Insider Journal

I’m one of those people. One of those guys that records everything, as in everything. Partially because of my role on our Community Management Team, where testing is invaluable.  One time I even recorded a 2 hour session of chopping wood.   The other reason I record everything is because I believe that an active lifestyle isn’t just about epic century rides or whether or not you can run a marathon or a 5k for that matter. I believe that just about everything we do where we move our bodies, counts towards being active. In short, I believe it all adds up. Last year I recorded 610 activities for a total of 450 hours. After breaking my back many years ago (which thankfully did not result in spinal cord injury but required a fusion and man

Rising to a height of 5,109 meters, Mount Stanley is the highest mountain in the Rwenzori Range of East Africa. This majestic peak has long been a fascination for mountaineers and adventure enthusiasts alike. Sounds like: /ˈstænli/  “stan·lee” The Rwenzori Range was first explored by Europeans in the late 1800s, but it wasn't until 1906 that the peak of Mount Stanley was first climbed. Luigi Amedeo, Duke of Abruzzi, led an expedition to the mountain and successfully reached its summit. Since then, Mount Stanley has been a popular destination for mountaineers from all over the world. Fun facts: Mount Stanley is also known as Mount Ngaliema in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where it is located. The Rwenzori Range

Estimated Reading Time: 15 mins ⏲️ The final installment of the Tour Divide series features a personal story of the journey home.  Unspeakable Tragedy Uvalde, Texas. I stood in silence before the memorial with one foot still clipped in so that I could ride to see more of the impromptu memorial which had grown to wrap around the front of the entire school. I was Facebook live streaming, but I said nothing because I knew that I would start sobbing uncontrollably. The only sounds, instead, were birds chirping and then a sudden jolt from a canopy collapsing knocked over accidentally by a security guard who had been guarding the memorial over-night. How did I find myself standing here on July 3rd, 2022 about five weeks after gun violence claimed 19 more lives in the USA? Well, let's back up just a few da

Growing up, I was more of a “hanging out in the art studio” versus “picked first in gym class” type of kid. I found intramural sports intimidating and brewery 5k's not to be worth it. Four years ago, when I received my offer letter from Strava and began working at a fitness-based app, my friends and family were flabbergasted, to say the least. Sure, I downloaded Strava prior to applying to try to look more "legit" in my interview but I considered my walks to work each morning and six-hour concerts on the weekend to be my greatest exercise at the time. I definitely did not think of myself as an "athlete." I thought Strava was for people like my roommate who already had the NY and Boston Marathons under her belt at 22. I thought I am not a cyclist/runner, I am not competitive, and I am embarrassed by what I post. However, upon starting wo

Do you ever see other people trying new sports and you think to yourself any of the following: How do they make it look so easy? I wish I started that sport when I was younger I definitely would hurt myself if I tried that Well, you're not alone! I've lived in Colorado for almost 8 years and I have only started getting into winter sports recently. When I tell people I live in Denver, they normally ask the same questions, along the lines of, Do you backpack/hike? Is your car a Subaru? Do you ski or snowboard? How's the food in Colorado? Coming from Southern California, I've had my fair share of good food and we do have some pretty nice hiking trails

Normally, I stay active by running, riding, skiing, and hiking. When life shifted towards social distance, I experimented with what was available to me in the comfort of my home. Unfortunately, one day I was walking through the house and jammed my pinky toe so hard against the door frame my partner heard it pop from the other room. Sure enough, I broke my toe.  It was such a minor and silly sounding injury, but if I pushed my luck the toe could heal improperly and lead to long term discomfort. So as much as I hated the thought of losing my stamina and fitness I knew I had to cool it.  *Thankful Moment* Before I go any further, I do want to acknowledge that most of this adventure was made possible by my employer, Strava. Without their flexibility and support, this wouldn't have been possible. For this, I am hum

Let's be real for a minute, does anyone really need kudos? Probably not. If you clicked on this article, you probably want your efforts to be seen. Some of us like to keep our workouts private, but everyone else tends to enjoy some positive feedback. At Strava we want to celebrate all kinds of movement, whether it's big mileage, impressive 24hr world records, or the weekly gym visit. Community is what keeps us coming back to upload our activities and kudos are the way the Strava community shows its support. There are skills and a few hacks you can use to increase t

It's January, which brings three things to my mind in the world of professional road cycling: The obligatory new team kit photo on January 1, escaping to the warmth of Spain for team training camps, and the winding down of another epic cyclocross season (Ok, maybe a fourth thing too... racing is back the Tour Down Under!).  I've been a Strava member since 2011 and have always enjoyed following pro athletes. Thankfully, many pros also love Strava! Over the years, the number of pros on Strava has grown and grown. Strava offers a unique experience for fans of the sport, enabling us to follow our favorite athletes and see what they are up to in their day-to-day training and their race

