Strava Ride Art

[creadinger]

@vvill 76333 wrote:

From a fellow Rusty Stud: http://www.strava.com/activities/110202022

Nice! I totally forgot this thread existed.

I call it “Dancin’ Snoopy”
January 31st
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http://www.strava.com/activities/110202022

The drawing alone is about 11 miles. The full ride was 13.4 miles.

The grave yard at the base of his right foot is tough. I had to turn off my GPS, then make my way through the grave yard, then turn it on again at the right spot to connect the dots for his foot. Otherwise, it was a little bit awkward seeing people out and about, then seeing them again, and in one case a third time. Anyway, with the shape of Martha Custis Dr., Gunston Rd, Tennessee Ave and Old Dominion Rd, I couldn’t pass up drawing some sort of Snoopy.

I’m trying to design something else now, but it’s hard.

[vvill]

Also, I gotta say – the cantering elephant is very impressive. It can’t be easy to add motion and expression to an animal and still make it so recognizable!

[Tim Kelley]

Let’s make this a little more interesting…

http://bikearlingtonforum.com/showthread.php?6533-Freezing-Saddles-February-Side-Competition

[Justin Antos]

As a Capitol Hill resident, I am proud that our street grid is a good palette .

[Mikey]

@Fast Friendly Guy 76296 wrote:

Elephant
Feb 1, 2014
http://www.strava.com/activities/110483201

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Nice use of the button to get the straignt line at the bottom of the elephant’s charging paw, cause there is no other way to walk/ride a straight line from the buckeye drive exit, across 6 lanes of 395, and 2 of east basin drive to arrive unscathed on the sidewalk near Jefferson.

Nice work

[vvill]

@Mikey 76487 wrote:

Nice use of the button to get the straignt line at the bottom of the elephant’s charging paw, cause there is no other way to walk/ride a straight line from the buckeye drive exit, across 6 lanes of 395, and 2 of east basin drive to arrive unscathed on the sidewalk near Jefferson.

The elephant eye is also interesting because it doesn’t show up on the full ride map. I haven’t figured out how that works!

Yeah I’m always in two minds about using the pause button. For occasional use, sure, but if you have a grid network and pause you can draw accurate diagonals and then almost anything you want. Looks cool, but doesn’t seem as inventive then:
http://app.strava.com/activities/16198853

[jabberwocky]

@vvill 76491 wrote:

The elephant eye is also interesting because it doesn’t show up on the full ride map. I haven’t figured out how that works!

Strava heavily simplifies the routes it displays. You can see that certain segments that likely took several minutes only have a couple of GPS points plotted on the map, when his computer likely recorded hundreds of points. Its probably just a website speed thing (makes it easier and faster to display).

If you download the GPX file and display it somewhere that plots all the recorded points the eye would show up.

[Fast Friendly Guy]

@vvill 76491 wrote:

Yeah I’m always in two minds about using the pause button. For occasional use, sure, but if you have a grid network and pause you can draw accurate diagonals and then almost anything you want. Looks cool, but doesn’t seem as inventive then:
http://app.strava.com/activities/16198853

As a fan of Strava Art, I most admire drawings done without the pause button. As Will said, it’s far more interesting and more challenging when a picture relies exclusively on roads, streets, trails, and parks for lines and diagonals. Mikey correctly spotted the pause I used for the elephant’s foot, but it was my only use of pause in that drawing, and then only because there was absolutely no work-around. Bottom line on pauses: I try not to use them, but a close examination of my drawings reveals a rare straight line when there’s no other choice and the drawing demands it. Of course you still have to ride to the endpoints–and sometimes that’s a lot farther!

[Fast Friendly Guy]

Title: “Rolling Down Columbia Pike”
Date: February 11,12
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Detail: Pedals
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Detail: Down Tube and Arlington Cemetery path
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Strava Ride URL http://www.strava.com/activities/112955803
Miles: Drawing Only: 42.6 miles
Miles: Full Ride 61.3

Comments:
I’ve been thinking about doing a bicycle for some time, but Tim’s challenge got me going. I rode streets and neighborhoods in Arlington I’ve never seen before AND the temperature NEVER once got above freezing during my rides!

