[richj8990]

Some of the KOM's out there are just ridiculous, no way I would ever attempt to go that fast, no matter how expensive the bike. Seems like the rougher and steeper the surface, the faster they go to get the KOM. Seriously. I don't do bad at all on 4-8% declines but steeper than that and I'm way behind the KOM leader, wonder if they crashed like 20 times in a row on all of the steep ruts and rocks before they finally got that badge of honor. Or...they simply used a dirt bike.

Then I look at the QOM's. Way more realistic. I average 67% slower than the KOM but only 28% slower than the QOM, and on a 120mm hardtail that seems to be fine with me. It just seems like a more reasonable number to beat than the KOM. Of course, I will never 'beat' it online, riding as a male, no one but me would ever even know, the QOM would still be there. But most of those QOM's are obtained by Pro (or at least sponsored) racers so no shame in having that as a mark to beat; those women are pretty serious about mountain biking. Not to mention many of them are on $7-9K XC racing bikes and my bike started out $517 lol. The other QOM's are going to take a while to beat... So far I've bested one QOM and are 12 seconds behind the 2nd. Your thoughts? Is it funny to try and beat a QOM just because it was set by a female? I don't think so but you are free to post your opinion.

 

[Le Duke]

Why would it be “funny” to beat a QOM, or KOM?

The process of getting faster/better is what I derive satisfaction from; a position on a leader board only helps me verify my own progress.


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[bikeranzin]

Why would it be "funny" to beat a QOM, or KOM?

The process of getting faster/better is what I derive satisfaction from; a position on a leader board only helps me verify my own progress.

This.

And if you happen to live in the right (or wrong, depending on perspective) spot, the QOM time can be really damned fast. Where I live, Erin Huck has most of them. And she's _really_ fast.

All said though, I still prefer chasing KOMs because I get the digital crown.

 

[Le Duke]

This.

And if you happen to live in the right (or wrong, depending on perspective) spot, the QOM time can be really damned fast. Where I live, Erin Huck has most of them. And she's _really_ fast.

All said though, I still prefer chasing KOMs because I get the digital crown.

Yeah.

A Front Range KOM carries a lot more weight, to me, than anything from my time in NY, VA, GA, etc.

I think I have two in CO. A hell of a lot more out east.

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[J.B. Weld]

Funny? I say respect. Some of those gals are crazy fast, no shame in getting beat by them.

 

[abaughman]

I have fun with them. When I started I had happy just to get I’m the top 10. Now I have some woman’s KOMS and not far behind the men. There is this one segment I go run it and beet my time, then the guys see it and up theirs 🤣. I know them and it’s all fun and games. Think I am 2nd overall right now.

 

[Harold]

Meh. I'm a midpack rider. Barely top 50%. Leaderboards don't interest me inasmuch as I heckle some of my friends occasionally because we're frequently close to each other in the standings. Competing for high spots on the leaderboards of Strava takes not only a good deal of fitness and skill, but also a degree of recklessness that I'm not really willing to risk.

I do have one KOM that I don't think I'll ever lose. I got it in the first place over 10 years ago because of a Strava bug, and because the trail sucked so bad, the resort that opened it has since closed it down. So I don't think anyone has recorded a time on the trail at all in about 7 or 8yrs.

 

[J.B. Weld]

Competing for high spots on the leaderboards of Strava takes not only a good deal of fitness and skill, but also a degree of recklessness that I'm not really willing to risk.

Not always, I mostly go after climbing segments these days, at least that's what I tell my wife

The climbing ones don't require recklessness but they hurt a lot more.

 

[J.B. Weld]

Hey Rich I'm not trying to razz you but I'm curious, judging from other threads you seem pretty sold on the electric bike, is that what you're using to try to steal those QOM's?

 

[Lone Rager]

Some of the KOM's out there are just ridiculous, no way I would ever attempt to go that fast, no matter how expensive the bike. Seems like the rougher and steeper the surface, the faster they go to get the KOM. Seriously. ...

The only KOMs I look at are climbs...and sometimes flats. Not descents.

