do people just go out one week and try to beat section times one at a time if that makes sense , i Was wondering why people don’t try to do full loops and beat the whole time rather than a particular sprint or one specific climb?

Yes.

Some do some don’t. That’s the crazy world of humanity for you.

That’s the crazy world of humanity for you.

they seem very competitive

Sometimes I’ll pick a specific segment based upon weather, rainfall, hedge trimming etc and base a ride around hitting that segment at my peak. Hit that hard, then chill again.

Yep, that. some segments I won’t bother with if the weaher’s ‘Wrong’, other times I’ll head for a specific segment if the conditions are good!

I sometimes use them as intervals on an otherwise dull flat commute.

Not fit enough to nail them all at once! 😆

I sometimes target very local climbs that should take me less than 3mins to ascend, but I prefer the challenge of linking some up, like “The Meon Quad” which links four cat4 hills over ~19 miles of riding. 😀

I have particular climbs that I try to beat my time on when I do them. And sometimes I might take it easier on the way over so I’m fresher to put in a good attempt.

However there is one climb on which I’m currently 3rd for which I will make an extra special effort. I will gently spin to warm up and I have been known to go so hard I have to stop and have a sit down at the top. That’s not quite in the spirit of a normal ride, but I do then continue to complete the ride afterwards.

I took a kom by fluke at the end of a 20mile rife (just the type of stuff I enjoy) lost it thw next day to someone who’d ridden with two mates for 3.2 miles( basically carpark to segment, segment, then carpark) I can only wonder at how pointless that ride must have been in the grand scheme of riding a bike.

Here in the fens a strong wind not in the prevailing direction will get the Strava hunters out

I tend to go out for a ride and every now and again want remember there’s a segment coming up and give it a bit more effort.

But mostly I tend to just go out for a ride.

I took a kom by fluke at the end of a 20mile rife (just the type of stuff I enjoy) lost it thw next day to someone who’d ridden with two mates for 3.2 miles( basically carpark to segment, segment, then carpark) I can only wonder at how pointless that ride must have been in the grand scheme of riding a bike

Mate of mine took a wee 30s climb KOM off a local roadie bawbag. Said bawbag got notification later on, popped bike in the car and drove out to climb to get KOM back. At midnight on a Saturday night.

Roaster.

I’ve got a buddy who became obsessed with some of the short local segments & systematically went out to get them – the outcome was a broken collar bone as he went for one on a small road in the town & his route was blocked by an oncoming car – he shot up a dropped kerb, caught his front wheel & was sent across the pavement into a wall.

I use Strava & look at segment times – with interest – particularly those that are several minutes long or on particular climbs. I filter them to see how I’m doing against those in my club. I regularly do a 14mi loop that is set up as a Strava segment & that’s useful to look at over time. It’s all very variable though depending on the weather / wind direction etc.

I ride.

I look at segments when I get back to see if I am any faster than the previous best time.

If I am it means I’m getting fitter.

Not near the top of any KOM, not likely to be either.

I look at those who were riding that day near where I was and check out their routes for future consideration.

I might ride hills one day and flat and fast the next, I might go for distance I might go for a short 2 mile loop for an hour.

Strava just records distances and speeds for me and gives me encouragement to go again

I only use Strava so I can tell if I’m having fun or not.

I just use it to record where I’ve been and see what mates have been up to. Any koms I’ve got have been part of a normal ride. I still appear to hold one that I did on my commute about 5 years ago 🙂 https://www.strava.com/segments/980280

Used to be very addicted to getting into the top ten of segments then found I was not enjoying my riding one iota, now I use it mainly to just see how I am doing and track my mileage, for both MTB and running.
One thing I have done now is create some segments based on my favorite mountain bike trails, from end to end, so these are usually 8 to 10km long so tend not to attract the typical mountain bike KOM fanatics who prefer the sprints.

If you have Strava premium with live segments does it tell you your time on a segment compared to who you are following? One of my mates keeps taking 1s of loads of my times.

me and a mate went out when I was back in the UK, he was after a crack at some climbs and reckoned I’d get the down…
Was actually a good fun 60-70mile ride I towed him in to the climbs till I popped then he did the same over the crests, was good to go balls out for some road riding for a change. All in the name of fun, nicked a few top 10’s between us I think

popped bike in the car and drove out to climb to get KOM back. At midnight on a Saturday night.

Roaster.

Teasing folk like that is what ebikes and mopeds were invented for.

I tend to race myself on Strava these days, although most of my bests were set in optimum conditions, normally with a lot of gate luck too. 20mph NW wind today….

Unless you’re at a trail centre does anyone ride a loop? My rides are different every time, so no point setting up a full ride as a segment.

Yes – when doing a local 50-80 mile loop I always try and focus on taking the KOM on every one of the 372-604 sections that I pass.

Rickos – Member
Unless you’re at a trail centre does anyone ride a loop?

Heaps of them, mostly they way the trails connect around here, it’s one of a few loop variations.

