Strava Ride Art
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I came across this thread after googling “strava art.” I was so impressed with this collection of GPS masterpieces, that I registered just so I could post a comment.
Your Strava drawings are pure genius. I especially admire you for keeping the use of pause diagonals to a minimum — for me, the true brilliance of your drawings comes not from merely being able to ride to a point on a map (although that is an essential part of GPS art), but from letting the art emerge from existing roads. You obviously have a gift for discovering these masterpieces hidden in a maze of roads. It’s very much like Michelangelo’s notion of discovering the statue hidden inside a block of stone.
Very difficult to pick a favorite, since there are so many exquisite drawings to choose from, but the sheer scale of your 70-mile T-Rex blows my mind!
And thanks for gathering all of these in one place, so a lucky googler like me could enjoy them.
Apologies for reviving an old thread, but this seemed like an appropriate place to consolidate my Strava art now that I’ve ridden with the master himself.
Dog
April 24, 2016
Art by komorebi and Fast Friendly Guy; ride by komorebi and Fast Friendly Guy
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/555694496
Drawing: 30.7 milesFFG and I did this ride on an absolutely spectacular spring day. This was my first time doing Strava art with FFG, and it was a highly educational experience for me as a novice Strava artist. FFG had his Garmin preloaded with turn-by-turn directions, printouts of each section of the route, and satellite photos for the particularly tricky parts — all of which came in handy at various points during the ride.
One of my favorite parts of doing Strava art is biking to places that I haven’t visited before. This particular ride took us to many bike paths, staircases, and passageways that I didn’t know about and otherwise would never have found.
Penguin
March 19, 2016
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/521044340
Drawing: 17.2 milesI rode this penguin to commemorate the last day of Freezing Saddles. The top of the head was the airport access road, and I’m sure that the taxi drivers behind me were wondering why I was riding through the airport at 7:00 am on a Saturday morning. I made some route errors while riding the beak and had to figure out corrections on the fly. Some day I’ll go back and reride this route the way I had originally planned.
Eagle (or Because riding feels like flying)
February 28, 2016
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/504738024
Drawing: 19.3 milesThis was my first attempt at Strava art and was inspired by snugglefestival’s challenge, as previously noted here. I made the rookie mistake of not looking at the elevation profile before setting out on the ride, which led to some cursing while I was riding up and down hilly streets to complete the pinions on the ends of the wings. I probably also set some neighborhood email lists abuzz with people wondering why that odd cyclist was casing their neighborhood.
Pedals and petals
June 11, 2016
Art by komorebi; ride by Fast Friendly Guy, CBGanimal, and komorebi
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/605841042.
Drawing: 19.6 milesBushwhacking is part of the fun and the challenge of doing Strava art rides, but this particular route took that to a whole new level. About a quarter-mile of the bottom leaf was on the Gulf Branch trail, which I knew in advance wouldn’t be suitable for biking. What I didn’t know was how steep and rooty the trail was, or that there would be a stream fording, or that there would be an unavoidable muddy patch that nearly sucked my shoes off my feet.
The family of hikers that passed us on the trail thought we were absolutely insane until CBGanimal explained what we were doing. The things we do for art.
FFG and CBGanimal were great sports about the unexpectedly difficult bushwhacking, and they made the hills and the miles fly by once we got back out to the road.
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