The satisfaction of improvement

supermurph09

I went out on a 17 mile ride last night with the sole intention of attacking 3 of my local strava segments. I've used these 3 + another 1 to try and guage how my speed / strength has improved. I was hoping that with some more miles under my belt things would be going the right direction. They were.

One segment: http://app.strava.com/activities/50479932#896755728 I'd always been in my smallest cog, and really struggling over the top. Last night I was pushing a much bigger gear, I think I had 3 cogs left and I felt really strong over the top. I smashed my time on the short climb by 8 seconds!

This one, slightly shorter and steeper effort: http://app.strava.com/activities/50479932#896755730 I knocked a couple of seconds off. Another segment I was actually hindered by a car was only 2 seconds off my time, I would have beaten my time no doubt.

I know others talk about strava alot and the quest for KOM's but to me the satisfaction I got last night was all about beating myself. Fantastic feeling, I'll be out again tonight to test myself on some of my regular longer climbs (over 1 mile). Would be great to see the improvement there too.

gsvbagpuss

Sounds like Strava is making you enjoy your riding, and that's what it is all about

djm501

Nice - good work :-)

goonz

Exactly, if nothing else, it is motivating people to keep cycling and people are enjoying it. So good work and keep it up!

IanREmery

That's the thing I love about Strava, it's not about getting KOM's all over the place, it's about charting your individual improvements.

I knocked about 40 odd seconds off a 2 mile segment near my house the other day (I usually do it at the start of my commute when I'm not warmed up, this time I tackled it at the end of a 30 mile training ride) and felt fantastic when I saw the result.

paul1275s

Top work fella! Strava has it's haters but for me, as with yourself it is a great measure of your improving strength and performance! Bagged my first KOM today, over the moon with that, but also just looking at my overall segment times I am now in the top 15-20% overall for loads of them compared to when I started and I was about 60-70%!

elderone

Nice one matey,like you I use strava for personel measurement and its a great tool and a buzz after a ride to see pb,s.keep it up.

supermurph09

Cheers guys, appreciate the comments.

cattytown

I quite like Strava for similar reasons - my fave section is the my results filter. I don't go out for specific segments though - I look on them as measures within the ride as a whole IYSWIM.

Inutero

Nice one!

It's what I use Strava for. Just did http://app.strava.com/activities/50596426. All PR's bar 4. Was extremely chuffed! Decided a month ago to blast my 6 mile commute instead of dawdling along. That and sticking in more flatter TT type rides is certainly paying off for me.

canny_lad

Good man, you're doing exactly what I do. It's a great motivator. I'm currently lying 3rd on one of my regular segments and I'll get the KoM one day soon

duckson

Nice one, kudos given!
I know where you are coming from!
Went out for short blast tonight and picked lots of up hill in the area, mostly what i've done before but about 3-4 months ago.....absolutely blitzed it, 1/2 segments i've added 4mph on my previous best and got loads of top 10's when previously i was between 30-50th out of a couple of hundred. Knew i was going quicker than i had previously as i could keep it in the big ring alot more.

http://app.strava.com/activities/50655075

ianbar

well done, i think strava is brilliant for challenging yourself. some how i took 90 secs off a local climb at start of the week, still about 130th out of over 200 tho lol

Calpol

duckson wrote:

Nice one, kudos given!
I know where you are coming from!
Went out for short blast tonight and picked lots of up hill in the area, mostly what i've done before but about 3-4 months ago.....absolutely blitzed it, 1/2 segments i've added 4mph on my previous best and got loads of top 10's when previously i was between 30-50th out of a couple of hundred. Knew i was going quicker than i had previously as i could keep it in the big ring alot more.

http://app.strava.com/activities/50655075

Looks like there are a few of us making good use of Strava. I was delayed getting home from work last night so it was a close call as to whether or not i went out. However I forced myself and was repaid with probably one of my best outings of the year. Felt like I was travelling well in all but one section which was uphill on a crappy dual carriageway into the wind. I too set PBs on every segment and even managed a top 5. I remember a year ago looking at some of the KOMs around my way and thinking that they must be assisted in some way but now after a few more miles in my legs I am getting an idea of what is possible if you put the effort in. Felt a bit lightheaded when I got back but had that slight feeling of elation too. Love it.

http://www.strava.com/activities/50663033

paul1275s

duckson wrote:

Nice one, kudos given!
I know where you are coming from!
Went out for short blast tonight and picked lots of up hill in the area, mostly what i've done before but about 3-4 months ago.....absolutely blitzed it, 1/2 segments i've added 4mph on my previous best and got loads of top 10's when previously i was between 30-50th out of a couple of hundred. Knew i was going quicker than i had previously as i could keep it in the big ring alot more.

http://app.strava.com/activities/50655075

Kudos to you too, great improvements and you rode through the town named after me!