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Achieved at the weekend in Wales, told Mrs ws, she was mildly impressed in a mediocre way 😆
No not at all.
Especially if you've genuinely improved with a bit of effort and or training.
Just remember its not the same as winning a race 🙂
I've improved locally on several flat and ups, however this one was a very well ridden downhill section.
So looks like I'll mention it to Mrs ws again 8)
God no!
I had the QOM on the final descent at Cwmcarn for a while. I was very proud of that one!
No. Fair play. We've all got to do something we're proud of.
Hell no. I just got s couple of PB's tonight and I'm quite rightly chuffed as you should be.
Strava it's a motivational tool, so go on be proud. Defending kom's can get hard work.
Well I never! I thought I'd be roundly berated for such a competitive thought. However I'm already planning a trip back to have another go at it. 😳
Had 3 KOMs taken from me the other day by the same person 🙁
Turns out he is the Dutch national mountain bike orienteering champion...
Nothing wrong in being proud of an accomplishment 🙂
I got a top 10 tonight on a flat road segment with a headwind, swoon before me and my awesome power...
(We're glossing over the fact I was drafting a moped for half of it 😛 )
Links, or none of this happened
Strava is great for this kind of thing. I'm never anywhere near the top 10 but once you get some segments short-listed and know which ones you want to target and what your average times are, it's still great motivation to push yourself and get a personal record.
I'm only proud of my KOMs that are climbs. My downhill one ends in a very stupid place which could be dangerous for pedestrians. The red mist descended and I'm not happy at all.
Should know better.
😛 I can only put a link up as Flickr hates me and won't let me copy the URL.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/129593813@N03/17428462189/in/dateposted-public/
I got 2nd fastest time tonight on one of the gnarliest, rockiest descents in South Wales on my 29er HT. And I even had an OTB that threw me 20feet don a cliff. 🙂 was quite an exciting ride
one of the gnarliest, rockiest descents in South Wales
Segment link?!!
Most pleased with sixth position on a Strava segment tonight which happens to be a popular 10 mile TT course we were racing as part of our club champs, good enough for second place which means I get a real proper non-virtual trophy too 🙂
I am currently something like 23/626 on the shortened red route at Swinley. Top 5% will do me 🙂
Here you go Molegrips. It is even a BW so no issues to ride!
https://app.strava.com/segments/7191396
I'm sure that's some pretty good riding but given the number of attempts and the number of people who've ridden it (not many) and that the second place time is over twice as long as yours, I'd assume that not many quick people have actually attempted to ride it quickly. Still always nice to get a KOM 🙂
You've miss read WF's post mr blobby. He got the second best time, twice as slow as the kom Lol 😀 But I did that descent about 10yrs ago a lot of people would walk it !! That kom looks a bit suspicious to me, gps error maybe ? if not a great ride.
I'm not a KOM sort of a guy (I did have one for ages, fastest ever Innerleithen DH pushup) but I got a legit top 5 today without really meaning, that was nice. It's PBs I like. Only fast people get KOMs but everyone gets PBs.
@ Taxi25... The KOM is real. I often ride with Lewis. But then he has several KOMs at BPW and FOD and regularly podiums at Enduro events. He is also over half my age lol. I still haven't ridden it clean mind and that time from last night included a 20 foot fall off the cliff 🙂
There are some gifted individuals on bikes. Fitness is one thing we can all improve but the ability to throw oneself down a steep, rocky chute is harder to come by.
There is a chap who seems to have all my local downhill KOMs and I found out recently he's only in the race category below me, making him in his 40s I think, so it's not one of the young nutters!
On the mtb I was king of ten rather unpopular mountains last year. The secret is not to have your sandwiches half way, have a wee after the segment ends not during, and not hang around gossiping at gates. Starting at the back and finishing at the front also works, as does riding with faster mates who don't do strava.
And no, I'm not going to say where these mountains are. I think I had a stalker for a time - some guy I don't know picked off two or three of them, no doubt having rightly judged my name at the top to be signifier of a soft segment...
On the road bike I'm happy if I'm faster than the QOM. I got one KOM last year though of which I was incredibly proud - one of the local cc's 30 min pub dashes with 700ish people. It lasted all of two hours until one the mates I'd been drafting got back from the pub and uploaded...
In fact my fast mates' leaderboard presences mainly predate when they started actual racing... So yeah, just a bit of fun and as you can tell from this post I hardly care at all...
If it wasn't about showing off, you'd just use a stopwatch. 🙂
Only just recently got Strava
its interesting to see where i lie - wont ever make a top 10
I did make just in into the top 1000 when I did the climb up to do Garburn pass
It was a river that day it was so wet, I had forgotten my SPD so i was unclipped on time pedals [ non platform] and i was happy to just get up tbh
Somehow managed top 10% for the descent despite having to stop twice to put my feet back on the pedals. IIRC the KOM was about half my time though so hardly competitive.
