random meaningless awards
I log my biking miles on a website called MapMyRide. I discovered it when I wanted a way to compare the elevation maps published for certain organized rides with the rides I do around Marietta, to accurately anticipate how hilly, or not, the organized ride would be. Since my smartphone came into my life, I have been using the app, mostly because it is an easy way to log my miles and also because it gives me some features not available when I simply enter in the route and my average speed. For example, the app allows me to see what my speed at a particular point - say, up a given hill - was and compare it between rides. Useful to see if my hill-climbing ability is improving or if I am slower on a given day. I thought I was climbing hills more slowly, for example, on the second day of River Rendezvous but according to the app, I was pretty much at my average speed on those hills that I frequently climb, suggesting that while my muscles felt more tired, my performance had not changed.
One of the funny features of the website is that it gives awards for various things, like having the fastest time up a particular hill (divided into men's and women's categories) or for having the most consistent time over several rides on a particular course. I do not always understand the awards - "queen of the mountain" is based on points, which are awarded, as far as I can tell, arbitrarily, for a given course. My favorite is that it will notify me of "personal record" awards for a given course, such that for one particular ride, I now have earned 6 PR awards (yes, my 6th slowest time won me an "award"). I rode that course today more slowly than usual and was wondering if I would earn a PR7 award, but I did not.
I find the awards amusing, for the most part, but also a little disturbing. I ride for a number of reasons, including simply the pleasure of riding, enjoying the scenery, and connecting with friends, all of which have nothing to do with awards. Ann things the site was designed for millennials, with the trophy for every player mentality, but I think the meaninglessness of the awards makes them feel condescending to me. Hooray, I was the fastest rider on day 1 of GOBA, of those who used MapMyRide on a Verizon phone that carried enough charge to last the 4+ hour ride through areas with little cell phone reception. Go, me! In case you are wondering, that means I was the fastest of 8 people, none of whom I actually know. Clearly, I need set no more riding goals this summer.
Sarcasm aside, I do like the app; I just wish I could turn off the awards or make them stop appearing in my feed on that site.
One of the funny features of the website is that it gives awards for various things, like having the fastest time up a particular hill (divided into men's and women's categories) or for having the most consistent time over several rides on a particular course. I do not always understand the awards - "queen of the mountain" is based on points, which are awarded, as far as I can tell, arbitrarily, for a given course. My favorite is that it will notify me of "personal record" awards for a given course, such that for one particular ride, I now have earned 6 PR awards (yes, my 6th slowest time won me an "award"). I rode that course today more slowly than usual and was wondering if I would earn a PR7 award, but I did not.
I find the awards amusing, for the most part, but also a little disturbing. I ride for a number of reasons, including simply the pleasure of riding, enjoying the scenery, and connecting with friends, all of which have nothing to do with awards. Ann things the site was designed for millennials, with the trophy for every player mentality, but I think the meaninglessness of the awards makes them feel condescending to me. Hooray, I was the fastest rider on day 1 of GOBA, of those who used MapMyRide on a Verizon phone that carried enough charge to last the 4+ hour ride through areas with little cell phone reception. Go, me! In case you are wondering, that means I was the fastest of 8 people, none of whom I actually know. Clearly, I need set no more riding goals this summer.
Sarcasm aside, I do like the app; I just wish I could turn off the awards or make them stop appearing in my feed on that site.