I love Strava.
As a tech geek and a cyclist I have an appreciation for the sheer genius of it. There are plenty of imitators out here but Strava seem to have the lead on them all.
Usually the first thing I do after a ride is hook up my garmin to the mac, upload my ride and eagerly await for the results to process. Have I set a new PR on the Frocester Hill segment? What was my average speed on the Tetbury Road Sprint segment?
As a motivational tool it can't be beat. You get to measure your performance, not only against yourself, but also against thousands of others. Well, in some of the Californian rides it is thousands. Over here it is not so well known or used and even the most popular segments only involve a few dozen riders. I expect that will change as more riders sign up. But for now there is still a chance that you can be the King of the Mountain on a segment for a short while. That is until some cocky young pretender happens to breeze by your time when they discover a new unconquered segment to add to their tally.
The downside to all this competitiveness is that every ride becomes a time trial. Riders know where a segment starts and their heads go down and legs start thrashing automatically as they get into a Strava zone. There is no more leisurely rides through the dales. Every hill has been marked out so you definitely can't dawdle up those.
Then there are the times when you may not even know you are on a segment and stop to take some refreshments as precious seconds tick by. Only when you get home and plough through your results do you realise that you were fifteen minutes slower than everyone else on a segment but you have no way of telling everyone: "Hey!, I didn't know it was a Strava segment. I was taking a break".
Strava has joined all those other apps that we can't get away from that break down every minute detail of our lives for analysis. You can either choose to ignore it or immortalise yourself with a KOM on a hill that no one else will ever bother going near.
Disclaimer: At the time of writing I hold the KOM for Tanners Hill in Sherston (http://app.strava.com/segments/882653) a mighty 300 metre long climb that gains all of 17m of elevation. I'd like to see Bradley Wiggins beat that time!
Thursday, May 31, 2012
Tuesday, May 22, 2012
The Castle 100
This was a chance to ride a longer distance with some of the guys that I would be on the Etape with.
There were five of us riding together. As we were late in assembling we all decided to do the shorter 70 mile route. I was hoping to test my body and bike out with a longer ride but it was more important to hang out with the rest of the guys I would begin the Pyrenees with.
My friend, Gary, is experienced in tuning bikes and made some adjustments to mine that were really helpful. The angle of my bars were raised and more importantly I ditched my Shimano cleats for Look Keo cleats and they were far superior.
It was the first time I had ridden for a long period of time in a peloton and it was a great experience. We were able to keep up a frenetic pace with minimal effort ( as long as you were not at the front!).
The route was mostly along winding country lanes through the heart of Hop country, very scenic. There were no major hills to tackle, they seemed to be reserved for the longer ride.
At about 80K I started to flag a little and found it increasingly difficult to stay up with the group, especially as the terrain was more hilly. Luckily for me Gary's gear cable snapped and he was stuck riding the last 30K in low gear. This meant that I had lots of time to recover waiting for him at the top of hills as he started to struggle to get up in what was now a fixed-gear bike.
We picked up the pace again for the last 5 miles and raced into the Castle grounds at Tonbridge to the finish line.
I was surprised when the results came in to find that we were the 14th and 15th fastest finishers in the 100K. I guess riding in a peleton makes a huge difference.
The training is starting to feel like it is having an effect as I felt comfortable for most of the ride and could have managed a further 30 miles quite easily.
Now for six weeks of hills......
There were five of us riding together. As we were late in assembling we all decided to do the shorter 70 mile route. I was hoping to test my body and bike out with a longer ride but it was more important to hang out with the rest of the guys I would begin the Pyrenees with.
My friend, Gary, is experienced in tuning bikes and made some adjustments to mine that were really helpful. The angle of my bars were raised and more importantly I ditched my Shimano cleats for Look Keo cleats and they were far superior.
It was the first time I had ridden for a long period of time in a peloton and it was a great experience. We were able to keep up a frenetic pace with minimal effort ( as long as you were not at the front!).
