The Once and Future King
Cycling log site Strava awards “King of the Mountains” (KOM) status to the rider who has the fastest time on each of its many defined road segments. They’re literally the world-record time for any given bit of roadway. KOMs are rare and precious, because only the absolute fastest riders can set or retain a new record.
For that reason, few of my riding buddies hold any KOMs. Strong riders like Paul and Noah have none. Jay retains just one from some godforsaken swamp in south Florida. But that’s pretty much it…
And I have one.
Yup. I am King of the Mountain on a pretty respectable segment: a half-mile hill that ascends 180 feet at an average grade of eight percent, as you can see here. Not only did I set the official all-time land speed record on that hill, but no one else has bested it since I set the record more than four years ago!
On the other hand, my record pace was a pavement-scorching 5.1 mph. How in the world is that a record?
Well, according to Strava I’m actually the only person who has ever ridden that hill, which is located in remote northern Vermont, a stone’s throw from the Canadian border. The only reason I’ve kept that KOM is because no other riders have passed that way since Jay and I plodded through on a rainy ride around Jay Peak back in 2011.
You might think that I created that road segment myself, just so that I could have the KOM, but no. Back in 2011, Strava was still creating its database of road segments by automatically detecting hills from the rides that people uploaded. And when I uploaded my ride, Strava decided that hill was respectable enough to warrant having its own KOM. It’s merely a fortuitous accident that no other cyclist has passed that way again since!
Irrespective of how humble and insignificant the achievement, it’s still mine, four years later. It’s my KOM, and although I’ve set a handful, it’s the only one I’ve been able to keep. And you can have my KOM when you pry it from my cold, dead hands.
It’s good to be the king!