Riders' Strava files have been used against them; with an analysis of their speeds on a popular route used to ban them from it.
A council in the US has analysed the Strava files of MTB riders on popular trails in a public park to ban them from the area they shared with ramblers, those on horses and other cyclists.
The councillors heard that, according to Strava files posted for rides on the trails, that the cyclists’ speeds reached in excess of over 20 miles per hour.
Once the files were analysed and a presentation made to the councillors at Los Altos Hills City in the US, a number of councillors suggested the argument had turned sharply against retaining the trails in California's Byrne Preserve.
And some of those who claimed they cycled themselves and were in favour of retaining the trails in the preserve said the speed data mined from the Strava files was enough to change their minds.
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The Strava files would have allowed anyone analysing them to easily see who the quickest riders were down the trails and to assess their average speed and their maximum speed.
The issue first surfaced in local media reports back in January, but it has now been publicised by the MTB media in the UK.
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“I’m done with this as far as I’m concerned,” Councilman John Radford said in the Los Altos Town Crier.
“The speed numbers that were talked about tonight are just incredibly unacceptable. I can’t even believe.
“Sorry, whoever’s done those apps and whoever puts that together – that just put a hole in the whole argument.”
One councillor who described herself as a cyclist and who had been vehemently in favour of continuing to allow the MTB riders use the trails, Courtenay C Corrigan said the Strava data presented to the council had even changed her mind.
“I find myself gritting my teeth to vote on something because it’s not really how I personally feel,” she said.
“But sometimes, as a councilmember, you have to take your personal feelings out of the equation and do what’s best for the community.”
The use of Strava files to inform the debate about whether MTB trails should be allowed to continue is a real worry for all forms of cycling.
For example, in Ireland there have been groups who have spoken out against MTB riders on trails and even road cyclists using cycling lanes segregated from the roads for training purposes.
On some segregated cycle lanes, especially in Dublin, local community groups have complained that ‘professional cyclists’ – a term that seems to apply to riders kitted out in lycra clothing and other kit – going too fast on lanes where small children are cycling.
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