 

[Le Duke]

The only KOMs I look at are climbs...and sometimes flats. Not descents.

I prefer loops where the start and finish are the same location.

It's always interesting to see how I stack up on the climb, descent and the entire loop.

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[Harold]

The climbing ones don't require recklessness but they hurt a lot more.

True, but sometimes they do. Just depends on the trail. Gotta admit, it takes a certain level of recklessness to go that deep into the pain cave. Plus going for a KOM on a busy trail with lots of traffic.

Of course, where I ride, most of the singletrack trails are generally ridden downhill and you climb on gravel roads that are mostly open to vehicles and are occasionally shuttled. So you get leaderboards full of people who left their computer on during the shuttle. I've reported a few obvious ones, but I'm not sure if any of the gravel riders who legitimately earned those spots on the leaderboards patrol for the shuttle crowd.

Quite a few segments in the area have around 10,000 different riders who have attempted them. Pro and former pro roadies who raced in the TdF, pro and former pro World Cup XC riders, the list goes on. Both men and women. There is zero circumstance where I'm competing for any sort of leaderboard spot with folks like that.

People gunning for leaderboard spots on ebikes, IMO, are pretty lame. Trying to "win" strava, eh? Would be like me using my bike to win trail running KOM's by misclassifying my activity.

 

[Harold]

I prefer loops where the start and finish are the same location.

It's always interesting to see how I stack up on the climb, descent and the entire loop.

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I like looking at segments that are basically whole rides unto themselves, too. Much harder and requires you to be a more rounded rider. While I'm generally a midpack rider, I compare a bit lower on the scale for my climbing, and a little bit higher on the scale for my descending. I've been working on my climbing more this year than in the past, and it's certainly helping.

 

[J.B. Weld]

True, but sometimes they do. Just depends on the trail. Gotta admit, it takes a certain level of recklessness to go that deep into the pain cave. Plus going for a KOM on a busy trail with lots of traffic.

On the first point I disagree, digging deep into the pain cave periodically is part of my regular training routine and it makes me feel good, so not reckless at all.

As far as a busy trail with lots of traffic sure, but the trails around me are pretty sparse and I'm not threatening anyone @10 mph with clean sight lines.

I'm in a relatively small pond as far as mountain biking goes, though we do get some heavy hitters coming through now and then, but the road strava leader boards are clogged with world class pros.

It still fun (for me) and I still do my best on some road segments, and I get thoroughly crushed by both men and women pros.

 

[JBarn]

It is amazing how fast some of these people are on the KOM segments. I load them on my Wahoo so I can see them come up. Good for motivation.
I am a KOM on one that hardly anyone does.... lol

 

[tool.nerd]

Funny story, used to ride motorcycles on a road on which a bunch of roadies also rode, and they always kept a big grudge on their shoulder. As in, no matter how much distance you gave them, or waves to them, they'd shout obscenities or even throw stuff at you when you went by.

A buddy of mine decided to run Strava when he went down the road at a knee-dragging pace through the twisties, while trying to keep a semi-realistic pace through some of the straightaways.

Well....his first attempt, despite the fact he was really giving it hell......he had such a big hit to his esteem that it took him a few days before he could try again. Basically, he was nowhere near #1 on on any of the segments. Much laughter and humiliation occurred.

Second run logged a few decent times and lasted almost a week before the account was disabled...hehe.

Sorry for the off-topic.

 

[richj8990]

It is amazing how fast some of these people are on the KOM segments. I load them on my Wahoo so I can see them come up. Good for motivation.
I am a KOM on one that hardly anyone does.... lol

Yeah I have one KOM with only 12 other logged rides, 12 males, 0 females. But that fire road is scary, I didn't realize how treacherous it is until I went into a slide for about 15 seconds straight; could not slow down sliding over huge rocks piled up on each other, not enough traction to brake. That KOM was kind of an accident, as in I didn't crash and got lucky. People make fun of fire roads but the ones that have a 20-30% decline are not that easy to go down, a lot of loose dirt and rocks.