KOMDefender - Do I flag this ride?

[Mr Purple]

Hmm, 452w for 1 minute 13 seconds, that’s possible. I used to do 9x1min intervals at around that power.

I wouldn’t consider that worthy of flagging.

Not so much the power (that was mainly downhill) but the speed. I'd done that segment 35 times before and the closest I'd come was one second slower than the KOM. I was hoping to maybe pip it by a second but ended up 12 seconds faster.

Just one of those situations with the right legs, the right gentle tailwind and enough momentum over the top made a bigger difference than I expected.

I can do 606W for a minute. But don't particularly want to again.

[g-boaf]

I got myself a worldwide Strava KOM yesterday on one of the new Zwift routes! Also got a 5th place.

About 1h:42min. Only because I was one of the first to rush onto the new roads.

[MichaelB]

Here is one for Mr Purple



Thems some steep streets !!!

[Mr Purple]

Here is one for Mr Purple



Thems some steep streets !!!

Man, Canton looks like a nightmare!



I checked the Strava segment and reckon in theory I have the W/kg to take it, but that may depend on my ability to stay on the bike.

Perfect race for me to be honest. Short, punchy climbs followed by 'neutral segments' between them. I'm suspicious that grip is a massive issue on a lot of those hills though!

[MichaelB]

I was actually surprised by some of the gearing though. The guy filming it was running 34/34 combo. For 25%+ gradients, kudos to him !

The dampness would have been really tricky !

[Mr Purple]

In my experience over 25% for more than a 50m or so becomes very, very awkward.

I had one go at Gower Street, Toowong, on my 36-28 combo and had to finish the last few metres by jumping off and running. That averages 18.9% but there's 40% stretches towards the top.

You just lose momentum and start running out of low gears. It's hideously unpleasant, like a crash happening in slow motion!

My steepest KOM is a mere 15.4% for 210m at 18km/hr.

[jasonc]

I'm suspicious that grip is a massive issue on a lot of those hills though!

When riding around Siena in 2019 Mt 25mm road tyres ran out of grip on a 14-18% pinch on one of the white roads

And I've done Gower st with 34/32. Only stood up because I was afraid of falling backwards off the bike

[Retrobyte]

I don't have many KOMs or Top 10s at all (only a handful combined), and at my size and age I don't go chasing them, nor do I have the speed to do so. One the KOMs I have held for a couple of years is part of my commute home, and includes a cul de sac, so there's not many riders who use that as part of a route on a general ride. I got a Strava notification today that someone took that KOM off me, so I had a look at their ride, and I can see he rode the segment 3 times in a row on his ride today - the first time very slow as a recce, and then two attempts to take the KOM. Now I am half inclined to spend 30 minutes one day doing repeats and try and reclaim the KOM - I can understand why Mr Purple jealously defends his very many KOMs

[Mr Purple]

It’s an addiction, watch out! Having three attempts at a KOM on one ride is amateur hour, it has to be one and done. Bonus points if you’ve only done the segment once and hold the KOM.

The Strava notification process is also a bit broken. I rode right past one of mine today to find out some dude took it a week ago. It’ll have to wait - it’s a bit out of my way.

508 and counting!

[Mr Purple]

More virtual KOM hilarity today.

2.8km/7.5% average climb on the Coramandel peninsula in NZ. I've been down a bit on climbing power recently because of the heat so I only managed 18km/hr/291W average.

4th overall. First was held by someone who did 58.8km/hr with an average 14W. Second was held by a guy who drove it in a car and then uploaded it as a 'virtual ride' at 56km/hr. Third was held by a guy that did it at 39km/hr but mysteriously had his power set as 'private'. It'd probably take over 800W average depending on his weight.

Hilarious stuff. Up a 7.5% climb. I rarely flag virtual segments but flagged all three. The wonders of the internet!

[Mr Purple]

Some guy in Texas keeps taking out my Fulgaz KOMs.

His rides average around 130W and 50km/hr. Regardless of terrain.

Can't wait to get my account suspended by Strava for repeatedly flagging him! I've heard of this happening to a few guys - apparently you get a 'we cannot account for the data input in a virtual activity'. Well, no, but surely 15 seconds of looking at someone's data can tell you there's something seriously wrong with it.

The risks of internet glory. Always transient.

[Mr Purple]

Idiot Texan above just took out another of my virtual KOMs - 5.4km at 1.8% that I held at 10:59 with 249W.

He did 9:40 with 130W. Tried to flag it and got 'you do not have permission to flag this activity'.

Nice to know you care, Strava. At least I still beat him on the other segment on that ride - 9.45km at 1.8%. I still hold it by 10 seconds with my 256W for 20 odd minutes, he did 102W.

[warthog1]

Some guy in Texas keeps taking out my Fulgaz KOMs.

His rides average around 130W and 50km/hr. Regardless of terrain.

Can't wait to get my account suspended by Strava for repeatedly flagging him! I've heard of this happening to a few guys - apparently you get a 'we cannot account for the data input in a virtual activity'. Well, no, but surely 15 seconds of looking at someone's data can tell you there's something seriously wrong with it.

The risks of internet glory. Always transient.

