Strava pause

[Alcova cyclist]

This is my rationalization for my low average speed — stupid Strava!!

Notwithstanding that everyone else is using the same app. And probably riding in stop/go conditions more than me.

[Tim Kelley]

More than you ever want to know: http://engineering.strava.com/improved-auto-pause-for-everyone/

[lordofthemark]

@Alcova cyclist 107364 wrote:

This is my rationalization for my low average speed — stupid Strava!!

Notwithstanding that everyone else is using the same app. And probably riding in stop/go conditions more than me.

yeah, but I am reasonably certain that the folks at the top of the leaderboards on the more urban segments are Idahoing pretty aggressively, or not Idahoing (since Idahoing means actually coming to a stop at a red light before proceeding.) Not that that is really an excuse for how far down the leaderboards I am.

[americancyclo]

@Tim Kelley 107366 wrote:

More than you ever want to know: http://engineering.strava.com/improved-auto-pause-for-everyone/

What I got from that is that runners are nutty about their times.

[TwoWheelsDC]

@Alcova cyclist 107364 wrote:

This is my rationalization for my low average speed — stupid Strava!!

Notwithstanding that everyone else is using the same app. And probably riding in stop/go conditions more than me.

Well, many of us use Garmins, which offer more flexibility in this regard. My Garmin, for example, auto-pauses when my speed drops below 3mph.

[americancyclo]

@TwoWheelsDC 107374 wrote:

Well, many of us use Garmins, which offer more flexibility in this regard. My Garmin, for example, auto-pauses when my speed drops below 3mph.

I like having a Garmin because I can look at the elapsed time to know how long I’ve been on the bike. My time concerns are usually more about how long I’ve been on the bike and when I need to be back, as opposed to how much time I’ve actually been moving.

[mstone]

my old fashioned computer that counts the number of times the wheel goes around is more accurate both for distance and for stopped time.

I vaguely recall that some of the gps units can somehow integrate wheel revolution data, but I’ve never heard of a phone app that does that.

[hozn]

@mstone 107376 wrote:

my old fashioned computer that counts the number of times the wheel goes around is more accurate both for distance and for stopped time.

I vaguely recall that some of the gps units can somehow integrate wheel revolution data, but I’ve never heard of a phone app that does that.

This means you’re not getting enough [stopped-wheel] air time on your commutes! — Or FG skids, if it’s a rear-wheel sensor. Or wheelies, if it’s a front-wheel sensor.

Yeah, the phone would need a speed sensor, like http://www.wahoofitness.com/wahoo-cycling-speed-cadence-sensor-1.html — though I have no idea whether Strava would use that sensor data (there probably is some app that would, though). It is common to use the Garmins with a speed/cadence sensor, in which case I believe it gives priority to the wheel sensor but also uses GPS data to calculate the circumference of the wheel. Using a speed sensor definitely makes for smoother readings in the application, though I haven’t noticed any big-picture differences (the speed part of the sensor is broken on my commuter).

[Tim Kelley]

@mstone 107376 wrote:

my old fashioned computer that counts the number of times the wheel goes around is more accurate both for distance and for stopped time.

A powertap will do that too. Similar better accuracy–especially while mountain biking too!

[Raymo853]

I am 99.985% sure the times over segments are not based on ride time, but total time. Anything else would be nuts and could make it easy for a patient slow poke to knock anyone off the leaderboards of longer segments.

Actually I am positive of it and have seen real examples. Been riding with friends who fly at 10 mph up a mountain with a segment and then stop and wait for me before the end of the defined segment. I suffered the whole way to the end of the segment at 3.5 mph but since they waited for me, their ride time for the segment, and average speed, was the same.

[hozn]

@Raymo853 107407 wrote:

I am 99.985% sure the times over segments are not based on ride time, but total time. Anything else would be nuts and could make it easy for a patient slow poke to knock anyone off the leaderboards of longer segments.

Yup, it’s total time, not moving time. Which is why segments through stop signs are generally (always?) considered hazardous (and one could make the argument for stop lights, but one could also suggest that for lights you simply should only be riding the segment [or trying to place on the segment] when the light is green). For stop signs there is no “green light”.

