the main shopping street, two busy junctions and a zebra crossing, followed by a left turn onto a busy A-road. Whoever thought up that one needs shooting...

I flagged a couple the other day, they were the same series of sharp bends on a narrow shared use path (WB & EB), the visibility is terrible, IMO it was just asking for trouble, nearly every time I go through that section you meet someone, I don't want to meet some idiot racing for a KOM!

 

[the_mikey]

I 'won' a top ten strava placing riding an audax yesterday, it was on a road I've never ridden before and I wasn't fast (audax speed 15-30km/h) I wouldn't have completed the ride if I had spent all my resources sprinting for strava segments.