Cycling myths or common-knowledge you'd like to see dispelled

[Ming the Merciless]

I think the website referred to in this article has expired, but yes, it’s trivial to rewrite .gpx or .tcx files before uploading.

Trivial to rewrite fit files as well.

 

[Ming the Merciless]

I think the original method used was to remove one fix in twenty (or however many were required to provide a given apparent boost) and adjust subsequent fix times to suit. It was possible to see a repeating sudden jump in speed when zoomed in. I’m sure better coding, perhaps modifying lats and longs as well as times, would be able to smooth out such obvious fakery. As you say, all a bit pointless as anything other than a programming challenge. So much easier to use a moped...

or ebike

 

[cyberknight]

Saying that having it on Strava mean that you did it is daft - I haven't tried it (yet) but from what I've seen it could easily be fiddled - after all the gpx files are just text
but then I was a programmer for many years - so maybe I look at these thing differently
and it also probably explains why I will try to fiddle a ride sooner or later - just to see how easy it is - so if anyone finds my account and finds a ride suddenly appear that Roglic would be proud of - then it is just me fiddling

used to be a website digitalepo that got stopped where it could actually alter your speed so if you wanted you could get aKOM, bit pointless imho but i reckon some people did, apparantly you could tell a false track down to the way the data was manipluated to give blocky non smooth speed etc

 

[ebikeerwidnes]

used to be a website digitalepo that got stopped where it could actually alter your speed so if you wanted you could get aKOM, bit pointless imho but i reckon some people did, apparantly you could tell a false track down to the way the data was manipluated to give blocky non smooth speed etc

Yup - bit like using a 1000W ebike to set a new KOM time
may as well just drive up the damn thing
and I have heard of people doing that to!

I have no clue what people gain from doing that

 

[cyberknight]

Yup - bit like using a 1000W ebike to set a new KOM time
may as well just drive up the damn thing
and I have heard of people doing that to!

I have no clue what people gain from doing that

mind you there are very fast people out there anyway , a chap uses used to be on here is local to me and is a coach now and is very fast unaided

 

[C R]

mind you there are very fast people out there anyway , a chap uses used to be on here is local to me and is a coach now and is very fast unaided

Fast enough to do 50mph uphill? There's a segment of Garmin connect in my commute up a short hill, not particularly steep, but enough to get the heart pumping, I think I managed 12mph up it once. The fastest rider last time I checked was showing 51mph.

 

[cyberknight]

Fast enough to do 50mph uphill? There's a segment of Garmin connect in my commute up a short hill, not particularly steep, but enough to get the heart pumping, I think I managed 12mph up it once. The fastest rider last time I checked was showing 51mph.

Nah but I think I have a pb on on 17 and the Kom is more like 30

 

[freiston]

So it seems that not only a) if it's not on Strava then it didn't happen but also b) if it's on Strava, then it might not have happened

 

[weareHKR]

I just wait while I get back home & then check all the data on Google Maps, gives me a picture of my ride, distance, speed etc... don't have to remember to set it going or pausing etc, just have my phone with me...

 

[freiston]

I just wait while I get back home & then check all the data on Google Maps, gives me a picture of my ride, distance, speed etc... don't have to remember to set it going or pausing etc, just have my phone with me...

I have referred to google timeline when trying to remember on what days I made certain trips and noticed that unless I am using another app that uses GPS/tracking data (usually Osmand), the google sampling rate is really off - cutting me across acres of fields instead of keeping me to the roads and reducing the mileage massively - probably by about a third most times.

 

[valh]

The myth that your legs will get big cycling is this true? I mean I have been doing it lately on and off for the last two weeks with no resistance and my jeans fit a little better

 

[matticus]

The myth that your legs will get big cycling is this true? I mean I have been doing it lately on and off for the last two weeks with no resistance and my jeans fit a little better

I think yes ... and no ...

Not everyone builds muscle in the same way/amount. Most people that have a good diet and make some effort on the bike (you don't have to of course) will build *some* muscle. And those same people will very often lose a little fat somewhere else; so IMO you generally get some change in overall shape, at least initially.

Maybe! There are so many factors ...

 

[T.M.H.N.E.T]

The myth that your legs will get big cycling is this true? I mean I have been doing it lately on and off for the last two weeks with no resistance and my jeans fit a little better

Not even close to truth generally

 

[CanucksTraveller]

The myth that your legs will get big cycling is this true? I mean I have been doing it lately on and off for the last two weeks with no resistance and my jeans fit a little better

I've cycled all my life and I have always had long, fairly skinny legs. I'd wager most other members here are similar. Definition and the tone / firmness of leg muscles definitely improves with more cycling, but not muscle mass. You're not weightlifting.

Pro sprinters have muscular legs, but that's only because they do a lot of weights in order to produce more short twitch muscle fibre, which is what you need to sprint. It's the weights (and not the cycling) that builds those thighs.

 

[Ming the Merciless]

Tandems are always slower uphill