At what point does a training tool become a catalyst for ignorant riding and lazy cheat-lines? Why do we turn into second-shaving KOM hunters as soon as the clock is ticking? It’s simply not good for our sport, its image or our trails. That’s right, we are talking about Strava and why you should leave it behind on your next ride!
Ride for fun, not for KOMs!
Mountain biking should be all about one thing: fun! Sure, most of the hype is about racing, flashy parts and going fast. However, think back and you’ll realise the reason you started riding wasn’t to be the fastest, it was simply to enjoy the feeling of being out in nature, riding a bike down a questionable trail with an ear-to-ear grin on your face!
However, training tools like Strava have made it easier than ever to forget why we fell in love with mountain biking to begin with, stealing the small victories and valuable memories from our rides and replacing them with segment-based, result-driven goals. You’ve probably been there, quickly forgetting the joy you felt when you perfectly manualled those three rollers on your local trail after you check Strava at the bottom and realise you were a whole five seconds off your personal best (PB). If we let ourselves become too focussed on smashing PBs and chasing King or Queen Of The Mountain (KOM/QOM) titles, Strava quickly becomes the main focus of every ride. Soon the app will be dictating which trails we ride (got to go reclaim that KOM, right?), who we ride with and how we feel afterwards. We’ve all heard the saying, “If it’s not on Strava, it didn’t happen!” What happens next is a fast-tracked slide to a full-blown Strava addiction. We no longer ride with our friends (all they do is slow us down, right?!) and the success of every ride becomes based on virtual trophies and inaccurate segment times. Before you even know it, you’ll be rushing off to upload your ride for all your eager virtual fans, before even cracking open a post-ride beer and ditching your sweaty knee pads!
True masters of a sport enjoy the journey, not the goal. They forget about time instead of worrying about it.
Don’t be a dick – shared trails aren’t racetracks
The next stage of Strava fanaticism isn’t just self-detrimental but also puts the wider public at risk. When all you can think of is your segment PB slowly slipping away, you quickly lose all consideration for your surroundings. Shared trails aren’t racetracks and blasting blindly down a shared path or hitting tight corners flat out to shave seconds from your run is a sure-fire way to get into trouble with the locals. Even if you don’t injure yourself or others, you are single-handedly destroying the general reputation of mountain bikers in your area.
Skills, not shortcuts
Picture this: you’re blasting down a rad new trail, hitting corners and having a great time! Suddenly, just before a particularly awesome-looking set of fast berms, your eyes are drawn to a freshly cut brown line. Before you know it, you have subconsciously steered towards it, straightening out the trail and completely missing those delicious turns. If you are one of those people who purposefully takes cut lines on a trail, missing out turns and technical sections in order to get closer to the Strava KOM, you really need to take a long, hard look at yourself. Trail builders take so much time and effort to build the trails you like to ride, and you are single-handedly undoing their work. While it may seem like a victimless crime to straighten out a couple of corners by blazing a fresh line, it most definitely is not. It only takes one Strava fanatic to create a visible cut line and over time new riders are drawn to it, often hitting the line and degrading the trail without ever knowing they have done wrong. Before long, the new cheat line becomes more popular than the actual trail. However, while the original trail was purpose-built to last, the tire-cut Strava line does not stand a chance of holding up to heavy traffic, widening and deepening until it becomes unrideable and a new cut-line replaces it. This never-ending cycle is a trail builder’s worst nightmare. So, the next time you are tempted to skip a perfectly good section of trail for a questionable cheat line, remember: skills are what will make you faster, not shortcuts. You can cheat on others, but not on yourself.
Cutting corners in order to beat others by seconds might be good for your ego, but not the sport.
There will always be someone who’s faster than you!
It’s not what we like hearing but it’s the cold hard truth. Unless your second name is Rude, Hill, Maes, Ravanel or Courdurier, there will always be someone out there who is faster than you. Accepting that fact is the first step to breaking free from your Strava-hunting obsession and re-learning what our sport is all about: having a great time on two wheels!
If you want to race, just enter one?!
If you really need to quench your competitive desires, why don’t you enter a race? Races are a far superior proving ground than Strava segments… The course is taped (so no cheat lines here!), gets timed accurately and the trails get rebuilt after the event and you can ride full-gas on a closed course without putting others in harm’s way! No matter how well you end up doing, you will always come away from a race weekend having ridden new trails, met new friends and full of stoke. If that’s not enough incentive, there’s always beer at the finish line!
There’s no doubt that Strava can be a great way to track your training, motivate yourself and explore new places. However, if misused, Strava not only destroys the fun and fulfilment in riding but also leads to damaged trails and reputations. So, if you can’t finish a trail without checking your segment time or are constantly thinking about reclaiming your local KOM, we challenge you to go ride your bike without hitting ‘Start Ride’ on your phone or GPS. Ride for fun and develop your skills. Chase good times, not PBs!*
*you can thank us later! ;)
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Words: Photos: Julian Lemme
