Category: cycling

DC Rainmaker breaks down Strava’s recent lawsuit against Garmin. I used Strava for years but when it started jacking up prices a couple of years ago I realized it had never been worth the price even before the price nearly doubled. Sure, ti’s fun to see how you stack up on segments against a bunch of people you don’t know (and likely never will), but is that “fun” worth paying for? Maybe a couple bucks a month. Maybe. 

The price hikes were what broke my Strava spell and since then it has only become more clear that Strava is a case study in enshittification. They get everyone hooked on the “fun” social gamification of running and cycling, then start hiding all of that behind a paywall, then start raising prices, bullying the competition, and generally being hostile to users. 

Whatever. 

Bye, Strava. You suck. 

Great video from Berm Peak (Seth Alvo) about the benefits of bike commuting, which he summarizes this way: “Biking to work, even on an e-bike, decreases your chances of early death to a degree that far outweighs the risks.” If you pedal w/o assist and do it every day, a long term study indicates you reduce your chances of “early death” by 47%. That’s astounding. 

I commuted by bike very consistently, rain or snow or shine, for years … until the pandemic. I have had periods of consistency since going back to work after the pandemic, but I no longer go into the office every day so it’s harder to maintain that consistency and much easier to talk myself into driving. I still get regular exercise, but I know I’m not at the same level of fitness I was at when I rode 20 miles/day on a pretty loaded bike, no matter what. Seems like a great time to turn that around.