Goodbye Stava, it's been nice.

Firstly the title is a tribute to this!

As a teacher I have seen the increase in a data driven approach to education. That is target grades, current grades, league tables, value added, etc. etc.

None of which, in real terms, seems to be a benefit to the students in my class. I will admit there is a strong argument to make that culpability and progress of students and teachers has to be measured. In fact I will concede that I can't see another way of rewarding students for their work outside of exams and whatever way you judge teacher performance would have to be linked to something that could be implemented nationally. However the free spirit inside of me who values the development of students as people as opposed to exam robots will still rile against it.

However I am also a massive hypocrite.

You see I am (and have spoken about this before) a massive Strava addict. Which basically is all of the things above but related to sport - league tables, performance measurements, improvements based upon data - all of which grinds against the notion of doing things to enjoy it.

That was fun, but how high/far/fast did I go?

Actually we could also throw in some of the 'attempts' at creating a edits/videos as well. Although I am still taking the camera out this weekend - mostly to take photos!

Trees!

However I have found that chasing segments, constantly looking at average speed, pursuing elevation gain has started to get in the way of my enjoyment of a ride. Especially when going off-road.

I am not a professional cyclist, I do not compete in races, I am not a member of a club. I literally ride because I enjoy it and like being outside.

So I have taken a decision to stop using Strava, to stop caring about how far, how fast, how much.

I have decided to reclaim the ride. To go and ride because the ride is fun and is a worthwhile pursuit on it's own. Yes I will still work out and try to improve core fitness - it makes sense for a holistic approach to fitness - however the emphasis will be more now on riding for riding's sake.

Well that's the idea. We will see how long it lasts for.

Love the ride?