If i had a KOM i would probably care about it/brag .
they are something to be proud of IMHO.
A better question would be why the f... people think its wrong to be proud of a strava time. You put in effort and you improve, whats not to be proud of?
I've got KOM on quite a few climbs by me and I've been dead chuffed everytime I've got one as I have done quasi training (hill reps when I can be bothered etc) this winter and it shows the pre-dawn riding is worth it!
Agree its nothing like racing, I'm within the top 10-20 on a fair few climbing sections at afan next to names I recognise from the elite/expert categories of xc racing but yet I get absolutely smashed in sports cat when it comes to real racing.
You can be proud of something without having to tell everyone else. 🙂
As a middle aged man I always like to give myself a secret high five if I get into the top ten of any segment, enjoy it, there is no shame in trying to go a little faster as long as it doesn't spoil the enjoyment of the ride. When you set out to just beat someone else though, that's when you need to talk to yourself.
It is a bit sad. But I don't let that stop me. My recent 'achievements' - had a chest infection, last couple of weeks blah blah.....
KOM on Doger Wood Fireroad (6:32) 3 weeks ago
8th overall on Gubhill Climb (11:33) 3 weeks ago
PR on Oxen Park Far Side (2:13) 3 weeks ago
PR on Roman Road Descent (1:49) 3 weeks ago
Nothing wrong with that.
Better than the childish behaviour that occurred over the space of a year between Mrs Yak and I when we first got strava. She set up a fake blokes account to get the KOM on a local hill off me. We then both childishly kept rising to the bait and kept nicking it of each other by seconds at a time. Finally I cracked and seizing the moment of perfect daytime conditions, sacked off work one day and put it out of sight. That was a year ago. However she is climbing better than ever right now, so I think I'm going to lose it again...
Obviously if someone properly fast stumbles across this little hill, we'll be put in our place.
Yak - stuff
Brilliant!!!
I got one yesterday, it was satisfying 'cos it gave me evidence that I really was riding faster and it didn't just feel that way.
But I know better than to feel proud - 'cos the good ones don't tend to stick for too long.
I have previously had KOMs down Snowdon Rangers, Castle Crag in the Lakes and Helvellyn's Grisedale descent but alas those are all long gone.
🙁
It is a good feeling to know that you are getting great times on certain sections especially when there are hundreds of other riders behind you.
At 50 plus to have a few KOMs (Mainly ups & flatish sections)and be in quite a lot of the top ten times locally makes me feel very satisfied especially when some of the riders behind are well known wippets 😀
Carry on going for good times as like others have said it helps to get fitness levels up.
I think the time I am most proud of was done in Majorca on one of the climbs there, I snuck in the Top 600 but it has been done by thousands including Top pros & some of the best cyclists in the world on training weeks.
I've only used it twice and have several top tens and a 3rd place already so fairly pleased so far. I haven't even tried for any records I'm just riding the routes at my normal pace.
[i]As a middle aged man I always like to give myself a secret high five if I get into the top ten of any segment,[/i]
Top Ten! Streuth, top ten percent makes me pleased especially looking at the 'competition' that rides around here..., although I was very pleased to get a KOM on an Inners descent a while back 🙂
[i]I've only used it twice and have several top tens and a 3rd place already so fairly pleased so far. I haven't even tried for any records I'm just riding the routes at my normal pace.[/i]
Coooo! 😉
Before getting too excited it's worth remembering that not everyone uses Strava...
I commuted home yesterday. I wasn't being that bothered about Strava times. Just over 4 miles from home I was badly overtaken by a car
About 2 miles later I overtook it without realising (traffic), then about half a mile later it overtook me up a hill.
When I realised I suddenly sped up, hit a PB on a segment (but still nowhere near the top of the leaderboard as it's a major roadie run).
Motivation really helped!
(if I wonder if my aero might have been better if I didn't have a pannier on my rack)
Before getting too excited it's worth remembering that not everyone uses Strava...
Indeed. And if you do get a KOM it's just because someone faster than you (who also happens to Strava) hasn't ridden it yet!
It really is just a bit of fun. If you ride with others, do club runs, or race, then you'll know how fast you are and how you compare to others already.
I've a few top 10s especially running ones, and a top 3 in my old haunt (Chilterns) well chuffed with all of them TBH.
I don't think I'll ever manage the dizzy heights of a KOM though, unless I create one!!
For those targeting KOMs... 😀
Nothing sad, I find it a really good training tool to see how much faster sections of a ride can be taken, and if I can get a KOM then even better. Even picked one up on a section I didn't know existed and was just honing about in the woods the other week.
My wife however was also not impressed.
BJ