From racing the school bus to racing across the country in all kinds of ways Imagine a random weekday in the late 80s in Alabama in a small suburban community outside Birmingham. The school bus drops off a kid who immediately sprints down the street, grabs a bicycle, and chases the bus around the neighborhood. That kid was me, and one of the most vivid memories I have of those chases was the taste of blood climbing the steep hills in my efforts. Many years later, I'd recall that taste a few times going for KOMs during our unofficial weekly Strava showdowns in the early 2010s. Amazingly, I could push myself hard enough chasing the bus around the neighborhood and twenty-five years later chasing Strava KOMs, but I never had that happen during a race at any level f

One of the most common questions we see not only in support tickets, but floating around the internet ether is “why didn’t I match a segment”. Once you know what to look for, it’s pretty easy to figure out for yourself why you didn’t match.  Segments will match to your activity when we detect your activity closely overlaps the path of a segment in the manner in which it was originally created and performed. But let’s face it, GPS isn’t perfect and this segment matching wizardry can be daunting—we are here to help! Below is a checklist to use to help you debug and problem solve. Checklist (roughly in order of frequency) Your GPS quality: While we do allow for some amount of GPS inaccuracy, enough of a devi

Questioning my life choices How did I find myself waking up in a cave in Montana? Or frantically seeking shelter from an electrical storm with an English man and a Belgian woman in the middle of Wyoming’s Great Basin? Or standing in a puddle recording the audio of nearby frogs while soaking wet and freezing cold in New Mexico? The answer to these questions begins 16 days and 2500 miles north of the frogs with 182 other bikepackers outside the Banff, Canada YWCA on June 10th ready to race the 2022 Tour Divide. Into the cold unknown The Tour Divide is a bikepacking race that has grown from a single rider riding the Adventure Cycling Association’s Great Divide Mountain Bike Route through the Canadian and US Rocky Mountains as quickly as possible in 2005 to an annual Grand Depart loosely organized via Facebook and email with nearly 200 people this year (183 south-boun

***If you are wondering why are we talking about some of the world's most famous peaks - this is thanks to our Community member ranks! Every athlete in the community has a rank based on their contributions and ranks are named after prominent peaks of the world. Our series 'To The Peaks & Beyond' aims to bring you the stories and fun facts behind these peaks. Check out the rest of the series here.   If you could go anywhere on Earth, I’m willing to bet that the coldest, windiest, highest, driest and least po

Maybe you’ve got some extra time this weekend to explore a new part of time, perhaps you're visiting family in a new city, or you could be traveling for work and want to explore. Routes give you the freedom to utilize segments and global heatmaps or if you’d rather use recommend routes compiled by Strava to give you that plug in and go mentality.  And now you can leave your phone at home or in your pack and not worry a bout getting lost. Thanks to new integrations with Suunto and COROS the roads (and trails) are yours!  Suunto and COROS join our growing list of devices that allow you to seamlessly sync your Strava routes to your favorite running and cycling computers. Today we are going to talk about our two newest additions but feel free to share your stories and favorite features for any of your strava route compatible devices below.  First up, the newest addition, Suunto tested by

Would you have raised an eyebrow if someone in the 1600s told you they had sighted snowy peaks in the tropics? Glaciers are one of the things that make this week's featured mountain peak, Puncak Jaya, stand out.  Sounds like: puntʃak ˈdʒaja / “pun chaak jai uh Indonesia's Puncak Jaya is the tallest point in Oceania and one of the few tropical mountains in the world with glaciers. The Indonesian name of Puncak Jaya translates to "Glorious Peak", however, it’s also known by its European name, Carstensz Pyramid, after the first European person to sight the mountain, Jan Carstensz. He first saw it on a rare, clear day during his sailing journey in 1623. Upon returning home, no one believed his claims that Puncak Jaya was topped with glaciers and snow. It wasn’t until 200 years later that the evidence was verified. Sadly, but not s

Update - March, 2024: In your ŌURA App, you can now unlock a more complete view of your active life on Strava. Our new integration allows you to create and share an ŌURA sticker to a selected activity on Strava.   Choose the relevant data points across Sleep, Readiness, and Activity (or any combination of all three) to build your story, and then select the Strava activity you want to share to. For full instructions on this new integration, please visit this link  When some wake up in the morning, they first check social media, their messages, or in with work to see what they missed while the other half of the world was awake. First thing in the morning for me? Before I’ve even had my cup of coffe

You may have noticed the name of a mountain peak beneath your username and wondered "what's that?" Wonder no more, because we have a nifty guide to all of our ranks, featuring a list of all the peak names. In this series, we will explore each peak in our ranking system including a pronunciation guide, fun facts, and more. So let’s dive straight into our first rank, the beloved Mont Blanc. Sounds like: mɑn ˈblɑŋk / "maant blaangk" Mont Blanc means White Mountain in French, aptly named after the permanently snow-covered dome at the summit. Often considered the birthplace of modern mountaineering, it rises 15,774 ft (4,807.81 m) above sea level. Nestled between French and Italian valleys, its summit ownership is the s