In addition to the well-known ones such as Facebook, Instagram, Youtube or the modern and fast-growing TikTok, the social networking group also includes one (well, not really just one) for athletes. And that is the Strava. On March 24th, the company introduced a new feature for its premium customers, which is able to recommend a route according to their preferences. Whether length, terrain or surface. Of course, everything is tailored to your current location or place of your future activity. The Strava will “devise” your route based on the data from the billions of sporting activities that it has ever recorded, and then you just choose the one that suits you best. The heatmap of each recommended route can help you decide how often each option is used. This, by the way, could also help in today’s coronavirus situation, because you could choose a variant during which you will meet really few people.

Among the premium customers, the Strava includes those who pay a Summit subscription. This was previously divided into several categories, and an athlete could only pay for one of them depending on whether he wanted to focus on training, analyzing his performance or safety. Each of the categories either cost $ 2.5 per month or all together $ 6. Now they’re all put together by Strava for $ 5.

You can also record your trips in the basic free version, compare with others in your area, or monitor your friends and their performance. You can also join a group and be active within these communities. One such was created by the ICE trikes manufacturer for its customers and directly on the homepage of its website shows the mileage covered by the group. ICE also encourages performance through monthly competitions and evaluates the year-round effort too.

On the other hand, many recumbent riders who use the Strava complain that they cannot compare themselves directly with recumbent riders and that the Strava distinguishes only mountain and road bikes. Proposals to add recumbent bikes as a type of sporting activity date back to 2015, but have not yet been heard. That is why we are all dependent on different recumbent groups, such as the one from ICE.