[lordofthemark]

Yeah, I checked. For a ride the speed is estimate based on moving time, but for a segment it is based on elapsed time.

Which means my segment times, at least, are better than I though (especially on the flat segment on Eye Street SE/SW) and better relative to the faster riders (and I am unable to time the lights)

For my entire ride I am not that much faster than Strava indicates, but still a bit faster.

[ebubar]

I’m only slow because my whole route is always hillier and longer than everyone else’s. I have to conserve energy to make it and can’t hammer on segments like everyone else. Plus I stop at all stop signs and stop lights which slows down my speeds. Also, your bikes are all lighter than mine by at least 10-15 pounds. Oh yeah, I also didn’t eat as many calories today as I should have. There’s also the fact that I stop on my segments to help old ladies cross the street…and to rescue kittens trapped in trees…and to return lost dogs to their owners (okay, that one actually happened once)…:p 😎

But seriously, so much seems to be route dependent. My brother just started commuting one way (20 miles) to work. His first time really riding his new road bike (his first bike in around 20 year) and his average speed was ~15 mph. He has done the commute about 3 times now. I commute daily (more or less) for around 1.5 years and have a roundtrip of about 30 miles. I think my highest average speed has been maybe 12 mph? It makes me feel slow and wimpy. But then I see his route is mostly flat and has around 3 stops in 60 degree weather. Mine has 3 stops within the first mile and 900-1000 feet of climbing each way, with temperatures half that. Then I don’t feel so slow.

[cvcalhoun]

@ebubar 107416 wrote:

I’m only slow because my whole route is always hillier and longer than everyone else’s. I have to conserve energy to make it and can’t hammer on segments like everyone else. Plus I stop at all stop signs and stop lights which slows down my speeds. Also, your bikes are all lighter than mine by at least 10-15 pounds. Oh yeah, I also didn’t eat as many calories today as I should have. There’s also the fact that I stop on my segments to help old ladies cross the street…and to rescue kittens trapped in trees…and to return lost dogs to their owners (okay, that one actually happened once)…:p 😎

But seriously, so much seems to be route dependent. My brother just started commuting one way (20 miles) to work. His first time really riding his new road bike (his first bike in around 20 year) and his average speed was ~15 mph. He has done the commute about 3 times now. I commute daily (more or less) for around 1.5 years and have a roundtrip of about 30 miles. I think my highest average speed has been maybe 12 mph? It makes me feel slow and wimpy. But then I see his route is mostly flat and has around 3 stops in 60 degree weather. Mine has 3 stops within the first mile and 900-1000 feet of climbing each way, with temperatures half that. Then I don’t feel so slow.

Last year, I “won” the Tortoise prize in BAFS. I like to believe that I’m so slow because:

• I ride a hybrid.
• I always have heavy panniers on my bike, and often have them filled with stuff. My bike and gear weigh around 65 lbs.
• I live in Bethesda, so every ride is either uphill or downhill. Bethesda doesn’t do flat.
• I often ride to the Y and back, which is a short ride in which the necessary stop (for a light) and slow-down (to navigate the parking lot and the sidewalk with the steep turns) take up a disproportionate amount of the ride.

But I have to admit:

• I am 61 years old.
• I am female.
• Genetic testing has shown that I lack any of the genes for fast-twitch muscle fibers, which are important for speed.
• Even as a young child, my lack of speed (or any other athletic ability) was so obvious that I was picked last for every sporting team. This was particularly bad because the boy always picked ahead of me had been disabled by polio and could barely walk. (No, I’m not kidding!)

Let’s just say that I avoid contests (or even group rides) that require any sort of speed.

[lordofthemark]

I did not mean this to be an excuse thread While I think I have some legitimate ones (I am 54 and just began riding again a couple of years ago, and I was also always picked last in athletics as a kid – no particular issue, just generally a wimpy klutz) I have some reasons that I can do something about (like getting less lazy about keeping tires inflated, for example) But sometimes it is useful to know how fast you ride, so you can get an idea if a given group ride works for you, for example. And I do want to get faster, so it helps to know how the system I am using to track that works.

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