The route was mostly along winding country lanes through the heart of Hop country, very scenic. There were no major hills to tackle, they seemed to be reserved for the longer ride.
At about 80K I started to flag a little and found it increasingly difficult to stay up with the group, especially as the terrain was more hilly. Luckily for me Gary's gear cable snapped and he was stuck riding the last 30K in low gear. This meant that I had lots of time to recover waiting for him at the top of hills as he started to struggle to get up in what was now a fixed-gear bike.
We picked up the pace again for the last 5 miles and raced into the Castle grounds at Tonbridge to the finish line.
I was surprised when the results came in to find that we were the 14th and 15th fastest finishers in the 100K. I guess riding in a peleton makes a huge difference.
The training is starting to feel like it is having an effect as I felt comfortable for most of the ride and could have managed a further 30 miles quite easily.
Now for six weeks of hills......
Friday, May 18, 2012
Frocester Hill
With less than eight weeks to go before the ride I decided to switch gears and focus on hill climbing.
This entails driving out 12 miles to the Severn escarpment to Coaley Peak view. From the car park I have bounteous options of inflicting pain on my body with Selsley Hill, Frocester Hill and Uley all within a 3 mile radius.
I picked out a route that starts along Selsley Common and plunges down Selsley Hill over the cattle grates and turns sharply back up hill two thirds down Selsely Hill. So sharply in fact that I could not change gears in time and had the option of hitting the car waiting to turn or rolling over on my side with the cleats still engaged. I went for the latter more humiliating option.
The route winds down into King's Stanley and through Frocester before the winding route up the hill looms into view. Scary to think that this hill is only one tenth of the size of the Tormalet. It is a steeper gradient than the Tormalet though which is one tiny saving grace.
It was not as bad as I anticipated which means that perhaps this training is starting to pay off. At the top I paused for a drink before ploughing on to Uley.
There is a steep descent into Uley and then it is back to grinding away in the highest gear again up Lampern Hill. Parts of this hill reminded me of Tunitas Creek in the Bay Area - bloody steep! Gasping at the top there was no time to take in the scenery as I was in race position heading down to Nailsworth.
The route out of Nailsworth up to the wind turbine via Forest Green is short but steep: a recurring theme on this loop. Once the summit is reached there are about four miles of gentle uphill left before returning back to Coaley Peak.
The loop is about 30K and 800m of climbing. A great ride for the work week when time is limited. I managed some decent middle of the pack times according to strava so things don't look so bleak for July. This Sunday will provide a good marker when I tackle the Castle 100.
This entails driving out 12 miles to the Severn escarpment to Coaley Peak view. From the car park I have bounteous options of inflicting pain on my body with Selsley Hill, Frocester Hill and Uley all within a 3 mile radius.
I picked out a route that starts along Selsley Common and plunges down Selsley Hill over the cattle grates and turns sharply back up hill two thirds down Selsely Hill. So sharply in fact that I could not change gears in time and had the option of hitting the car waiting to turn or rolling over on my side with the cleats still engaged. I went for the latter more humiliating option.
The route winds down into King's Stanley and through Frocester before the winding route up the hill looms into view. Scary to think that this hill is only one tenth of the size of the Tormalet. It is a steeper gradient than the Tormalet though which is one tiny saving grace.
It was not as bad as I anticipated which means that perhaps this training is starting to pay off. At the top I paused for a drink before ploughing on to Uley.
There is a steep descent into Uley and then it is back to grinding away in the highest gear again up Lampern Hill. Parts of this hill reminded me of Tunitas Creek in the Bay Area - bloody steep! Gasping at the top there was no time to take in the scenery as I was in race position heading down to Nailsworth.
The route out of Nailsworth up to the wind turbine via Forest Green is short but steep: a recurring theme on this loop. Once the summit is reached there are about four miles of gentle uphill left before returning back to Coaley Peak.
The loop is about 30K and 800m of climbing. A great ride for the work week when time is limited. I managed some decent middle of the pack times according to strava so things don't look so bleak for July. This Sunday will provide a good marker when I tackle the Castle 100.
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