OK to look at other teams disscusiuons?

[rcannon100]

@hozn 106799 wrote:

If people were actually to deliberately cheat (upload/create fake rides with intent of them counting in the competition) we’d likely just disqualify the whole team. .

I did say the first year, after someone started jerking around the scoreboard, that any team that continued to do this would simply be disqualified. Respect those people putting work into this game; dont be a jerk ~ follow the Spirit of the Game.

[dkel]

Wsgfabr.

[lordofthemark]

@dasgeh 106787 wrote:

What Peterw-diy describes isn’t sandbagging and isn’t mentioned in the rules. Nor should it be, in my opinion. People have very legitimate reasons for uploading rides when they do (i.e. people who upload at home, so wait until weekends; or upload at work, so wait until Monday; or go on vacation). Besides, it’s a team competition: it would take so much work and coordination to figure out where your team is if you were all trying to hide it from the rest of us. And in this competition, it doesn’t really help to know where all the other teams stand — you just gotta ride as much as you can/want to. Encourage the rest of your team to. There’s no other magic to it. Riding a bike is magical enough.

As far as the original question, eh. If you put something in a public place, you have to expect the public can see it, right? If you don’t want annoying people trying to bring dogs into your thread, I mean hijack your thread, find another place to have the discussion.

Maybe its because I never got one of those fancy bike computers, and did not get Strava till I got my smartphone, but are most people really uploading from a bike computer to a home or office PC? Its really, really easy to do it on the phone, and Stava is pretty economical with data and power, AFAICT.

[Phatboing]

@lordofthemark 106818 wrote:

Maybe its because I never got one of those fancy bike computers, and did not get Strava till I got my smartphone, but are most people really uploading from a bike computer to a home or office PC? Its really, really easy to do it on the phone, and Stava is pretty economical with data and power, AFAICT.

It is really easy to do it on a phone, and Strava does get credit for being not heavy on battery. But I went explorin last winter, and at the end of many miles, and near the end of my phone’s battery life, I got lost and had to use The Maps Of The Goog to navigate my way back home or to public transport, and pretty soon I ran the battery down entirely. Since then I have the bike computer for bike GPS things, and the phone for emergency phone things, so lack of battery life in one rarely (if at all) affects the other.

[cvcalhoun]

@DismalScientist 106768 wrote:

Sorry, but that is not the definition of sand bagging.

Interesting. What is the definition of sandbagging, then? It can’t be minimizing your handicap in the first place, since handicaps are now based on the prior year’s points, which are a matter of public record.

[Dickie]

@lordofthemark 106818 wrote:

Maybe its because I never got one of those fancy bike computers, and did not get Strava till I got my smartphone, but are most people really uploading from a bike computer to a home or office PC? Its really, really easy to do it on the phone, and Stava is pretty economical with data and power, AFAICT.

One of the big differences between the phone and a dedicated bike computer is real time viewing (unless you mount the phone on your bars and have it running the whole time). I find some motivation in seeing my stats as they happen so I prefer using a Garmin/dedicated bike computer that I plug into my computer each morning to upload my rides, others like my wife prefer not to see them until the end of the ride so she is fine using only her mobile phone and uploading directly to Strava.

[hozn]

@lordofthemark 106818 wrote:

Maybe its because I never got one of those fancy bike computers, and did not get Strava till I got my smartphone, but are most people really uploading from a bike computer to a home or office PC? Its really, really easy to do it on the phone, and Stava is pretty economical with data and power, AFAICT.

Phones are fine for just creating a GPS track for short rides, but 1) the GPS is typically not very good, 2) you can’t keep it on to see your speed, HR etc. (w/o killing your battery super fast, anyway) 3) you can’t integrate with the other sensors such as cadence, HR, or power (some of these — esp HR — can be gotten that speak Bluetooth instead) and 4) as phatboing notes it sucks to kill your phone and then be unable to use it for emergencies. So, yeah, the “standard” for those that ride a lot and want the data is to use a Garmin. Of course, the Garmins now automatically sync, so the days of plugging in the device to upload rides are in the rearview mirror.

[cvcalhoun]

@Vicegrip 106796 wrote:

I agree. Upload when you like. All should keep in mind the spirit of our silly little game too. Bulk loading when you have the time and access is one thing. Just one opinion. Doing something out of range with intent to mess with the flow and intended activity of the game is another. You will likely end up not fooling or entertaining anyone but yourself and become “That guy/gal”

Yeah, I’ve never had an issue with someone who doesn’t upload right away due to issues with time and access. And I can see that a mechanical 48 hour rule would be an issue. (If I go on vacation for a week somewhere I don’t have Internet access, should my rides during the vacation not count because they weren’t uploaded until I got home?)

