Strava launches Women’s Tour Climbing Challenge

Flat...as in FLAT. not flat with short climb. spirit-level flat. Two riders riding shoulder to shoulder, at the same speed, on the same day/time...450W difference. I know one rider might be a *little* more aero than the other, but...

I *always* ignore the power estimates as clearly, they are shite

'On the power calculation thing, if you're getting 500W differences, then you're likely talking about only a very short climb. For long (e.g. Strava cat-3+) climbs I've found Strava's estimation isn't too far off compared to PowerTap, within 10%, sometimes 5%'

I most recently saw a 450W difference on a flat piece of road. Either way, it doesn't make for a decent 'estimate'.

Agreed around 5-10% off on long climbs, up to around 20%.

'But how do you account for chaingangs, tail winds, etc. '

This is exactly why measuring yourself against others (see nauseating 'KoM' bagging) on Strava is utterly pointless.

Ah, where was this challenge when I was in holiday in Tenerife eh? Would have been one day... only about 100m more than one continuous climb.

On elevation, it's not just a question of GPS versus barometric measuring equipment, but there's a more fundamental issue of measurement granularity. How fine-grained should your elevation change measures be? Should you measure every little bump, or only every 100 metres?

It's like the question "How long is the coast of Britain", there simply is no right answer. It all depends how you measure it, and on subjective factors. There simply is no "correct" elevation change algorithm Strava could implement, even if they had perfect measurements!

On the power calculation thing, if you're getting 500W differences, then you're likely talking about only a very short climb. For long (e.g. Strava cat-3+) climbs I've found Strava's estimation isn't too far off compared to PowerTap, within 10%, sometimes 5%.

In principle, the longer and steeper the climb, the closer to truth Strava's estimation should be - excluding wind factors and assuming elevation data is accurate.

I know. Hence the use of the word 'algorithm'.

I'm getting up to 500W differences between a calibrated PowerTap and Strava's 'calculation'. Thus I reckon it needs some work.

never mind the altitude thingy, Strava *really* need to look at their power algorithm. So far off the ball it's not true.

I emailed Strava yesterday and they confirmed that there are both men's and women's jerseys available. They have updated the challenge text to reflect this overnight.

elevation is an issue for GPS because it's not really designed to measure it. barometric altitude measurements, in spite of their being affected by changing pressure, tend to be more accurate over a ride of a few hours, and topographical measurements based on elevation data in maps can be more accurate still, depending on the map. but not always.

bottom line is, it's not a problem with Strava, it's just a general problem with recording or calculating altitude.

Strava needs to sort out their elevation feature first. See so many rides where elevation is at least a quarter higher than what it should be.

There are mens versions of the Strava Climbing jersey.

The Fred Whitton takes care of numerous $100 jerseys.

I'm probably going to see the race on Sat and Sun if I can, but we are in the East of England so climbing needs to be taken with a pinch of salt. Sprint up in the big ring, more than grind it out!

Cough Cough..... http://www.provisionclothing.com/womenstour/strava-replica.html#

Would I look stupid in a women's jersey? I don't have any moobs to speak of, so would there just be two floppy bits of excess fabric on my chest area? I'm just saying what everyone else has probably thought at one time or another.

I might join in if the weather is nice tomorrow, I was thinking of hitting the Lecht anyway, that'll give me just short of 4000ft in one ride. As much as I like the jersey, I aint paying that for it