evan326

I'm not sure how many of you are competitive out there. I don't race, I may get into TT one day if I could. I just ride because I like to. I usually don't go out with the intent of trying for one specific strava segment. The other day though, I made one by my house and saw I was already in the top ten with a minimal effort. After a few tries, I saw the KOM was pretty damn fast, but I maybe could compete. Other day I set out with a plan to warm up and hit it as hard as I could, I would either get it or keep second place. After the effort I went on with my ride so I didn't know the result till I got home. Turns out I beat it by 3 seconds ! I have a few top fives, but I've never been able to get 1st on any segment. Doesn't help that the UCI team TT went through my neighborhood when the worlds came here. Some segments will never be won now
I just felt like sharing that.

jefnvk

Not sure if this was on a route they went through or not, but there is one near me I'm within seconds of the top. I'm slow. It is just in an odd place, unless you are purposefully racing to take it, there is really nothing to indicate you should get up and sprint. I have a feeling that I am close only because most people are just cruising, not really trying to set a record, at that spot.

I really suspect it was put there so someone could claim a KOM, I can't really see a purpose to it otherwise.

evan326

I put it there out of my own curiosity, I go through that spot almost each ride. There are others that are definitely not just cruising. This particular section of road obviously wasn't part of the UCI race.

shelbyfv

Kudos

brianmcg123

brianmcg123

Im just playing. Good job. There was a segment near my house that I spent a few months trying to get the KOM on. I finally got it and it only lasted a day before the guy i took it from came back out and took it back.

corrado33

Meh. I think KOMs are a bunch of hogwash because people do exactly what you did. Warm up JUST to get the KOM, and that's not what it's there for.

Now, don't get me wrong. I'm not slow. I'm in the top 10 for most of the KOMs I ride, but I'm not going to sit there and try to get the top spot over and over and again and I'm certainly not going to ride directly to a specific KOM with the intention on getting the top spot. That's not the point.

cthenn

The only "real" KOM's IMO are actual full length climbs. A "KOM" for a flat segment (and don't even get me started on downhill "KOM's", whatever the hell that is...) is useless, because there can be so many factors that can skew results. Even on a climb, one can draft, if it's a fast enough climb, but for an actual climbing segment, you gotta put in the work, and it's more reasonable to assume riders will go harder on actual climbs than other types of segments. Climbs are where you are found out, it's a beautiful thing. Sadly, the only climbing segments I bust my ass on are "real" climbs that I'll never be KOM on because I'm just not elite, unlike so many others in NorCal. But no, I don't go for the KOM of my local cul-de-sac that lasts 30 seconds...

bbbean 

Congrats! Ignore the naysayers. A KOM, particularly one you planned and trained for is an accomplishment.

Milton Keynes

I created a segment on a route I often ride, but just to judge my own performance. And yes, I hold the KOM on it, but likely because nobody else has ridden it yet.

DrIsotope

...but it kinda is. With very, VERY few exceptions, the KOMs I'm close to on the leaderboard were taken in one of three primary methods:

1. With the benevolent assistance of Mother Nature
2. In a paceline of 5+ riders
3. By soft-pedaling between segments

...and then there is of course the combination of all three.

There is a segment right near my house, that as of today I am 24/1142, having crossed that segment 265 times. My PR covered the 1.4 miles in 3m6s at an average speed of 28.6mph. The KOM is 33.9mph. Sure, there are some Pros on there (riding to a race stage) but the guys in 1 and 2 were riding together, with just enough tailwind. Going the opposite way on the same road, the top 6 times were set by a paceline of guys favored by a solid 15mph tailwind. The top time without wind is a full 4mph slower than 6th place.

I don't fault those guys for using the wind to their benefit, or getting the boost from being in a group. As long as they're putting power through the pedals, fair game for taking any advantages given to you. I've gotten a KOM by drafting a bus. Probably dumb in hindsight, and I still had to pedal my guts out, but it was the difference between the usual 25mph and that day's 31mph.

