myCols - your cycling climbs

myCols: Track Epic Cycling Climbs & Build Your Personal Mountain Legacy

That moment when your wheels finally crest the mountain pass after hours of grinding - lungs burning, legs screaming, yet heart bursting with triumph. For years, those raw emotions faded like tire marks on rain-slicked roads. Then came myCols, transforming my scattered climbing memories into a living digital monument. This isn't just another fitness tracker; it's a cyclist's soul captured in gradient percentages and summit coordinates.

Opening the app feels like unrolling a treasure map with 8,000 X marks. I recall searching for that unmarked Tuscan climb where wild rosemary scented the air - not only did myCols have it, but revealed its 14% average gradient before the switchbacks. Each col profile delivers vital stats like a mechanic's blueprint: exact length, elevation gain, even the precise starting coordinates that saved me from false starts in Provencal backroads.

After linking my Garmin, magic happened. The app unearthed forgotten climbs from years ago - like that rainy Wednesday on Box Hill - calculating times I'd never recorded. Now when I conquer new summits, my phone buzzes with personalized victory alerts. Last month, beating my old Alpe d'Huez record by 47 seconds triggered fireworks of dopamine before I'd even unclipped.

My profile became a hall of fame where every ascent tells a story. Scrolling through timelines shows progress more vividly than any graph - seeing my first shaky Ventoux attempt beside last summer's fluid climb is visceral. I privately compare times with my brother's achievements, our rivalry glowing brighter when I finally edged him on Galibier's slopes.

Watching the Giro's Stelvio stage, I instantly added it to my bucket list with two taps. Now it sits beside lesser-known gems like Norway's Trollstigen in my digital "to-conquer" cabinet. Planning Pyrenees tours became strategic - plotting climbs by difficulty like a general mapping campaigns.

Completing the Dolomites Challenge felt like earning actual stripes. Collecting all five climbs unlocked a shimmering digital jersey that hangs proudly in my trophy room. Unlike generic distance challenges, these curated conquests carry prestige - when my virtual pink jersey appeared, I grinned like I'd podiumed in Milan.

Seeing my friend's notification pop as he summited Passo Gavia at dawn, I instantly hit the "Bravo!" button. That tiny cheer forged connection across continents. Reading his attached story about freezing rain near the top, I could almost feel the icy spray. Following pro riders adds inspiration - their Mont Ventoux times humble yet motivate my next attempt.

Picture this: 5am, headlamp cutting Alpine darkness as frost crystals sparkle on your handlebars. You swipe myCols awake, watching the elevation profile rise like a heartbeat monitor. Each switchback lights up as you ascend, your breathing syncing with the gradient chart. At the summit, dawn breaks gold over peaks as you snap the victory photo that'll live forever in your climb diary.

The brilliance? Transforming solitary suffering into shareable glory. No KOM toxicity - just pure personal celebration. I crave more granular sound customization for those headphone-summit moments when Vangelis' Conquest of Paradise deserves crisper highs. Occasional GPS drift on serpentine descents needs smoothing too. But these pale when your entire climbing history unfolds like a topographic novel. Essential for anyone whose happiest memories smell of sweat, pine resin and triumph over gravity.