Strava, KOMs
- Thread starter iateyoubutler
- Start date
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Welsh wheels
Lycra king
- Location
- South Wales
My KOM is an insignificant residential street, so just look for roads that no-one really cares about like quiet residential streets. Although don't go hammer for nails if it's a street where kids often play
Oldfentiger
Veteran
- Location
- Pendle, Lancs
I'm too old to be racing young whippets, so I use Strava to gauge my own improvement. I don't compare my segment times with anyone else's because it would be depressing.
I agree with all the previous comments about people riding in packs and howling tailwinds etc, so this old git riding alone is never going to be on the same page.
I agree with all the previous comments about people riding in packs and howling tailwinds etc, so this old git riding alone is never going to be on the same page.
I got my first one last summer when I'd the trailer attached and 2 kids asleep in the back. It was a quiet tarmac'd downhill access road in a forest park. I didn't know about it until afterwards but I reckon that there can't be that many 'King of Mountain with two princesses on board' awards!
nickyboy
Norven Mankey
- Location
- You want hills? We got hills
For some, seeking KOMs = cycling happiness. We all cycle for different reasons
I've got very little chance of KOMs around here. Too many fit, skinny whippets for the hills and chain gangs for the odd flat bits. It's also popular for pro races and pro training. I just try to get faster and see how I'm doing against people I follow. Best of all is comparing myself to others in the Cyclechat Strava Group
Tactics I use to at least get PBs....choose the segments I want to go full gas on bearing in mind wind direction (can't ride full gas the whole way), learn the real start and finish points of the segments, try to choose a route to the start of the segment that allows max speed and/or decent recovery before the start, have a look for segments I haven't ridden for a while and I'm well down the leaderboard
There are some seriously fast people. Most of the time you get passed by riders just moving a little quicker and easier than you and they slowly disappear into the distance but just occasionally someone passes you like you're standing still and you realize the difference between your average rider and someone who's capable of challenging tt records and the like.
I've seen a couple of professionals training and they move seriously fast. I used to see Boardman around here before he retired and it's when you see that you realize you won't get near most of the KOM's unless they are obscure.
I've seen a couple of professionals training and they move seriously fast. I used to see Boardman around here before he retired and it's when you see that you realize you won't get near most of the KOM's unless they are obscure.
Kinda this.
I only set up a free Stava account to do to coding noodling against their API and look in maybe once a month. Nearly all of my local segments have at least 2000 riders, so you can't expect to be top of the heap unless you're a properly competitive cyclist, and I'm talking cat 1-2 upwards. Being the quickest of your mates isn't going to cut it. The young lad who owns a good deal of the segments I ride frequently is now a neo-pro with an Italian team. I've been his minute man on TTs in the past, which is a deeply depressing experience.
Mugshot
Cracking a solo.
Make a segment, set your ride to private, then reset it to public again, it'll show you as having the KOM, of course when the software updates and the 3000 other riders that have gone through there more quickly get added you're way down the pecking order, but as far as your mates are concerned, if they just look at your ride headlines, you're a champ 
My KOMs came as an accident - I was not aiming for them. However, as they have been beaten I have been back out to claim them 
strangely a couple of ones have disappeared - the whole segment got removed and replaced, I am not sure why as they were not silly or dangerous ones.
strangely a couple of ones have disappeared - the whole segment got removed and replaced, I am not sure why as they were not silly or dangerous ones.
Kajjal
Guru
- Location
- Wheely World
They are but take a fit fast rider and put them up against a chain gang of fit fast riders they will never keep up. Many koms are set this way but not all. Also some are set on tt bikes by tt riders which again makes them very tough to beat.
Best just to compete against yourself and also take time to enjoy the ride / scenery and especially coffee & cakes
S-Express
Guest
Agreed, which is why the whole KoM thing is all a bit absurd. I'm up against a lot of triathletes on TT/tri bikes locally. I have no interest in riding for three hours in an aero tuck while wearing a pair of wet swimming trunks, and they have no interest in a 1hr crit.
nickyboy
Norven Mankey
- Location
- You want hills? We got hills
Still only 8 people have tried the segment I created for the hill climb on the Llandudno ride. The young, skinny, fit, fast guy with us is KOM. You're ....err....not (nor am I)
I'm still last by some way am I
I was only just behind all those who went off piste but of course they don't show up for that reason.
lazybloke
Considering a new username
- Location
- Leafy Surrey
Yep. No point in getting frustrated by other riders being blessed with better physiology/fitness/nutrition/bike/lycra/technique/youth/tailwind/drafting/etc. It will never be a level playing field.
I briefly held a KoM or two on unusual/unpopular segments, but not for long. I still enjoy using Strava to monitor my own fitness and to have some light-hearted rivalry with mates, but I don't seek KoMs any more.
It's good to enjoy bike rides for exhilaration, fresh air, a sense of freedom and a feeling of well-being. It's not essential to reduce every ride to numbers.
