Insider Journal

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 days to June 28th, 2022 where I found myself standing someplace completely different... Antelope Wells, New Mexico. I stood at the least used border crossing between th

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 work at Strava, I saw all types of "athletes" at the office. Of course, we have the classic daily runners and hill-seeking cyclists, but I also found a ne

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, but the ski and snowboard resorts are pretty far from LA and Orange County.  And while I don't own a Suburu (or any vehicle, bikes all the way), since moving to Denver, I have always had to respond with "no, I never got into winter sports," or "it seems like a steep learning curve," or "it's a pretty expensive activity to get into.

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 humbled and tremendously grateful. Alright, back to the story... After it healed, I eased back into exercise in whatever way I could find motivating. I began schedul

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 the number of orange thumbs you amass in your activities. Be it a tough yoga sesh at a new studio, your everyday commute, or a grand sunrise-to-sunset hike, these 10 tips can help boost your kudos count. 01 Come up with a snappy activity title The title is one of the first things people will see in their feed. To come up with a good name, think about what stood out in your activity. Did you stop for pastries?

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 races. We get to look in awe at the crazy amount of km's they can rack up in a week of training, as well as how many coffees and pastries they consume!      My Favorite Pros   While there are many pros on Strava, I thought I'd share some of my personal favorites to follow: Robert GesinkR

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 from amateur Cat 5 all the way through professional races like the Athens Twilight night race. And never during my ultra distance races like the Race Across America in 2015 and 2017 or the Tour Divide in 2022. I cha

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 deviance will be problematic. If your GPS had a bad day and is bouncing on and off the path, it’s much more likely you will not match to the segment.  Sport type: Segments only match if the sport types match. Make sure the segment you’re after is the same sport “type” as your a

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-bounders and about a dozen north-bounders). The basic idea is to make your way to the start line in Banff, Canada by the second

***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 populated continent wouldn’t be your first choice. There lies a coveted prize that a select few have had the determination and resources to explore: ✨ Vinson Massif ✨ Sounds like: /ˈvɪnsən mæˈsiːf/  “vin · suhn | ma · seef” Famous for being one of the "Seven Summits", the highest peak in Antarctica lies at 4,892 meters (16,050 ft) above sea level and has attracted at least 1400 people attempting to reach its icy summit. Also known as Mount Vinson, it is

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 @Jimi .  When traveling for work or fun I always bring my running watch and a

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 surprisingly, the glaciers have shrunk in recent years due to climate change, and some of them have disappeared altogether. Situated on the island of New Gui

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 coffee or hear the pitter patter of my children’s feet as they make their way to my room…I check 3 apps (in no particular order): Supersapiens, WHOOP, and ŌURA. I’ll go into the first two later but for now, I’m going to talk about our exciting new integration with ŌURA.    &nbs

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 subject of an ongoing historical dispute between the two countries. There are several routes to reach the top, featuring an abundance of Strava Segments. The first recorded ascent of Mont Blanc was in 1786 by Jacques Balmat and the doctor Michel Paccard. This feat i