Don't deny it, the KOM...can it help you better yourself as a rider?
- Thread starter Dave Taylor
- Start date
JDurk
Well-Known Member
So the hill I use for my hill repeats (or short intervals) has a segment. I have ridden this segment 100+ plus times....I have actually tried for the KOM 1 time in all of those laps thru it. I remember the day actually....I did a ~450w 5min set and yippie skippy...but then the rest of my laps sucked. The world has alot of distractions that arent helpful
have we come full circle back to DTs original question?
Can hunting KOMs make you a better rider? I'd say it depends on who you are and what your goal is....but certainly possible. I'd like to add tho...As much as strava can possibly simulate a enduro segment/stage....And you can repeat it and work on getting faster....My biggest gains in downhill speed have come from spending time riding with people who are much better and or faster than I am. Watching guys/ladies like @graveyardman67 @Ryan.P @muddybike and several others....working on things....not JUST trying to repeat the same segment over and over expecting better results with the same bad habits. But its a game that is fun and can get you out on your bike, so in its proper context I think its good.
I would also say tho that strava is imo a BAD competitive outlet.....if thats where you are going to feed your need for competition as opposed to actual racing....you probably dont have a good sense of reality. Because in reality...I know a number of local riders who are/arent on strava who can go take any segement they want if they were so inclined.....so thats how fast im NOT. The only reason I have any KOM is because they havent taken it.
Last edited:
Johnny Utah
Well-Known Member
I think there is also those that need a little bit of this everyday. Do me a favor and hit that “like” button so I can get my endorphin hit.So the hill I use for my hill repeats (or short intervals) has a segment. I have ridden this segment 100+ plus times....I have actually tried for the KOM 1 time in all of those laps thru it. I remember the day actually....I did a ~450w 5min set and yippie skippy...but then the rest of my laps sucked. The world has alot of distractions that arent helpful
have we come full circle back to DTs original question?
Can hunting KOMs make you a better rider? I'd say it depends on who you are and what your goal is....but certainly possible. I'd like to add tho...As much as strava can possibly simulate a enduro segment/stage....And you can repeat it and work on getting faster....My biggest gains in downhill speed have come from spending time riding with people who are much better and or faster than I am. Watching guys/ladies like @graveyardman67 @Ryan.P @muddybike and several others....working on things....not JUST trying to repeat the same segment over and over expecting better results with the same bad habits. But its a game that is fun and can get you out on your bike, so in its proper context I think its good.
I would also say tho that strava is imo a BAD competitive outlet.....if thats where you are going to feed your need for competition as opposed to actual racing....you probably dont have a good sense of reality. Because in reality...I know a number of local riders who are/arent not on strava who can go take any segement they want if they were so inclined.....so thats how fast im NOT. The only reason I have any KOM is because they havent taken it.
You know my history somewhat, I don't train but I am motivated by riding fastly and have put my time in the saddle. I am inclined to ride tempo speeds and at some point motivated by avg speed (yes a crap metric and this was for the road). But what has that done? Given me a shitty top end. Segments definitely improved that top end, so, can it make you faster, yes.So the hill I use for my hill repeats (or short intervals) has a segment. I have ridden this segment 100+ plus times....I have actually tried for the KOM 1 time in all of those laps thru it. I remember the day actually....I did a ~450w 5min set and yippie skippy...but then the rest of my laps sucked. The world has alot of distractions that arent helpful
have we come full circle back to DTs original question?
Can hunting KOMs make you a better rider? I'd say it depends on who you are and what your goal is....but certainly possible. I'd like to add tho...As much as strava can possibly simulate a enduro segment/stage....And you can repeat it and work on getting faster....My biggest gains in downhill speed have come from spending time riding with people who are much better and or faster than I am. Watching guys/ladies like @graveyardman67 @Ryan.P @muddybike and several others....working on things....not JUST trying to repeat the same segment over and over expecting better results with the same bad habits. But its a game that is fun and can get you out on your bike, so in its proper context I think its good.
I would also say tho that strava is imo a BAD competitive outlet.....if thats where you are going to feed your need for competition as opposed to actual racing....you probably dont have a good sense of reality. Because in reality...I know a number of local riders who are/arent not on strava who can go take any segement they want if they were so inclined.....so thats how fast im NOT. The only reason I have any KOM is because they havent taken it.
