Dangerous, outrageous, and hilarious - everything is a race.

[Tom_Laws]

Tom - you just need to have it running at the start of the day (at the car) and tag it off at the end - you put in the segment afterwards.

[Uisce]

I am liking this a lot, do I need to get a Premium account to get it started? How precise are the reading? Is it for more informal racing between friends or could it be used for an actual event?

No, you don't need a Premium account (in fact, for paddling, you probably won't ever need one, mostly all it does is give extra cycling statistics).

Precision of the reading depends entirely on the device you use. I use a Garmin 705 and an iPhone 4S, both of which are pretty good (nearly perfect in the Garmin's case). The iPhone 3GS wasn't very good at it, android devices depends massively on the model.

It's intended for informal racing. I guess you could use it for an event, but it's not really set up for it, and everyone would have to be using the same device, otherwise you'd probably runes into differing levels of accuracy.

Pretty much the same point I was going to make. Precision and accuracy is a bit pants from my experience of similar running apps on my iPhone 4s. Great toy for general broadscale feedback on new routes such as elevation profiles, speed profiles etc. I have a regular 4k, 5k and 10k trail runs I use to occasionally test myself over. They have been accurately measured. A stop watch is all I need. I have recorded these runs several times using my running app and each profile plot is very different! The 4k route is a relatively open out & back, yet never returns a symmetrical plot? The accuracy in a river channel can only be much worse. For my occasional flat water training paddles I use an etrex 10, much more accurate and precise.

All that said, I still like the idea as a bit of fun. If it gets too competive, it falls down.

[Tom_Laws]

a bit of fun.

Nail, head.

[Poke]

a bit of fun.

Nail, head.

Agreed. For a proper race, a stop watch and a start/finish line would be the best bet by far...
If you want a system to make the timing more accurate, those electronic gate systems would be your best bet.

Since GPS is only really accurate to a couple of metres, that could easily mean an error of a few seconds.
For races which could be decided by fractions of a second, a GPS timing system is not the way to go!

[justin-g]

OK agree - but anyone who is already using strava knows it gets bloody compeditive bloody quickly - esp when you have a section that a group of friends does regualrily. I can see the dart this winter getting a bit on the compeditive side :-)

[Poke]

Just discovered that my better half can get this on her fancy new phone...

Been having a look online and the Strava FAQs say that you can add other acitvity types. https://strava.zendesk.com/entries/2095 ... -on-strava .
Kayaking isn't listed there, but it says you can vote for it via their forums.
Where are these, and do you think we should all vote en-masse for kayaking?

Now, all I need to do is persuade Amie that I can swipe her shiny new phone and take it down any rivers we/I do.

[Tom_Laws]

Hey Timbo - did you get a Glen in before it spiked to jazzy levels? I minced about all day drinking coffee and shoe shopping, and then caught the ogwen at a sweet level with a good bunch. I had the Strava running and have tagged up Fisherman's Gorge for racing. It starts at the weir above Scout Hut Bridge and ends at the A5. Today was a lovely little cruise, and to see if it works. Get racin'!


http://app.strava.com/segments/1302619 - A link to the segment hopefully. Given our steady pace (making eddies and everything) I would be very surprised if my 15 min time lasts beyond the next spate run (4min according to headcamage... bring it on!)


Get out there, get recording and then marking up segments for racing.

[Tom_Laws]

The track shows the eddies I made. Brill.

[Poke]

Hey Timbo - did you get a Glen in before it spiked to jazzy levels?

Certainly did... though the levels were shooting up during the first run down...
Then went for a re-run at jazzy levels...little bit scary...

Strava didn't work so well on the first run down (seemed to be big chunks of lost signal). This was by far my fastest run down though, as I arrived just as Si and co were leaving the car-park so I had to get changed and play catch-up - finally got to them at Pipeline, so should have a pretty quick time down to there... It says I managed <10mins from sticky hole to the confluence, but I don't know if that doesn't count bits where it was out of signal?

The next run down was much slower, but the track worked better. Have created three segments for racing using this run:
- Glen - First Gorge: http://app.strava.com/segments/1815981
- Glen - Second Gorge: http://app.strava.com/segments/1815898
or the whole thing:
- Glen - Sticky Hole to Lledr Confluence: http://app.strava.com/segments/1816011

Unfortunately it seems not to have synched with my other faster run. Not sure why - possibly lack of accuracy on the first GPS trace? Still, that means 22mins is the time to beat... Anyone? :-)

[Poke]

Ooh, and if anyone is adding stuff to Strava, don't forget to classify it as a Ride (i.e. cycling, not running), and use the prefix "Kayak - " to any section name - makes them easer to search for or pick out when you're browsing the map :-)

(Tom - can you edit yours??)

[-Ginge-]

My question Gentlemen. How did you go Up hill? Last time I paddled the Ogwen and the Glen there were no uphill sections apart from upstream, which I find hard to believe you sucessful paddled up stream on either river, yet both graphs show you rising rasther than dropping, staying flat then dropping again. Is this a GPS issue?

[Tom_Laws]

http://vimeo.com/41253355 Check out the hole under Scout Hut, paddled uphill there, and got a sweet boof later on as well.... It's probably a gps issue but given this is just a bit of fun, not that fussed!

Tim - yeah, I'll edit mine.

[Patrick Clissold]

Tom was someone sick on your boat?

Tim, don't go hurting yourself before next weekend now, or Dave might have to step in, I believe that is the tradition.