Though I think the OP is referring to those who appear a short run in from a segment and and then run back to the car.

One of the local guys round are way doesn’t even have to try to get KOM’s he is just so fast

To be fair I did target my mates 30mile mtb training loop in the summer. Took it by 3secs. I was using it as a benchmark.

Gate luck

Hmm, one of my KOMs was set when there was a local fell race taking place and the gates on the segment were open. Once the runners had been through I went for it. 😆 Took 90 seconds off the best time on an 8min segment. I was second on the segment anyway.

Mostly these days though Strava’s for recording what I’ve done rather than chasing my tail.

Hmm, one of my KOMs was set when there was a local fell race taking place and the gates on the segment were open. Once the runners had been through I went for it. Took 90 seconds off the best time on an 8min segment. I was second on the segment anyway.

Which segment is that, Bob? 😈

I admit competing for a silly one. There is a short footpath cut-through from the business park to the housing estate with a slightly downhill start that I ride all the time. Someone made a decent on it and I realised I was 3rd out of about 20. So next time I went for it and equalled the KOM 🙂 it’s clearly daft.

King here, oh yes, of some unpopular mountains which happened to be dry and with the wind blowing in the right direction, whilst I was nicely warmed up without being knackered. An increasingly narrow window that last one. Anyway, I think I had a strava stalker a year or so ago. Some guy who’d worked out that my name at the top was a flashing red light saying “soft”. Hey ho. This stage of the game you’ve just got to let them go… (I mainly look at the ‘friends’ or whatever it’s called league table, as the one that matters. (It doesn’t matter)).

All loops are different so it is possible to mix it up. I tend to do a variety of things. The most common is just to go out and ride, upload to strava and see what happens.

Occasionally I’ll plan a route and notice a cool segment and put in a dig to get a good time. Do this a lot on holidays in Europe where there are famous climbs- does anyone not give it some welly up Alp d’huez?

I occasionally get involved in strava battles. Normally with racing friends. Some one takes a KOM, messages the other person to mock them and then a tit for tat battle commences until one person puts in an unbeatable time. Particularly common around the hill climb season where people are doing short hill intervals anyway.

During the hill climb season I go out twice a week and do intervals. I do a loop of local hills. Often the climb courses themselves but that gets a bit repetitive. So I also look for segments and go out to take KOMs. It is good prep for racing. Also leads to mini battles as above.

My loops vary but I may repeat the same route as I enjoy it. They’re loops because I’m always starting and ending at the same place, be it a car park or home.

I know some who may be local to particular segments and will pop out for a quick blast just to do those and home again (or back to work). Most I know just use Strava for a laugh or tracking their routes and personal progress. Certainly all I use it for. Leaderboards I have set to filter only on people I follow and even then it’s just for curiosity or to confirm a realistic GPS trace. If my time is similar or worse to friends who did the same ride, I know it’s probably accurate. If I beat them by loads then it’s almost certainly a GPS glitch 😀

I’ll often go for it on a particular segment, particularly if a friend has the KOM at the time.

There’s one segment my most KOMful friend had that leads into a really nice techy downhill, someone went and got that segment by riding reps along it then cycled home on the fire roads. Which is fine, but taking Strava a bit seriously IMHO.

Unless you’re at a trail centre does anyone ride a loop

Every single ride I have done in last 15 years has been a loop as I only ever ride from my door.

I have loads of loops so can check how less fit I am from the previous years as I get older!
My KOMs are disappearing with no chance of me getting them back and I slowly drop out of any top 10s.

Strava is a great tool for highlighting the ageing process…

Strava is a great tool for highlighting the ageing process…

Indeed. There’s a climb near the house where I was fifth on the leaderboard out of about 800, the only riders ahead were pro riders like Ed Moses or semi-pro like Paul Oldham. That was about four years ago, I’ve been drifting out of the top ten then the first page of the leaderboard ever since 😳

Martin: search on a well known footpath around a nearby village beginning with ‘L’ 😉

do people just go out one week most days and try to beat section times one at a time

Obvs. What other reason is there for Strava

Re loops, I set one in the local woods to try and simulate a typical race course. I actuall do have the KOM on it but since I set it in 2014 only four people have done that exact combination of trails, so it hardly counts 🙂

I have however forgotten the exact combination, so most of my efforts don’t count 🙂

I have however forgotten the exact combination, so most of my efforts don’t count 

Don’t worry I remember it 😉

I think I will have a stab this lunchtime 🙂

I think I have figured out where I was going wrong.

Still surprised you didn’t beat me since you were out-climbing me and you have the KOM for the fence line apparently.

That was about four years ago, I’ve been drifting out of the top ten then the first page of the leaderboard ever since

Ha ha ,yes it’s a cruel reminder.
Still,I quite like how long it’s taken some of my old times to drop down the list.I must have been going alright back then 😉
Now,commuter racing,that’s where Strava really comes in to it’s own 😆 😆