I got an uphill QOM!

Heading out with a group of women and a cycling coach the other night, we got to chatting about QOM and KOM possibilities. It was a nice night and there was a strong tailwind. When he suggested Adelaide North I was skeptical. It’s uphill, not short and steep, but longish. And it’s the kind of hill that other cyclists don’t really notice but on which I get dropped on the way out of town. It’s so significant in my psyche that I even blogged about it here when I first started to make progress on it, getting faster over time.

(I tend to assume readers of the blog know why relative speed on hills eludes me. Speed on hills is all power to weight ratio and while I’m reasonably powerful, I weigh too much to climb besides most other cyclists. See why I want to be smaller here and wishing for weight loss.)

It’s not like I don’t have any QOMs but in the past it’s been the downhill segments that have been my forte. See do downhill segments count?

On the way out we discussed our plan. Chris led me out and so I didn’t get the segment solo. But lots of the segments are held by people riding in big groups. I won’t feel guilty about it.

We weren’t sure we made it. We went out fast and I kind of died at the end. It’s just under 1 km, as track cyclists like to call it, the toughest distance in cycling. Too long to be a sprint really.

When we uploaded Garmin files after our ride, I was surprised to see that I’d gotten it. I thought I might be fifth or sixth, not first.

Adelaide North Climb QOM (1:27). .9 km

So I’m the fastest woman, first out of 61, and ninth out of 322 of all the people who’ve ridden it and recorded the ride on Strava.

What’s most interesting is comparing me to past-me. I’ve ridden that hill with Garmin and Strava 29 times.

Times range from 3:05 (I know I’m waiting for someone) and to 1:49, my previous personal best.

The usual for me is about two and a half minutes.

I wasn’t wearing a heart rate monitor so don’t ask. Probably best not to know.

Here’s our speed. Whee!