Strava Local travel guide and route planner for 12 cities launched

Strava Local, a “data-powered, athlete-curated city guide” has launched today, a travel guide and route planner for 12 global cities, including London, that is based on data shared by over 38 million Strava activities.

The new Local feature sets out to offer the highest quality running and cycling routes from each of the 12 cities. It’s powered by data uploaded by Strava users and pulls together the most commonly ridden and popular routes. For London alone, over 10 million Strava activities were analysed to find the most popular routes and stopping points. As someone who used to live and ride in London, the routes certainly do look like familiar and popular club and group rides.

The London Cycling Guide features 10 cycling routes that range in distance from the a 114.4 mile London to Brighton Return route to a 76 mile London to Windsor Loop. As well as providing full details of the route, including elevation, the routes are curated with a selection of shared Instagram photos and popular bike and coffee shops are highlighted. It’s like a Lonely Planet guide for cyclists.

The routes can be printed as cue card instructions or you can export the route to a compatible GPS device. You can also download to your smartphone.

“We’ve built a series of city guides designed specifically for athletes, by athletes,” says Gareth Nettleton, Director of International Marketing at Strava. “Our data shows us the world’s most popular routes, and our community of local influencers curate each guide to provide a rich and full experience, whether you’re new in town or rediscovering your city.”

“Every Strava Local guide includes routes of varying difficulty, in the city or the countryside, as well as our favourite places to grab coffee, buy gear or simply pull over and snap a great photo," he adds.

Strava Local will appeal to new cyclists looking to explore good routes in their own city, or for those travelling or going on holiday and looking for an ideal way to find a good route. Planning routes when you’re in a foreign city can be tricky, knowing which are the best roads out of the city into the surrounding countryside for example, so being able to tap into the local cycling knowledge in this way could be extremely useful.

It’s also a boon for local shops and cafes on the suggested routes. “We see that so many of our customers are on Strava, so it’s great that we’re now listed as a Strava Top Stop based on cycling data revealing where cyclists prefer to stop on a ride,” says Jordan Addison, Co-Founder of Esher-based G!RO Coffee.

The 12 cities include London, Sao Paulo, Paris, Milan, San Francisco, Sydney, New York City, Melbourne, Denver, Barcelona, Amsterdam and Berlin. Take a look at it here www.strava.com/local