For help, advice and discussion about stuff not related to aviation. Play nice: no religion, no politics and no axe grinding please.
By Uptimist
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1632149
So, as well as just qualifying for my PPL(a), I enjoy a bit of cycling. Like many of of my fellow cyclists, I use the Strava website to log rides and track metrics etc. One of the things you can look at is who crossed paths with you on a ride (coincidentally called Strava Flyby).

Apparently today someone cycled past me at 550km/h and did 321km in 35 mins which seems quite aggressive.

Closer examination revealed no roads and some interesting elevation data,

A bit of googling later, it turns out this was Red1 who uploaded his “ride” at today’s Biggin Hill airshow to Strava!
By TopCat
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1632173
I got a Strava notification of a mate of mine, apparently cycling some stonking climbs in the Alps a while back. On closer examination they were a bit straighter than they should have been.

Turned out he was skiing, and uploaded his chairlift rides. I mean seriously....

A good slap is the only remedy for such KOM hogs. ISTR you can report them to Strava, actually.
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By Rob P
#1632180
KOM? :scratch:

Rob P

Edit: King Of Mountain?
Last edited by Rob P on Sun Aug 19, 2018 7:28 am, edited 1 time in total.
By malcolmfrost
#1632183
TopCat wrote:I got a Strava notification of a mate of mine, apparently cycling some stonking climbs in the Alps a while back. On closer examination they were a bit straighter than they should have been.

Turned out he was skiing, and uploaded his chairlift rides. I mean seriously....

A good slap is the only remedy for such KOM hogs. ISTR you can report them to Strava, actually.

If you tag it as Alpine skiing they don't appear in the segment KOMs. I just leave my Garmin running for the whole day so the chairlifts show automatically until I change the tag.
By Cessna57
#1632247
I’ve recently started cycling a bit and installed Strava.

It showed me a little league table the other day for some bits of a route I cycle regularly.

That was interesting for about 10 seconds till I worked out people had been logging it from their car so they could be “top” of the little leader board.

Is the whole thing like that?
By Uptimist
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1632256
Cessna57 wrote:I’ve recently started cycling a bit and installed Strava.

It showed me a little league table the other day for some bits of a route I cycle regularly.

That was interesting for about 10 seconds till I worked out people had been logging it from their car so they could be “top” of the little leader board.

Is the whole thing like that?


Not really no. Like most collections of people there are always a few people who don’t behave, but mostly the suspicious KOM’s are accidentally-left-the-Garmin-on-and-drove-Home. In Red1’s case, it was his watch, not intentional upload... what you do find is weather (I.e. tailwind) is a big factor, don’t expect to look good on the league table unless there is a hurricane from behind. Mostly it’s better really just to look at where you are versus past efforts or mates you usually cycle with, ignore the rest.

Before the mods move this thread to “non aviation”...has anyone tried to fit a proper road bike (not some fold up commuter thing) in the back of e.g. a PA28? I wonder if it would fit maybe with wheels and saddle off. Maybe even need to take the bars off too. I have not tried yet.
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By JonathanB
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1632262
I need to get back out both my bike and a bit of walking - any recommendations on a fitness tracker? Half tempted by an Apple Watch 3 (not the LTE version) as it does lots more and can log swimming too...
By TopCat
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1632275
Cessna57 wrote:I’ve recently started cycling a bit and installed Strava.

It showed me a little league table the other day for some bits of a route I cycle regularly.

That was interesting for about 10 seconds till I worked out people had been logging it from their car so they could be “top” of the little leader board.

Is the whole thing like that?

No, it's not.

However, if you've only just recently started cycling, you won't be anywhere near the top of those segment listings, so even if a few tw4ts are claiming KoMs by driving, it's irrelevant.

The genuinely fast guys are so much faster than the rest of us that it's sometimes hard to even imagine, and not only because they're often in groups that make riding fast a lot easier.

My routes are mostly in Surrey, which are pretty popular. I'm invariably thousands of places down those listings. I'm never going to be anywhere near the top, so I just use them for my results only - that then gives me something meaningful to compare against.
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By kanga
#1632283
Uptimist wrote:.. In Red1’s case, it was his watch, not intentional upload... ...


I hope he remembers not to be wearing that watch next time he is deployed operationally, as in theory could happen to the Arrows at any time .. :roll:

[I wonder if any nation's Air Force operations' OpSec has been compromised by this sort of oversight. ISTR that the clearly Russian operational SAM unit which shot down the Malaysian airliner from a location well within Ukraine was, after the event, successfully tracked by amateur external investigators from, and hurriedly back to, its Russian military base through the location reporting of some personal media device(s) of some of its crew. It helped belie some of the Russian government disinformation]
By riverrock
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1632288
Fitness tracker wise, I've been using vivoactive HR. It has a passive screen, so doesn't look the shiniest, but that does mean its got 7 days battery life.
I did just get a free replacement aftet it stopped working while swimming (yes its designed for swimming).
Garmin do a few using the same form factor but different software, costing vastly different amounts.
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By Dangerman
#1632522
TopCat wrote:
Cessna57 wrote:I’ve recently started cycling a bit and installed Strava.

It showed me a little league table the other day for some bits of a route I cycle regularly.

That was interesting for about 10 seconds till I worked out people had been logging it from their car so they could be “top” of the little leader board.

Is the whole thing like that?

No, it's not.

However, if you've only just recently started cycling, you won't be anywhere near the top of those segment listings, so even if a few tw4ts are claiming KoMs by driving, it's irrelevant.

The genuinely fast guys are so much faster than the rest of us that it's sometimes hard to even imagine, and not only because they're often in groups that make riding fast a lot easier.

My routes are mostly in Surrey, which are pretty popular. I'm invariably thousands of places down those listings. I'm never going to be anywhere near the top, so I just use them for my results only - that then gives me something meaningful to compare against.


Yes, absolutely - I am thousands of places down my routes too. I am really doing my best to break it to you gently here: the disparity is going to be down to age and fitness rather than cheating. But if you ignore the times that have been done by the racing snakes you will find it is a REALLY useful tool and the analysis you can pull out is amazing.

But got to admit to having been one of those tw4ts who set a KoM in a car once, albeit by accident and it was only there for about half an hour. When I first installed Strava a couple of years back I set everything up and then, as I am sure most people do, hopped in the car and had a drive around to see how everything worked. What I didn't realise is that (certainly at that time) by default when you install it it is set to share your rides with the whole world unless you turn sharing off. Anyway literally within 15 minutes of me saving the trip I received a message accusing me of cheating as I had been averaging 30 mph up Loughton Hill ... So the existing incumbents DO take it all very seriously, and Strava DO police it.
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By kanga
#1841164
kanga wrote:.. ISTR that the clearly Russian operational SAM unit which shot down the Malaysian airliner from a location well within Ukraine was, after the event, successfully tracked by amateur external investigators from, and hurriedly back to, its Russian military base through the location reporting of some personal media device(s) of some of its crew. It helped belie some of the Russian government disinformation..


Russian disinformation on Ukraine again successfully debunked from open source searches :thumright: :

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/56772297

.. and another story which made this old Cold Warrior almost nostalgic :roll: :

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-56790053
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