There is a coach on my NICA team that is obsessed with two segments at one of our local trails, specifically beating my time. It was kinda awkward when he told me he just wants to beat me on it. He would ride the segment 3-5 times in a ride and would focus everything towards it. He has not been successful yet, but I told him to focus outside of those segments because focusing on one or two and you only become fast on those two. Personally I would rather rider every segment in a place kinda fast instead of being the fastest on one or two and shit on the others.
Dave Taylor
Rex kwan Do
What you said but in a different sense. I am a lazy rider by nature unless I have a rabbit to chase. Easy for me to ride all day long at 200 watts day after day. But despite that fitness and never cramping in ling stuff one hour of a good practice crit has me cramping. I would like to focus on xc again but for some releason I never do. There are definitely faster people out there. I’m one of the few that can push myself in training but not races. Mental I guess. And who is anyone really? Utah is racing fast Galletta…Galletta is slow to Snyder is slow to Bishop is slow to Keegan is slow to Nino is slow to…always someone faster. We look at pros like ohhhhhhhhhwowwwww…but then u realize they are nothing compared to someone like Blevens at Snowshoe yesterday…16mph up a muddy root filled hill…So the hill I use for my hill repeats (or short intervals) has a segment. I have ridden this segment 100+ plus times....I have actually tried for the KOM 1 time in all of those laps thru it. I remember the day actually....I did a ~450w 5min set and yippie skippy...but then the rest of my laps sucked. The world has alot of distractions that arent helpful
have we come full circle back to DTs original question?
Can hunting KOMs make you a better rider? I'd say it depends on who you are and what your goal is....but certainly possible. I'd like to add tho...As much as strava can possibly simulate a enduro segment/stage....And you can repeat it and work on getting faster....My biggest gains in downhill speed have come from spending time riding with people who are much better and or faster than I am. Watching guys/ladies like @graveyardman67 @Ryan.P @muddybike and several others....working on things....not JUST trying to repeat the same segment over and over expecting better results with the same bad habits. But its a game that is fun and can get you out on your bike, so in its proper context I think its good.
I would also say tho that strava is imo a BAD competitive outlet.....if thats where you are going to feed your need for competition as opposed to actual racing....you probably dont have a good sense of reality. Because in reality...I know a number of local riders who are/arent not on strava who can go take any segement they want if they were so inclined.....so thats how fast im NOT. The only reason I have any KOM is because they havent taken it.
Pearl
THIS CHANGES EVERYTHING
it's probably from chasing KOMs instead of doing structured training.
it certainly works up until some point, but when you reach a plateau, just winging it stops you from getting stronger. someone new to the game is going to see improvements from JRA and doing hard efforts randomly...
Maybe I didn’t follow your point, but I’ve heard this before and never understood. If you are training to race…why wouldn’t you train the zones that you actually use when racing?
LOL, many times in the past you have commented that we fall for the DT Troll. And here you are, falling for it.
Pearl
THIS CHANGES EVERYTHING
he's either a master troll or really, this is real life
JonF
Well-Known Member
Dave Taylor
Rex kwan Do
Pretty simple in my mind. In the winter ride whatever zone you want it doesn’t really matter as long as above zone 1. But when you get closer to racing you won’t be able to do top end intervals properly if you are riding tempo/sweetspot all the time. You need those all outs to be fresh to recruit new muscle fibers. If your are already fatigued before your intervals they will be flat to diminishing returns. When you do the bulk of your base riding at z2 then you can do the 30/30s, 1 min intervals all out and not lose power towards the end. Will you get fit with z3/4? Sure, but I bet you will plateau and not grow from previous peaks. How do you exert yourself in a race if you don’t exert yourself in training…unless you time trial of course.
Dave you’ve had pretty decent results. I think you must have really good genes or something.
This post seems like it was written by a bot.
Dave Taylor
Rex kwan Do
Adding a bit, I rode the first 28 min of wilderness at ftp…So I do race the zones I train I guess.
Dave Taylor
Rex kwan Do
80/20 rule for training has been proven over and over no?
Pearl
THIS CHANGES EVERYTHING
LOL @ 7:25