more thoughts on strava

Friend Dave H has been responding to my Strava progress, and apparently following the Strava lawsuit, as well. In a comment on one of my posts, he posted this link to a discussion of the merits of the suit.

There's the usual polarized discussion: the partisans of "FREEDOM! FREEDOM! FREEDOM!" on one side are saying that everyone is responsible for his own actions, and nobody is doing dangerous stuff because of Strava who would not be doing it anyway. On the other side are the "Ban everything remotely dangerous!" folks, saying that the mere existence of Strava is too sore of a temptation and it should be done away with.

And don't we all know folks in both those camps? In fact aren't we in one or the other of those ourselves, sometimes?

But there's also the beginnings of some sense in the middle.

The argument that Strava hasn't changed behavior doesn't hold water with me. I don't know that Strava has changed my behavior, but I can allow it to suck me into a competitive attitude that I don't really like in myself.  One of the riders who commented on the post the Dave linked to said:

I know at least one rider who doesn't wait as often and I might be stopping less frequently on the longer downhill runs just to see how I compare with others. If I'm doing it to some extent, others are most certainly endangering others by pushing harder on the downhills.

But it also doesn't make sense to me that Strava should be done away with. Nor can I see that they have any liability.

From the linked article:

The lawsuit, filed yesterday*, accuses Strava of negligence and is a result of his family wanting "justice".

"They [Strava] assume no responsibility. They don't put cones out. They don't have anybody monitor and see whether a course, or a specific segment, is dangerous," said Susan Kang, the lawyer representing Flint's family. "I strongly believe, and Mr. Flint's family strongly believes, that it is only a matter of time before somebody else dies."

*The suit was apparently filed 6/18/12.

I don't buy it. I don't see how Strava is liable. The rider assumed the liability as soon as he got on the bike. It was his decision to go for the course record, and it was his primary responsibility to ride safely.

 I don't descend well. I've only broken 40mph once; I'll not soon do it again... and, frankly, riding like that is too scary to be fun for me, so I'm giving up the quest for the 45-to-50-mph downhill. I don't feel I can do it safely, and it's my responsibility to ride within my limits.

I'm sorry for the family of the rider who died. But that rider took on his own risk.

Still - I think I'm going to limit my Strava exposure. I'm not sure I like what I might allow it to make me.