Screenshot of this morning's "flybys"- I am the hollow black dot in the middle of the map.
I signed up for a Strava account for the first time a few weeks ago. I’ve been hearing about this cycling app/community for years, and always steered clear of it because everything I heard leaned toward competition. I am not in it (whatever “it” is) to beat anyone or win anything. Strava seems like the app of choice for cyclists, however, so I finally decided to give it a try.
Immediately I can see the social pieces it builds right into the experience, whether you want them or not. They are somewhere very close to the fine line separating “totally cool and barrier-breaking” to “creepy and invasive”.
For example, last Sunday I joined Cascade Bicycle Club for a group ride. I loaded my ride data into Strava, and the first thing it showed me was several other Strava users who went on the same bike ride. Even though I don’t know their names (we had 3 pace groups and some 45 people) much less their Strava usernames, Strava’s system easily calculated that we all went on the same bike ride together. Each person gave the ride a different name, but Strava knew. It knew we were all together.
This morning I used Strava to track my morning commute. Stava’s “flybys” feature tracked other Strava users who I passed or passed me this morning. Not only did it track them, it provided me wither their names, routes, route speeds, and the exact point where we met on each other’s route. I’ve been naming the regular commuters for years, but only in my head. In theory, I could learn not just the name of “high cadence grey backpack lady” but also where she lives and works and how fast she rides overall. What about “flappy yellow rainjacket guy”? Strava could take my commute to a whole new level.
"flyby" data from my Sunday group ride
A screenshot of my “flyby” data from my Sunday group ride is pasted above. Alexa, positioned below me, what the ride leader. I assume we only matched 96% because my phone stopped tracking just a few miles before I finished the ride. All the other people, well, they must have been on the ride, too.