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NOGIFTS
If you’ve spent any time
on the quiet back roads of the Es-
carpment, you’ve probably come across groups of cyclists laughing,
smilingandenjoying their timeouton thebike.At firstglance thingsmight
seem friendly, even cordial, but there is somethingmore sinister afoot.
Judging, gauging, scheming… looking for any sign of weakness. Their
smiles are their poker faces, hiding the grimace of pain. Under sun-
glasses theireyesare red,bloodshotand tired,butalwayson thewatch
for thenext attack. Legs and lungs are theirweapons of choice. Pedals
andgearsare theirdeliverymethod.Dishingout thepainwhen theycan,
or hidingbehindawheel when theyareat their limit. Yes road cycling
might seem likea fungroupactivity, but really it’sanall outwarand the
battlefield is theasphalt chessboard that crisscrosses theEscarpment.
Okaymaybenot everyoneout on theirbike is trying tobeat upon their
friends. After all, oneof themajor draws to cycling is the social aspect.
For many though, riding in agroupwith similar skill levels is all about
friendlycompetition. Itmakes the ridemuchmore interesting,challenging
and fun.Whileat the same time improvingcyclingabilityandproviding
thenecessarymotivation toget fit.Not tomention the tall tales of glory
anddefeat sharedoverapost ridebeer.
These days even solo riders arewagingwar on the roads. Insteadof
going shoulder to shoulderwith friends, theyare logging theirmileson-
lineandcompetingwith like-minded individualson thepopular cycling
and runningwebsite Strava
.With the Strava app
your smart phonebecomesaGPSunit, trackingyour ridesand logging
yourkilometers.Sounds innocuousenough,butasyouwill soon findout
there ismuchmore to it than that. Stravaallows cyclists to create “seg-
ments” which are basically sections of road with a start and finish
(mapped online) in which riders are timed automatically as they go
about their route.The timesare thenpostedonlinealongwith theirnames
creatinga leaderboard foreachsegment.Outon the road thesegments
arehotlycontested,andmoreoften thannot it iscompletestrangersbat-
tling it out.Asone riderputs it “I’mout therechasingghosts”.
Mostof theStravasegmentsarecreatedalongpopular sectionsof road,
like themajor climbs anddescents. Some segments aremore like time
trialsencompassing fast, rolling straight shots likeGreyRoad119 from
Ravenna toBanks. Each segment ismappedout inprecisedetail using
Googlemaps to show the start and finishpoints. Byclickingon the seg-
mentofyourchoice, thenclicking“viewdetails”youcangetacomplete
breakdown of the segment includingdistance, elevation andaverage
gradient. There is evenan interactiveelevationprofile showingexactly
where the terrainchangesare.Asyouslideyourcursoralong theeleva-
tionprofile, itwill show thecorresponding locationon themap.
Verycool.
☛
STORY & PHOTOS | CLAY DOLAN