However, I do believe waiting until the last day to upload miles violates the spirit of the game, even if it doesn’t violate a specific rule. Part of the fun of the game is checking to see where your team stands each day, and perhaps being motivated to go out and ride some miles to improve its standing. If some team that appeared to be behind for the whole time suddenly wins because someone uploads a couple thousand points on March 20, I’d end up feeling a lot less positive about the game.

The prizes in this game are not exactly going to make you rich. (I’m pretty sure the decorated paper plate and the lint roller I ended up with last year wouldn’t fetch much on eBay.) The point is having fun, and being motivated to bike more. Why do something that would interfere with those goals, even if it would increase your chances of winning?

[cvcalhoun]

@Dickie 106827 wrote:

One of the big differences between the phone and a dedicated bike computer is real time viewing (unless you mount the phone on your bars and have it running the whole time). I find some motivation in seeing my stats as they happen so I prefer using a Garmin/dedicated bike computer that I plug into my computer each morning to upload my rides, others like my wife prefer not to see them until the end of the ride so she is fine using only her mobile phone and uploading directly to Strava.

I actually have a phone mount on my handlebars. However, if I keep my phone display as well as the GPS on for the entire ride, the battery will die very quickly. The bike computer allows me to have a real-time display for up to 12 hours (at least now that I have managed to get a new battery for the Garmin!), without running down the phone battery.

@hozn 106830 wrote:

Of course, the Garmins now automatically sync, so the days of plugging in the device to upload rides are in the rearview mirror.

Well, not for all of us. I’m still using a Garmin Edge 500, and syncing it every night.

[lordofthemark]

I do tend to forget A. How fancy those fancy bike computers are and B. How long some of y’all tend to ride at one time. Thanks for the info.

[Steve O]

@cvcalhoun 106826 wrote:

Interesting. What is the definition of sandbagging, then? It can’t be minimizing your handicap in the first place, since handicaps are now based on the prior year’s points, which are a matter of public record.

Correct; sandbagging doesn’t really apply this year. The one instance where it might was in the registration where newbies were asked to report their average miles per week if they were a fairly big rider. Someone (but only a newbie) could have purposely shorted their number.
Players from last year could not sandbag unless they were so clever they knew that their miles back then would affect their placement now. There are no people in FS who are that clever; sorry.

Also, as it turns out, since the “algorithm” (haha) used to create the teams this year was not MR20 as had been widely discussed, but rather an ad hoc one devised by the registration czar, sandbagging would have been even more challenging, if not entirely impossible.

Therefore there cannot be a “Sandbagging” pointless prize this year, because sandbagging cannot occur.

[Alcova cyclist]

@cvcalhoun 106826 wrote:

Handicaps are now based on the prior year’s points, which are a matter of public record.

This explains my mediocre mileage so far. It’s part of my long game to win BAFS 2016.

@Raymo853 106683 wrote:

I will not be taking part. Made a promise last night to my fiancee who had to wait in the car while I sleazed last night.

I believe the correct response here is to direct you to Rule 11

[DismalScientist]

@rcannon100 106811 wrote:

I did say the first year, after someone started jerking around the scoreboard, that any team that continued to do this would simply be disqualified. Respect those people putting work into this game; dont be a jerk ~ follow the Spirit of the Game.

So “accidentally” uploading a ride with the wrong mileage figure and having it remain on Strava for 15 minutes before deleting it is jerking around with the scoreboard? However, “accidentally” uploading a ride with a 7 second duration and not fixing for at least a couple of days, particularly since it gives you average speed bragging rights, is not viewed similarly.:rolleyes:

[Raymo853]

This thread has really drifted on topics, covering everything from Eric’s Tinder Profile, fooling with when you do upload rides, what is a sandbagger, using things like Digital EPO, …

Makes me really wish I had spelled discussions in the title correctly.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]7683[/ATTACH]

[Alcova cyclist]

@Raymo853 106863 wrote:

This thread has really drifted on topics, covering everything from Eric’s Tinder Profile, fooling with when you do upload rides, what is a sandbagger, using things like Digital EPO, …

As a team-who-must-not-be-named member, I find this discussion normal, if not actually sorely lacking in sidebars, people taking offense, and indecision regarding solutions to simple problems.

[Author]

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