and i can’t confirm or deny that I had a friend lead me out on a short 50s KOM
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Soooo…had a couple more whacks at one of the KOMs up for grabs this week…a 250m brute…the first half is ~20%…26% max…the rest is an easy peasy ~10%… Keep in mind this is the first HRmax KOM I’ve attempted in over a year. Got home, checked the data…my 5sec power on the Coggan chart comes in at “untrained/non-racer” level. 
Gonna be a loooooong summer.
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My housemate is a runner but has been taking all of our local ones. He’s currently at 49 since lockdown started 
You shouldnt be getting anywhere near your 5sec max on a 250m segment thats 20% so I wouldnt worry too much!
My 5s max is ~1250w but there is no way I want to be hitting that on a KOM attempt as Id be cooked after 15 secs
It was my 2020 5s power.
My all-time 5s puts me in “Good” company.
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KOMs are fun and all, but they’re more about who can read the conditions the best and target the right segments on the right days at the right time of day to get the best time. I find that if you can’t hold at a minimum of 25 mph but more likely 30 mph for 10-20 minutes then there’s zero chance.
I’ve had my eye on a particular KOM for years. It’s one of those not really hotly contested segments, in fact it must be a Strava created segment because the road is misnamed but it’s on one of my neighborhood loops and I’m within striking distance, and with better fitness now. 5 minute climb with a misleading flat section. I think I’m number 5 after some pros.
I also want to PR the local mountain TT, no chance at even top 10. Just need a PR. Then there’s a mountain bike loop my co-workers are taunting me with, that seems a little less responsible. There are also some good and almost achievable gravel segments.
Hm, it’s like 2014 all over again.
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The KOM king of my corona club just did a ‘60min @ 350w’ ride. Guess who’s gonna win the socks. 
I have no idea what you are talking about…I mean, I only went out for a nice easy recovery ride today, but bagged two KOM’s.
#winddoping
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Glad I don’t ride where you do! A good amount of my local KoM’s are wind doped or done on group rides so that 25-30mph figure holds up. Luckily a lot of the climbs aren’t out of reach, just gotta hold 5-5.5k/kg for 10 minutes and they’re yours!
Ha ours are all just wind doped, Chicagoland so no real climbs insight. At this point though, it’s really just assumed that the top 10 or even 100 guys on a segment had favorable wind conditions so it’s not even worth trying if you don’t have a good tail wind.
FWIW, the group segs are up for grabs for a week only, so everyone has pretty much the same conditions. Things don’t change that drastically around here, especially in the summer. It’s more about what pros happen to be in stuck here. More racing means more KOM chances for me! 
Hah…I just realized who you were. We rode together Friday AM on Andy’s Zwift meet-up ride. Don’t think we have net IRL yet, though…hopefully soon.
Yeah, my two KOM’s yesterday were eastbound, our near Hainseville and then coming back into town…the wind definitely helped, but I was also pushing my limits!!
What platform will you be using for these KOM chances moving forward?
A stopwatch.
But seriously…who knows. Only 35% of the club are paying subscribers, even the organiser/points keeper isn’t a sub, ergo, no access to the full club leaderboard. Maybe a few hardcore riders will keep the thing alive, the rest… 
There’s a local club sponsoring a free gravel hill climb time trial series. Segments are all very familiar to me, I rode them all the time when I worked in town on lunch rides. Rideable from my house and a fun chill setting as folks can chose when to ride each segment over the course of two days. 3 categories keeps it simple. I was proud to PR the first segment today by about 30 seconds, chasing my old fit self was fun. Chatted with a couple of groups of folks at the top, really nice to be able to do something like this. Decided to do the segment a second time and took off 3 seconds with better line choice, feel good about that pacing consistency. #2 on the day currently (waaaaaay off #1) and I fully expect to drop in the rankings but it was super fun. Took the scenic way home and found some steep trails while I was at it. Ain’t nothing wrong with some Strava racing.
