Thanks for the Leaderboard gizmo Cosmo!

While I agree completely that competition-by-proxy isn’t the same as a “race”, it is extremely inexpensive by comparison, and it’s not hard to imagine athletes for whom it’s the only financially viable means of competition.

And as to the “tailwinds on groundhog hill”, the fact is that in a “real RACE” judges aren’t impartial (just ask Flecha) and “real RACE” conditions aren’t always consistant (just ask Durand or Boardman). If anything, the trainer/”video game” scenario you mention with some disdain above is the most “fair” competition posible since digital variables can be absolutely controlled for all riders.

But again, I think this is beside the point—Strava isn’t intended to be, nor is it extensively used as, a surrogate for sanctioned racing. Riding and training data have always existed, it’s just that there used to be no way to record and tally them. Even before technology could accurately clock everything from wattage to inclination, club riders (and pros) kept semi-competitive records of times on local climbs. The only thing that’s changed is the ability to record, analyze, and share data—and I think it’s silly to say that now that such technology exists, riders are somehow wrongheaded for using it.

(I’ll probably move that link somewhere else once I’m sure it works)

@huphtur: I’ll think about it. My ability to access/slice up the data that goes into the leaderboard isn’t quite as nimble as I’d like, but I may be able to put together something.