My personal favorites are the ones I don't even know are there, and get them purely by dumb luck. I have one on a 2-mile segment where one day I just happened to make all of the lights-- I'm 20+ seconds ahead of second place. I unknowingly took a KOM on a 15.8 mile segment because again, I made a whole bunch of lights. 24.3mph for 39 minutes.

evan326

I'm #4 overall on another segment with 3342 other people, that isn't KOM hunting.
As I said, I pass this nearly each ride. I only made a plan to not be at the end of my 2 hour ride and did it in the beginning instead. My last effort without planning got me second place. You wanna race foo? @brianmcg123 I'm waiting for contract offers as we speak

jamesdak 

I joined this year and have been hunting KOM's too. Mainly shorter segments right now of 1/2 a mile to a mile. Just interval workouts for me like I've always been doing. Just another tool to get better is how I see it. But I also only attack on calm days. I want the measure to be my effort for the same reason I ride solo 99.99 % of the time. Still there is a satisfaction for this old geezer to grab a KOM over a whole bunch of people while on one of my old steel rides. In fact all the KOMs this year have been taken on my 30 year old Schwinn Circuit but several other vintage rides are in the top 10 on others. I'm trying to get into the top 10 on any feasible ones. A bit of my base route is ridden annually by the pros during the Tour of Utah an I'm not touching those times, ever! LOL! Still it's all fun and I could care less one anyone else says or thinks about how I ride mine. They are my training tool and in the grand scheme of things mean...ummmm...nothing.

And each segment is attacked during the normal course of my ride. No taking it easy until that segment but that's my choice. If other's want to do that to beat my times go for it. That'll just give me something more to shoot for, LOL!

Fear the steel!

jamesdak 

Your ride, your blood and sweat. Do what you want and don't worry what anyone thinks. Good job by the way!

If someone gets upset over Strava then...well...there's really nothing to say.

caloso

Tell us what the point is.

corrado33

Is it REALLY a race if not everyone knows they're racing? I feel like this is a story of a guy who was passed everyday on his way home from work by a really fast cyclist. He works very hard for months throughout the summer and one day, instead of being passed, HE passed the guy instead. He beats him to the next light and feels extremely powerful. Then, at the light he sees the guy start his watch as the light turns green, seemingly starting his ride or interval. Turns out the guy he's been trying to pass was on a recovery leg of his favorite workout.

Is the guy who passed the fast cyclist on his recovery leg faster than the fast cyclist? Did the guy "win" the race?

No. He didn't. There was no race.

KOM's don't really make sense. Far too affected by the weather. No one will ever get a KOM without a tailwind, so if that's the case, then what's the point?

If you want to race, GO RACE. On a fair field, on the same day, on the same course. KOM hunters are simply shy people who know that if they manipulate their cards JUST right, they can have something to brag about. I won't get into why people NEED something to brag about now-a-day.

mcours2006

KOM are meaningless...unless it is an actual climb of some sustained length. Last time I checked the M in KOM did stand for mountain. Wind isn't going to help you so much, and neither is drafting. It is truly your own.

Having said that, though, I see nothing wrong with chasing them if it keeps you motivated.

jamesdak 

Hmmm, you know the old saying about what happens when you assume things don't you?? :-P

caloso

My, such serious business. So, it's the name of the fastest rider over a particular section? What if Strava just called it King of the Segment? Or if they came up with criteria that limited segments to minimum length and slope? And no segments on group ride routes, even though many of them existed long before bike computers, much less Strava. And an algorithm that checks the NWS/NOAA data and disqualifies rides on days when the wind is over a certain speed.

Heck, this sounds like an opportunity for Strava. They could change an additional fee on top of Premium and call it Strava Pure (tm).

Judging by the posts on threads like this, I'm sure it would get a few subscribers.

55murray

Congrats! I downloaded Strava a month or so ago after I got my first decent road bike and have yet to use it or look at it. I'm not yet ready to confirm how pathetic I am...

pickettt

To the OP, you set yourself a cycling goal and achieved it. Good Job. All anyone can do is hope to improve at his or her craft.
To all who belittle his or her accomplishment, disparaging someone's achievement doesn't magnify yours.

Leebo

Hmmm. Racing imaginary unknown people in unknown circumstances. Winning? This is a thing? How many people do it on e bikes or motorcycles?

kevindsingleton 

Isn't that all that downhill skiing, or cycling, for that matter, really are? Sometimes, it's the downhill side that is the real challenge.

caloso

I don't know about where you live but the riders I see on the segments I ride are neither imaginary nor unknown. They're actual riders. And it doesn't really matter if the KOM was set on a tailwind day, or on a group ride, or both. The top riders are always known as strong riders and they'd be known as strong riders even if Strava didn't exist.

gecho

The easiest segments to go grab a KOM are the ones created by people that don't know how to use the segment editor. Convoluted paths that ensure no one ever rides it.

One local segment a person could take pride in having the KOM for is one that goes up and down the same gravel hill 20 times in a row.