Add Cycling Best Efforts for Virtual Rides (separate from outdoor rides)

[parna]

New cycling Best Efforts has now been implemented and I see the reasons why many would like it, but what about all those people who are only virtual riders?  Suddenly one of the best features and reasons for having Strava has been removed. As a 95% plus Zwifter these days I know many who have gone 100% virtual for various reasons, mostly because it is too dangerous outside in a lot of places these days. I have 3 virtual friends who have been hit by traffic, one is now paraplegic, one had a broken neck, the other many broken bones. I know others who have been killed, and some who have turned to virtual after a friend was killed.

I use Strava mainly to record my rides and efforts, and now none of my best efforts, particularly longest distances show on Strava. If I have to start recording all my efforts myself I don't see the point in having Strava any more, or at least paying for it. It does still serve as a forum to share your activities with others. I am very disappointed in the change.

This could easily be fixed by providing a tab at the top of the list of Best Efforts so that one could toggle between real world efforts and virtual world rides. This would keep everyone happy. Virtual riding is gaining more and more followers all the time, Strava needs to keep up and cater to us as well as the real world warriors!

[Jane]

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[TerryC]

Totally agree with Parna, as someone who still struggles to ride on the road after being hit and severely injured by a careless and aggressive driver the majority of my riding is virtual and has been a real lifesaver in my case. I have had much taken from me since the incident, that freedom of riding on the road and feeling comfortable, riding with friends and routes that were once so enjoyable, personal confidence and now Strava wants to devalue my virtual rides to appease a few egos I presume. I really appreciate Strava & it is a source of great connection. I hope you can seriously consider Parna’s request. 
Thank you.

[parna]

Yes TerryC I don't think Strava spend much time on virtual platforms such as Zwift, and don't realise just how big the virtual worlds have become. They are growing so rapidly, and are such a big and important part of so many people's lives, especially Zwift, and thus how important the virtual world has become to so many people, both as an exercise platform, but also a social platform. Many people do multiple rides a day. Now in one stroke, with the removal of our best efforts in the virtual world, we feel we have become second class citizens and Strava has devalued our world, and our efforts, which are just as real and important and hurt just as much as in the real world. For many people this is their cycling world, they don't ride in the real world, or only occasionally. Stats such as longest distance ridden are very important stats, no longer shown in our Strava summary. All I see is stats from 8 or 10 years plus ago when I was racing, all pretty irrelevant to me now as I am 70 years old, I will never be able to beat those again. 

Strava you can easily fix this issue and cater for all your users instead of just a smaller subset of vocal real world riders. You need to display both sets of stats for both your virtual and real world users.

[CrazyZwifter]

I agree with Parna.  I struggle to ride outside for various reasons but spend hours on Zwift and don't see why my efforts on this virtual platform can't be recognised as well.

[DharmaDan]

Great idea. The older I get, the more I ride indoors, so this resonates strongly.

[parna]

DharmaDan my case exactly!!

[GeeGee123]

I totally agree. Lots of women also exercise mainly indoors for safety reasons, myself included. I've had so many terrifying experiences whilst exercising outdoors, that it's not an enjoyable experience any more, so I pick and choose when and where I do so carefully and choose to do most of my activity on Zwift. Therefore, any Strava policy excluding indoor rides will disproportionately affect women.

[Scindigo]

Agree. Please include all rides in best efforts.  Similar to week totals have 3 option real, virtual or all rides Some riders cannot ride outdoor for personal reasons but have incredible performance as athlete indoors.   Excluding the best results of athletes who choose virtual is a backward step in supporting all users and not accepting of the hard yards they put in.  
I have friends who cannot ride outdoor and they ride impressively over long distances. They deserve to be recognise.  Acceptance of all!!!

[SweetMagnoliaAz]

100% agree.  The last five or so years 90% of my riding has been on Zwift.  Definitely hard efforts put in on Zwift and I'd like those efforts recognized.  Living in Az where the heat and traffic are brutal and climbs are not plentiful, virtual rides are an amazing way to get miles in.

[satch]

Fully agree with this suggestion. I ride both outdoors and indoors on Zwift, and I need my best efforts to reflect this. If all my efforts are not shown, and can be compared, the value of Strava is greatly reduced for my part.

[Jon2]

I agree 👍 

[Vendetta]

Not sure why this hasn't been done already. Pretty obvious to see how many people use virtual trainers, but also understand separating real world stats from virtual stats. As someone who rides 90%+ virtually, it would be nice to be able to quickly check my stats quickly on the year.