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Strava user's evil clown avatar puts frighteners on rivals

Ross Meffen has amassed 1,300 KOMs throughout Scotland on the social network

A cyclist in Scotland who has amassed more than 1,300 KOMs on Strava uses an avatar on the social network of one of the most frightening characters in horror fiction to instil some light-hearted terror into the hearts of his rivals.

Ross Meffen, aged 38 and from East Kilbride, uses the likeness of Pennywise the child-snatching clown from Stephen King’s 1986 novels It as his profile picture on the site.

As a result, the first some Strava users will know of when they have lost a coveted KOM to him is when they receive a message from Strava notifying them, complete with the creepy clown’s picture, reports the Sunday Mail, with Twitter user @euancx tweeting a picture of the article.

Meffen, who works as a chef at a hotel in Glasgow, told the newspaper: “At the end of the day I quite enjoy taking KOMs away from people, so I like to joke about there being a menacing, aggressive undercurrent to it.

"The evil clown is a good fit," he added, referring to the Pennywise cvharacter now terrifying a new generation thanks to this year's movie based on It.

> 6 reasons to use Strava

“I don’t care if it’s commuters, club riders or the occasional professionals – I’ll take their KOMs just the same.”

Many of those whose fastest times he has beaten on segments on Strava to bag a KOM subsequently contact him through the social network.

“I generally get a lot of friendly banter,” he explained, mainly from strangers who have lost their KOMs.

“I’ll have people asking me if the motorbike is working again, usually just having a laugh or congratulating me.”

Sometimes the messages aren’t so good-natured, however.

“You also get the very occasional abuse when some guys accuse you of doing the route in a car,” he said.

“That definitely goes on to some extent but it’s a very sad thing to do.”

Given the number of KOMs he owns, inevitably Meffen loses some now and again and sees it as a challenge to regain them.

He said: “I’ll generally have a good go at taking it back again and that means the other guy has a challenge to get it back.”

Among the cyclists from whom he has taken KOMs are John Archibald, Scottish time trial champion and brother of Rio 2016 team pursuit Olympic gold medallist, Katie Archibald.

And while Meffen has at times lost KOMs to participants in professional races ridden on the same roads he cycles on, he has also managed to hang on to some.”

But despite his astonishing collection of KOMs, he said there was no secret diet or training plan behind his ability to bag them.

“I eat whatever I fancy, the good stuff and the bad,” he said.

“I feel that the more training you do, the better you get – simple as that,” he added.

Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.

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13 comments

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Zebulebu | 6 years ago
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+1 for Veloviewer. I've got about 100 KOMs, but only a few of them are 'quality' (i.e. more than 5000 other riders/50000 attempts). Veloviewer is great for sorting the shit ones out from the good ones (though pretty much ALL KOMs are shit, since anything 'worth' getting is usually set with a 30mph tailwind or in a bunch)

Avatar
Leviathan replied to Zebulebu | 6 years ago
0 likes

Zebulebu wrote:

+1 for Veloviewer. I've got about 100 KOMs, but only a few of them are 'quality' (i.e. more than 5000 other riders/50000 attempts). Veloviewer is great for sorting the shit ones out from the good ones (though pretty much ALL KOMs are shit, since anything 'worth' getting is usually set with a 30mph tailwind or in a bunch)

That is pretty good going. The best I have is about 1of 1800 (though I had a 3rd/6500 downhill, until ToB came through my training route.) 

I like the idea of points for places, however I can 'beat' 20,000 people on a slow ride through Richmond Park, this would encourage you to improve placements, but it would be easy to score by just doing a fair ride in a new segment. Perhaps take away those above as well (silver tokens/gold tokens like the Crystal Maze so you get a positive score for being in the top half.)

Avatar
nikh | 6 years ago
1 like

Veloviewer gives an idea on the quality of the KOM.

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SurreyHiller | 6 years ago
2 likes

I put a request in to Strava to create a points based system where you amass the number of riders on a segment as your KOM score.    This is then totalled up and used on a leaderboard.

 

Takes away the incentive to be #1 of 1 and creating useless segments just to be the leader.

 

 

Anyone know of anything similar already out there?

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Paul J | 6 years ago
0 likes

I've long been amazed by Ross' exploits on Strava. He sets amazing times, all the time. That he can beat John Archibald is even more amazing - cause I know what it's like to try hang on to John, from when I used to share a commuting route with him.

One of the replies to the tweet is pretty interesting:

https://twitter.com/JPB753/status/922502186696871936

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fenix | 6 years ago
0 likes

He should be racing if he's that good surely ?

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stenmeister replied to fenix | 6 years ago
2 likes

fenix wrote:

He should be racing if he's that good surely ?

Plenty of people have suggested this to Ross already but he's a shining example of a guy who just goes out and rides his bike for fun.

 

 

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ConcordeCX | 6 years ago
6 likes

It’s those long clown shoes giving him extra leverage on the pedals as he ankles his way round yon glens and high roads. Should be banned.

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theironduck replied to ConcordeCX | 6 years ago
4 likes

ConcordeCX wrote:

It’s those long clown shoes giving him extra leverage on the pedals as he ankles his way round yon glens and high roads. Should be banned.

But on the other hand, the wheels falling off his clown-bike all the time must slow him down.

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kev-s | 6 years ago
0 likes
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Leviathan | 6 years ago
2 likes

He is only the 21st Male in the World. Keith DeFiebre has 5,908 KOMs.

Toolbox-for-Strava or you don't Strava.

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Silver Rider replied to Leviathan | 6 years ago
1 like

Leviathan wrote:

Keith DeFiebre has 5,908 KOMs.

many of which he appears to have created himself if you look into it, and he's not the only person doing this. Being 1/1 isn't that big a deal. It'd be good to see people's totals on Toolbox for Strava if you were able to filter out segments with say less than 100 riders on (Keith would still have a pretty high total to be fair).

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HalfWheeler | 6 years ago
0 likes

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