[Tom_Laws]

Tom was someone sick on your boat?

Every move I make in that new beast is SICK to the power of RAD.

Levels have dropped off now, but next time it is up to a racing level I'm gonna go and set a swift time.

[Mark Mulrain]

How does Strava compare to Endomondo and MapMyRun?

Interested in sorting out Moriston and Garry courses for WWPF so obviously would like as many people as possible involved and these seem to be more popular apps.
Blackberry doesn't seem to have Strava yet so that's a lot of people left out.

[Tom_Laws]

How does Strava compare to Endomondo and MapMyRun?

Interested in sorting out Moriston and Garry courses for WWPF so obviously would like as many people as possible involved and these seem to be more popular apps.
Blackberry doesn't seem to have Strava yet so that's a lot of people left out.

Don't think the others put you on a leaderboard? (see my original pic)

Blackberry is for jerks, they can be left out.

[Gareth dj]

How does Strava compare to Endomondo and MapMyRun?

Endomondo and mapmyrun do not have the "segment" bit which allows you to race other people over a set course.

However, both of those applications allow you to export the track as a .gpx file, which you can then import into the strava website.

In fact anything which records a gps track will do, so if your a sea kayaker with a garmin then you can get your data into strava. Also, you can buy a fairly cheap gps logger through maplins for £20ish which will do the job.

G

[Mark Mulrain]

Cheers Tom, I get it now. Endomondo etc must just allow you to compare your times with known friends. Look out for Strava at WWPF in the future then.

Hopefully there's a blackberry app by then too. Importing .gpx files sounds awfully complicated for a paddling weekend.

[Ieuan Belshaw]

Jumping on the band wagon...
http://app.strava.com/activities/769296 ... eated=true

Dave Janes & myself had a quick blast on the Mellte.

*Theres a tree 100m before the triple drop bit.

[Tom_Laws]

http://app.strava.com/rides/8191298

Did some strait cruising last night in the RPM. Cocked up going back up though! I haven't tagged it as chances of hitting exactly the same path are pretty slim.

I would say centre of MB direct to swellies marker, to left of bridge stantion is a good way down, then I couldn't get up the Mon side of SummerHouse island so had to do some big ferrygliding and grovelling up the side!

[Adrian Cooper]

Txtspk is bad enough but when you go all 'esoteric' I'm sure only the yokels will understand. I've managed to translate most of it using the Times Online Crossword Guide

[-Ginge-]

Txtspk is bad enough but when you go all 'esoteric' I'm sure only the yokels will understand. I've managed to translate most of it using the Times Online Crossword Guide

strait cruising=paddling on Menai Straights
RPM=6th generation playboat from dagger
back up= straights flow fast in a direction, paddling back up is hard
tagged it= the act of creating a tag in strava
MB= Menai Bridge
swellies marker= big marker pole in the straights between Menai Bridge and Brittania Bridge
Mon side=Anglesey side of the straights as opposed to mainland Wales
SummerHouse island= An island in the straights with a summer house on.

Surely it need only be understandable to yokels. If you don't know where it is why would you bother setting a time?

[Strad]

Endomondo allows you to make your tracks public so that others (not just friends) can use them. You can even add pace notes etc to the track. It keeps a leader board, but it doesn't look quite the same as strava in the way it does it. (that said I haven't tried Strava yet so I'll have to give it a go...)

[Adrian Cooper]

If you don't know where it is why would you bother setting a time?

Because it's a race?

[Simon Westgarth]

For those wishing to enjoy the delights of the forthcoming Valsesia River Festival, test your times on the Sesia Alpin Sprint, for the big race on the Saturday 2nd June. We may also offer a race on the Lower Sesia Class III section, based solely on using the Strava App.

[Tom_Laws]

Went and set a bit of a faster time on Fisherman's Gorge last night.

http://app.strava.com/rides/8255422#151286818 - a nice cruisy level, good for fun lines but not ideal for super-fast times. Smashed down in 8.07 though, so that'll do for now. Just noticed we did our second run well after tea-time. No wonder I'm tired!

[Poke]

For those wishing to enjoy the delights of the forthcoming Valsesia River Festival, test your times on the Sesia Alpin Sprint, for the big race on the Saturday 2nd June. We may also offer a race on the Lower Sesia Class III section, based solely on using the Strava App.

Good stuff... You might want to make the start line a bit further downstream, so that peoples times don't start as they're getting in their boats if their GPS signal goes a bit wobbly.

We may also offer a race on the Lower Sesia Class III section, based solely on using the Strava App.

The beauty of Strava is that you don't need to offer it... If someone boats it and creates a segment, then the race is already on :-)

[Poke]

Just discovered that you can vote for kayaking to be added as an activity on strava...
Please vote for it here is you use Strava:
https://strava.zendesk.com/entries/2106 ... -on-strava

(If you don't use Strava, register, vote, and get using it - it's an entertaining wee app!)

[Darksideup]

I'm using Endomondo with Tracker Booster on Android the accuracy is much improved. Has a Kayaking setting and works in an Aquapack inside my BA front pocket.

[callum s]

Myself, Dom Burrow and Nick Bennett from EUCC had a wee blast down the Etive on Saturday in good flows and put in a respectable time!

http://app.strava.com/segments/2371966

Unfortunately our fourth team mate coudnt hack the pace and ended up on his own surfing a hole and eventually swimming... But he was fine. :)