Tom A. wrote:
nslckevin wrote:
STP wrote:
This is a great play on this theme. It is a video produced by Peloton. The theme is they get a "secret" incognito rider to go out and take away a KOM from a real pro. In preparation for the KOM run they outfit him with a bike, equipment and clothing which I assume are paid product placements.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x5b6-UAPvpg That's a really funny video!
I didn't get it...so let's see...you're upset because a domestic pro rider happens to set a local KOM (in the course of a hard local group ride, BTW), so you go get ANOTHER pro rider to take it away in a "one shot" effort? Ummm...ok...what was the point again (besides the fact that most things Strava related are silly, that is?) :-/
No.
I think that lots of people take Strava WAAAY to seriously and I think that's funny.
There are Strava KOM's around here that I own and some that are within my reach. Others are well beyond my reach and owned by pro's. Some fall in the same bucket except it's just a shit hot cat 1. It is what it is. Instead of whining about it though you can go after it anyway. There is one around here owned by local pro Nate English. It appeared out of reach (and may still be), but since it's short and on the route of our normal Sunday ride I periodically take a run at it. It's gotten to where I'm not all that far off and that motivates me. Maybe it's possible so I dig deeper. That makes me a better cyclist.
On the other hand, Nate probably did that with a relatively hard effort where as for me it's a full gas thrashing and I usually I get a couple of friends to set the pace at the bottom of the climb for me. (It's a bit under 4 minutes.) So, even if I actually do beat it Nate would get an email and maybe pedal with both legs next time he heads that way and take it back.
But that's what makes Strava fun.
Though I have to admit that I think that what the video is asking for is a good idea. From a marketing perspective it makes a lot of sense. Otherwise at some point all KOM's are going to be owned by either Ted King or Laurens Ten Dam. :-)
For myself, I'd still rather compare myself against everybody, but I can understand why a lot of people would like the pro filter.
Though I have to admit that I wondered if there wasn't some way to sneak my Garmin into a pro's back pocket at the bottom of Diablo in last year's ToC. :-) "Holy Shit! Kevin took 6 minutes off of his Diablo time!" :-)
Kevin
http://kevinmetcalfe.dreamhosters.com My Strava