You're taking Strava *waaay* too seriously.

If you like pure individual effort, then target steep climbs where drafting doesn't really help.

It's not news to me. Ever since I was little I saw sneaky little ways slow people would do to try and win races. At first it was trivial stuff like cutting corners, you know, shit kids do when they think no one will know. Then they do other sneaky little things like trying to block others, pull on their arms, hang their elbows out, not keeping their lane... shit like that.
Cycling does the same. They get a team of riders to pull a sprinter to a good position to sprint from, and even go so far as to hang their arms out, block other riders from a good position, and recently, not keep their lane to send other racers into the stands.
Nah, I'd rather ride alone.
And since this is a triathlon forum where many of the races are non drafting and more of an individual sport, not a cycling forum, I figured there would be a bit more pride in a person's individual ability.
Go ahead on though braddah. Get all up in that ass you stud muffin.

The one nobody talks much about that I have I guess the wrong opinion on: girls on group rides with guys.

Never take a pull but bag every QOM in town while sitting in. I always hear “the other ladies could join that ride”. What? And be a leech and never pull also? I am 100% sure there are plenty that could steal my lunch money as a dude rider easy. So no machismo there. But to me that’s double shit etiquette, don’t pull and bag QOMs in the process. Or a guy skipping all the pulls and tying the KOMs.

I’m a dude even, so shouldn't care. But it is reason number 1 I wish they had group vs solo leaderboards.

Worse is pros motorpacing and taking KOMs.

It's not a problem Strava needs to solve. It's a problem slow people that want a particular KOM need to solve.

And your point is disconnected from the very nature of bike racing.

Going as fast as possible is the point (when that's the goal). Typically that's done in a group. That's not "pathetic", that's the entire foundation of the sport.

Anyone expecting admiration from strava records is just sad. As is caring enough about a KOM/CR to look into it enough to find drafting is the reason.

No one in my Saturday group ride is making a living off bike racing. So, yes the person that rides the coattails of others all day long is pathetic. I don’t really care. I’m in it for the exercise. So, I would rather work harder within the same ride and reap the benefits of doing so than declare myself “fast” by leaching onto other’s speed. But, there are obviously many people that act as exactly as you describe. Whatever floats your boat.

Other than my Garmin stats uploading to Strava, I’m not even on it. I don’t even know how to look up a KOM, let alone try to capture one. So, when I say I don’t care, my actions fully support my words. I’m done with you.

Well thanks for sharing your carefully considered views about Strava KOMs and how they actually only matter enough to you to talk about how they don't matter to you.

Okay then.

This and the quips about the QOMs make absolutely zero sense. Drafting and pacelining is one of, if not THE, most essential aspect of bike racing.

That you would decry that in regards to Strava KOMs and QOMs is bizarre. It's what bike racing is all about.

The irony is comical.

Slow people need a group to beat fast people. Go out with your Court (who is doing all the real work) and grab all the KOMs you like if that makes you feel as if you accomplished something. Those of us who see you latching on know what's really going on.

So, I am not taking KOMs as seriously as you think. But what I am doing, I am doing them by myself, under conditions anyone else could have ridden at the same time.

Ai_1 wrote:

KOMs are really a nonsense. The only way they would make sense as a measure of anything is if they were considered TTs, only to be claimed if you're not drafting. Even then weather would remain a big factor, and blatant cheating would remain virtually impossible to prevent.
Group riding is a big part of what road racing is about, but this is not road racing. This is a meaningless unqualified statistic for a few people to use to feed their egos.

Well good on ya! I'm sure your sterling aspirations at mediocrity are well appreciated on page 19 of all those local segments on which you're so unserious.

You're a regular bastion of performance banality.

rubik wrote:

It's racing on a road. It's road racing. Is it really a race? It's a list of times recorded separately whether you are interested/trying or not. Competition is inferred by some, but does that really make it a "race"? I think it's debatable.

That you don't like it doesn't really matter, right? To you? Of course not. You are completely free to ignore my opinion. To me? Yes, but only a trivial amount. I'm simply trying to influence others to improve the alignment between any consensus and my own preferences/beliefs. Is it of importance to me? No, not at all. I'm a big procrastinator, and this is just a tool to distract myself from what I should really be doing, or maybe to let the real ideas gestate subconsciously....yeah, I prefer that.

I mean, if it's truly meaningless to you, then that should preclude you from having any feelings about it whatsoever anyway, yeah? No, that's a silly argument made regularly around here and it's flawed, especially the way you're applying it. I said Strava KOMs are a nonsense. I care whether or not others grasp that. I care how people think. The opinion that something is silly or trivial does not imply that any comment about it is itself silly or trivial. Nor is there any contradiction in bothering to comment on something trivial.

It's like post after post of people whining about how meaningless it is and how much they don't care about it. Again, caring about KOM achievements is not the same as caring about others views about them.

The irony is comical. What irony?