Why do so many Strava segments suck?

[deadhead1971]

I thought I might be in "grumpy old man" territory here, but after speaking with a few club mates, and then asking around on twitter, it appeared that I'm not the only one.

Here's 7 reasons why some Strava segments suck. (link to a blog post) http://bit.ly/11zXIbc

 

[HLaB]

Yip its just 'grumpy old man' territory, I've treaded into it too

 

[fossyant]

There are some really stupid segments.

We have one near home, where there are two (at least) logged segments. One is the hill itself, from the bottom to the top, a steep little bugger - that's fine. Then there is one from the main road, totally flat, up the hill and to the top. The bad point is the road to the hill isn't much better than a farm track, so attacking on there risks crashing or bike damage.

Oh and don't get me started on segments on shared use paths.

 

[Herr-B]

It's not the segments that suck, it's me, on the bike. Soon the whole country, and beyond, will be full of segments.

And I'll suck at each one.

 

[HLaB]

There are some really stupid segments.

We have one near home, where there are two (at least) logged segments. One is the hill itself, from the bottom to the top, a steep little bugger - that's fine. Then there is one from the main road, totally flat, up the hill and to the top. The bad point is the road to the hill isn't much better than a farm track, so attacking on there risks crashing or bike damage.

Oh and don't get me started on segments on shared use paths.

There was one similar near Chelmsford (Stamford Mill Climb IIRC) it was flat over a narrow wooden bridge flat along an overgrown (lots of nettles) track back along a short flat section of road then over a shared use hump bridge (about 1m of clibing in 5m); Strava identified it as 18% climb iirc.

On a more local section of shared use path where you have to be up very early to avoid peds even then you still encounterd dog walker in the dark, etc Comming the other way you at least have good visibility to see the path is clear for a good 100m at least. IIRC my mate is KOM but it was ridden at 4am

 

[VamP]

Most segments are of completely no interest to most people. We all have a few that we cherish, for one reason or another. I rarely look at my segments after a ride, unless it included one of my testpieces.

 

[Lyrical]

The one thing that riles me when it comes to Strava segments are traffic lights.

 

[subaqua]

one thing that makes me laugh is the segment over Bow flyover marked as dangerous so you can't see where you are in the rankings. its no more dangerous than any of the segments along CS2

 

[Hacienda71]

I am not sure Strabbaranks is helping. I am pretty sure a few people are creating segments merely to improve their rankings. A bit sad really.

 

[paul04]

The one thing that riles me when it comes to Strava segments are traffic lights.

There are a few like that near me, with one of them, you have to be very lucky with the 5 sets of traffic lights or jump a few red lights to get a good time, just not worth it.

 

[MrGrumpy]

well a good few of the segments on my commute have been marked as hazardous, can only assume due to the shared paths but there are hardly anyone walking on them and besides you would have to be a complete @rse on a bike buzz a ped on shared path?!

 

[MrGrumpy]

oh and also there is another segment in my home town which picks you up on the road but can also be picked up on the shared path one route is shorter than the other which is annoying as I lost my KOM hmm yes I`m a grumpy bar stewerd :

 

[4F]

oh and also there is another segment in my home town which picks you up on the road but can also be picked up on the shared path one route is shorter than the other which is annoying as I lost my KOM hmm yes I`m a grumpy bar stewerd :

Stop moaning and pedal faster

 

[HLaB]

oh and also there is another segment in my home town which picks you up on the road but can also be picked up on the shared path one route is shorter

The Bottom to Top Glen gates is like that it picks up riders going through and staying in the Glen but it also picks up DCC riders going to the Main gates, stopping at the meet point, then going up Bridge St, through the lights, Pittencrieff St and passed the Top gates.

 

[the_mikey]

I use strava to monitor my rides, but I'm blissfully unaware of where the segments are, it's a pleasant surprise to learn I've gained a good position on a segment. Just remember to not put the strava segment before safety.