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To me Strava is primarily about motivation and KOM gongs/trophies are a big part of this. As you get older it gets harder to compete for overall KOM/QOM gongs. So it would be good to have age group gongs, i.e. top 10 in age group.
Although it is possible to view the age related leader board it would be great to be rewarded age related badges when the ride is uploaded.
Having joined Strava over 10 years ago gaining crowns is now so much harder, especially as the number of riders who have now traversed most segments at least in SE England are in the thousands.
There’s an old saying “ if you want to get flies out of the kitchen, put a bucket of poo in the living room”. This thread is one such tactic by Strava to get we older riders out of their hair. Jane, “The BOT”coordinator archives the comments which I guess will never be seen again. I have become one of their “Legends” many times. This sop to performance just means you are good at riding round in circles. Nothing more.
so, today I cancel my subscription having given up hope for older rider awards.
I think Strava should give the user the option to reset segment PR's every decade, so when you turn 30, 40 or 50 etc., it asks you if you'd like the do that. You'd obviously have to submit your birth year in your profile, but that seems like a minimal request. I for one have found it disheartening to see how slow I've gotten, and I'd rather realistically compare myself than look back on the "glory days". 🙂
Currently if someone gets in the top 3 or 10 on a segment, an achievement icon is included in the activity summary in the dashboard. It would be nice to have something similar for age group segment top placements.
All this discussion won't do any good if Strava doesn't do something against people of any age who are achieving super times and earning KOM with the help of e-bikes and motorcycles. I think the KOM etc. should be proven with heart rate and cadence sensors, etc. to have credibility.
Maybe recognize just top 3 in each age group; maybe start with 45-54 and include age groups above that. Similar recognition as top 10 overall (with different symbol), but also AGKOM/AGQOM crown.
I recently suggested that Strava calculates an age graded percentage for each run and ride, which is a well-known method for scaling the times for these activities according to the age and gender of the athlete. Once done, there could be a separate leaderboard and related KOM/QOM awards based on the best age graded percentages for each segment.
I used to play football, but I stopped because I had to play with younger people and that discouraged me due to the difference in performance. I switched to cycling because I saw that the UCI age system (every 5 years) is fairer for performance comparisons. Unfortunately, Strava doesn't use this system and now I find myself discouraged again because at 64 I have to compare myself with people aged 55 (table 55 - 64). I'm not going to wait until I reach 65 to have this problem solved, I'm probably not going to renew my subscription and I'm going to make my own individual evolution tables on the PC. Recognition of KOM, etc. by age also encourages the athlete to improve