Strava is appears hopeless at any sort of auditing of flagged rides.
it appears they do not examine the data at all.
A road ride by a rider I know was was flagged by some idiot recently.
At a cycling event with a ride time displayed in the ride photos and average wattage displayed.
The rider in question is a national level rider who has won National level events and has raced in Europe.
This was not a race.
I emailed them complaining about the flag with the suggestion "if you spent 5 min and looked at the ride you would see it is genuine"
I believe he had to upload it again.
It is a recording system and nothing more. They do not care about the legitimacy or otherwise of any koms

[Mr Purple]

It is a recording system and nothing more. They do not care about the legitimacy or otherwise of any koms

Absolutely. They are particularly reluctant to police any virtual KOMs - I have seen people have their accounts banned for repeatedly flagging impossible efforts. They first send you an e-mail 'we cannot guarantee the accuracy of any data going into the system'. Yeah, but if someone is doing a famous climb at twice the speed of the real life version, set during the Tour de France, you think you'd do something about it.

Fortunately I don't really count my virtual KOMs as worthwhile. Though if this guy keeps it up I might flag him to Fulgaz directly and see if they want to do anything about it. I know it's not just me he's annoying - I've gone to flag one of his rides before and someone had beaten me to it.

[warthog1]

Though if this guy keeps it up I might flag him to Fulgaz directly and see if they want to do anything about it.

There may be a slim chance something will happen to moderate it. Zero chance through Strava it would apppear.

[Mr Purple]

Though if this guy keeps it up I might flag him to Fulgaz directly and see if they want to do anything about it.

There may be a slim chance something will happen to moderate it. Zero chance through Strava it would apppear.

The problem with all these apps is that in their mind we're both paid subscribers, so equally valid.

You do have to wonder what sort of moron rides around at 50km/hr+ with 130W and then objects when people flag him. A very special sort of moron.

[warthog1]

You do have to wonder what sort of moron rides around at 50km/hr+ with 130W and then objects when people flag him. A very special sort of moron.

[Mr Purple]

As an interesting aside my ability to flag segments on Strava has been temporarily suspended.

Last segment I flagged was three weeks ago - an obvious e-biker averaging 450W everywhere.

Got the most patronising e-mail from Strava when I queried it:

You have flagged many activities with very little or no supporting information. We have reviewed a portion of them and the flags appeared unjustified, meaning the activities appeared legitimate and not as claimed in your flag. Flagging of the legitimate activities of athletes is frustrating for those athletes. So we have temporarily blocked your right to flag.

We will reinstate your right to flag if you can promise that in the future, you will only flag activities with sufficient proof that those activities are not legitimate. For example, if you flag an activity as "e-bike" or as "vehicle" you must provide information that supports that claim. That information can include activity data that is obviously not possible by that athlete without an e-bike or vehicle, note if the activity and/or profile features pictures of an e-bike, etc.

I believe I may have incorrectly flagged an actual rider once. About three years ago. I suspect the reason I flag more rides than usual is because if you have 565 KOMs you tend to get lots of 'uh-oh' messages. And apparently a 'hey, this guy did the first 30km of his ride at 100W and then did 70km/hr and 1500W for the 10km home' isn't enough evidence. I've pointed this out to them and promised to provide more evidence in future but I remain suspended for now.

Mind you I've taken the opportunity to simply post a comment on the ride instead - 'hey, it looks like you might have forgotten turn your bike computer off after that one' an so far have 3/3 positive replies and apologies. I suspect Strava doesn't care in the slightest as to the legitimacy of their platform because you think it'd be pretty easy for them to do the same.

Mind you after a few weeks off I have more perspective and honestly don't care that much anymore. It's all stupid anyway!

[jasonc]

Pretty sure this guy was in a car
https://strava.app.link/1CfY7HOEHIb
Doesn't look like I can flag his ride

[Mr Purple]

Pretty sure this guy was in a car
https://strava.app.link/1CfY7HOEHIb
Doesn't look like I can flag his ride

Someone else has managed to, which is weird. Have you flagged any rides other rides recently? I have a suspicion Strava are randomly locking accounts who actually flag rides from flagging rides.

That guy's trace is hilarious:



So he rode a few kilometres, got in his car and drove a few kilometres. Then ride again, drive again, ride, drive, before the drive home. I've never seen anyone do that before.

[jasonc]

Pretty sure this guy was in a car
https://strava.app.link/1CfY7HOEHIb
Doesn't look like I can flag his ride

Someone else has managed to, which is weird. Have you flagged any rides other rides recently? I have a suspicion Strava are randomly locking accounts who actually flag rides from flagging rides.

That guy's trace is hilarious:



So he rode a few kilometres, got in his car and drove a few kilometres. Then ride again, drive again, ride, drive, before the drive home. I've never seen anyone do that before.

I haven't flagged anything lately. I notice the elapsed time is just under 16 hours which would explain the movement
It doesn't seem I can flag rides on my phone. No issues finding the flag option on a browser.

[Mr Purple]

It's always been impossible to flag rides from the app. One of the many 'quirks' of Strava we put up with for KOM segment glory!

Honestly I haven't seen too many improvements in their app recently, it all seems to be slowly sliding downhill. Sort of surprised no-one's really made a solid effort at a competing product.