We’re always down to share a silly Strava squabble on the live blog and this one’s a belter. Coming direct from the Strava Reddit forum it appears we’ve got a tale of top-tier pettiness and overcompetitiveness. Remember everyone, it’s just Strava, you’re going to be okay.
The cyclist seeking advice began: “Where I’m riding there’s a user holding a lot of (sometimes pretty obscure) KOMs that he probably created by himself. With a lot I really mean a lot. Like multiple thousands and I’m not exaggerating.
“Every time I beat one of his KOMs it magically disappears after a few hours. I assume it’s because he removes efforts from ‘his’ KOMs. The segment still exists, just my faster time is not listed any more. Is there anything I can do to piss the guy off? I don’t really care about the KOMs (although I have to admit it is motivating to get KOMs). I’m open for creative solutions…”
Bizarrely, the rider asking for advice says they aren’t aware of their rides ever being flagged, although the consensus in the replies is that it must be reporting as, even if you’ve created a segment, you can edit or delete it but not individual efforts.
As someone explained: “I just don’t know of any other way that your KOMs could be made to disappear. The person who creates a segment doesn’t own it, there’s no way to delete other people’s efforts from ‘your’ segment. When you create a segment, Strava will actually go back and add efforts based on previous workouts. So even deleting and recreating the segment wouldn’t get rid of efforts.”
Answering the initial question (about how to get back in the most petty way possible) one person suggested: “The most petty thing would be to just recreate the exact segment yourself with the same name (bonus points if you call him out in the title).”
Someone else (who “has a good natured rivalry” over a Local Legend status) suggested keeping rides private for longer and then unleashing your effort to the leaderboard at a later date.
The explained: “Does anyone know if there is a time limit for when a former KOM gets notified they’ve been deposed? Currently if you unseat someone, they get a notification. But what if you keep your activity private and then make it public a month later, do they still get notified? The best way to knock this guy down a peg would be to take his KOMs by stealth, if that’s possible.
“I have a good natured rivalry with a rider I know for Local Legend on a segment that’s on my way home. If I take it, he goes out and does it twice the next ride to take it back. So I’ve kept activities private for a bit and then make them public when I have a 10-ride buffer over him to make him really work for it if he wants it.”
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Other suggestions included:
“You’re pissing him off by getting KOMs on ‘his’ routes. Carry on.”
“People treating Strava KOMs like Olympic gold medals will always baffle me. Ride your bike, not your ego. ‘Kudos’.”
“Sounds really childish. It’s better to push yourself against your previous results (that you care about) and leave the cheats to cheat their way through life. Naturally, if you catch a cheat cheating you then report it, but it all sounds rather petty to me. Recreate the route and don’t fall to their level.”
“I’d suggest pondering how sad their life must be to spend time and energy on this and then enjoy riding/your life without giving a shit about this again.”
“I wonder if your ‘friend’ really wants private segments but doesn’t know how to create them?”
Apparently we can now replace the word ‘football’ for ‘Strava’ in the famous quote attributed to the great Liverpool manager Bill Shankly: “Some people think football is a matter of life and death. I assure you, it’s much more serious than that…”