If you’re a passionate cyclist, it’s possible that you’re already acquainted with this well-known app.
For those who enjoy taking a bike ride on the weekend or train to take part in races, there now exists an app capable of synchronizing the very best technology with the passion for two wheels: Strava.
The app, be it a leisurely ride on a Sunday morning or daily training for an important race, can measure how far and how fast you rode, comparing these stats over predetermined stretches with your own results and those of other users of the app.
As such, along with allowing you to rate your performance, the app functions as a social network through which you can find people equally passionate about biking.
The app first appeared in 2009 and since then has expanded its user base to other sporting activities such as running. It currently boasts tens of millions of users all around the world, many of which belong to networks of cyclists and runners that compete among themselves digitally as a way of raising their performance levels.
If it’s not on Strava, it doesn’t count
There are even those who like to say that if your training times aren’t posted to Strava, they didn’t count.
As always with the app market, Strava has numerous rivals like Map My Ride and Endomondo, but the number of Strava users still beats the rest, with the company behind the app claiming that they gain a million more new users every 45 days.
The name of the app derives from the Swedish word for “strive,” and its success has been partly down to financial backing of US$70 million.
Strava is most heavily used in the US, the UK and Brazil and analysts claim its popularity owes to its user-friendliness and social focus, enabling users to see what their friends are doing, comment on their activities and praise their achievements.
Last but not least, it incentivizes users to be more active.
