I'm inclined to agree with you, but how do you explain the faster times in Strava?
I think it's a pretty handy tool - hills that I've ridden many times with the date, elapsed time and average HR. E.g. the day after a hard 60 miler, I went 20 seconds faster on a 5 minute local climb (>5% faster), with an avg HR that's 10 bpm lower than my previous best (5% lower). I'm assuming, after a week of hard riding, I'd be cooked and wouldn't set
PR's.
Just find it interesting and wondering if it's common among riders.