How Strava Ruins Cycling

Just Ride by Grant Petersen:
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"If it's not on Strava, it didn't happen." "I was just riding with my family, so it doesn't count." "Can't talk, gotta get this segment."

Cyclists, including myself, have a bad habit of over complicating everything and prescribing the "best" way to ride bikes.

I love Strava. It's a useful tool; it's fun to look back on rides and remember defeatedly scarfing down a peanut butter sandwich on the side of the road during rush hour because I bonked hard on mile 80 of my first century, and it's inspiring to see what kinds of rides everyone in the Reasonably Dangerous Crew are crushing.

But like any other tool, Strava has serious drawbacks that you should consider before using it.

The danger with Strava is overvaluing stats, especially if you're not a racer. When this happens, Strava stops being a tool that records how you ride, and starts dictating how and when you should ride.

When you overuse Strava, it takes the fun out of cycling and ruins it. It develops a hyper-competitive mindset of achieving goals at all costs that disqualifies other forms of riding that are just as important as the long, hard rides where you feel like throwing up your stomach afterwards.

Every ride becomes a race, and they're not. Sometimes, you're better off not using Strava.

This is How Strava Ruins Cycling.

*DISCLAIMER: This video and description contain affiliate links, meaning if you click one of the product links, I'll receive a small commission. This helps support the channel and allows me to continue to make videos like this. Thank you for the support!


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