In four separate trips, my drawing took me on Arlington streets, roads, highways, alleys, and cutting across parks, yards, fields, construction areas, and cemeteries. I lifted my bike over, and then climbed, 4 separate fences, 3 highway jersey barriers, and 2 walls! To do the rear part of seat and chain stays, I had to ride the winding roads through Arlington Cemetery to the intersection of Grant and McClellan Drives to mark the rear wheel hub, which lines up perfectly with Arlington Blvd and Fairfax Dr for the rest of the stays. I counted on the weekend to finish my artwork, but the impending snow storm, forced me to do multiple rides per day to make Tim’s deadline. The first flakes fell within hours of finishing!

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[Fast Friendly Guy]

Feb 15, 2014
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Now Where Exactly is DCA?
On Strava: http://www.strava.com/activities/113538131
13.7 miles (drawing only)
38.0 miles (Full ride)

When I left the house it was sleeting, and it stayed wintry the whole ride! By the the time I got home the wind was also a challenge. In spite of everything, however, this was a fun Strava drawing, most notable for the amount of off-road snow, slush, and mud! Cutting back and forth across the snow-covered front yard of the Capitol was a lot harder to execute than it was to plan (same for Stanton and Franklin Squares) The hefty walls and stairs don’t show on the map even in the satellite view, and lifting the Black Battleship over and climbing was a lot of work! The rest was pretty much a breeze (but later, pretty much a gale)!

[Fast Friendly Guy]

You know Tim’s given everyone an extension to Feb 24 to do a Strava ride drawing of a bicycle in Arlington! So if you have a plan for a bike, you should ride it….err, draw it, err, both at the same time! I know there’s a lot of talent out there–share it with us! Don’t make me be the only one!

[Steve O]

@Fast Friendly Guy 77877 wrote:

Don’t make me be the only one!

Yeah. Well when this got started I thought, “hey, maybe I could do one of these.” I even had an idea for a rectangle or something. Then you posted the butterfly and the flower and I balled up my sheet of paper and threw it away.

[eminva]

@Steve O 77883 wrote:

Yeah. Well when this got started I thought, “hey, maybe I could do one of these.” I even had an idea for a rectangle or something. Then you posted the butterfly and the flower and I balled up my sheet of paper and threw it away.

Pro Tip: Start with the DC or Arlington Bike Map, not any old piece of paper.

I am biding my time for more snow melt (and repeat recovery from the double dip cold/congestion thing) but will get my entry in for Tim’s commission this weekend.

Liz

[Steve O]

@eminva 77893 wrote:

Pro Tip: …..

That perfectly identifies the problem.

[Fast Friendly Guy]

Title: Bird of Peace
Date: Feb 20. 2014
Image file
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Strava Ride URL: http://www.strava.com/activities/114749338
and http://www.strava.com/activities/111577094

Drawing Only: 35.2 miles
Full Ride: 42.4
Comments, Explanation, Stories..
I did the head and olive branch in the morning before work, but the hills took more time than I expected, so I had to ride the wings and tail feathers at lunch. Glad I didn’t wait longer, because by mid afternoon ominous dark clouds were threatening rain. The idea for this began weeks ago when I looked a Strava ride I made between my office at Ballston, Marymount Main Campus and Arlington Central Library on Quincy. I said to myself: This is the head and beak of a giant bird! (second Strava link, above) From that point it was easy–all I had to do was find the rest of it! I considered leaving out the olive branch, because the best olive I could find was flat on one side, but after all this IS the Bird of PEACE. I made the entire picture without a single GPS pause; I rode every point, but if I were to have used a pause, it would probably have been to crop the tail feathers between Columbia Pike and Army Navy Drive.

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[Author]

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