Cyclists upload 10 billion miles to Strava in last 12 months

Strava pulled the wraps off its year-end data analysis Tuesday, claiming its users completed 1.8 billion uploads in the last 12 months.

The iconoclastic orange-colored app that allows indoor and outdoor active lifestyle enthusiasts to “prove it” experienced massive growth in the second year of a global pandemic.

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With more than 95 million users in 195 countries, Strava boasted that more than two million new users create accounts every month.

In the most recent 12 months for which data is available*, Strava indicated a 38 percent annual increase in activities logged and uploaded, compared with the preceding twelve-month period.

Users were uploading more than 37 million activities each week over the most recent twelve-month period for which data is available.

Strava claims it had 1.8 billion uploads in the most recent 12 month period. Uploads of outdoor cycling activities increased by 1.2 times from the previous period, while indoor and virtual ride uploads saw an uptick of 1.4 times compared with the previous year — during the height of the COVID-19 lockdown.

Activities with a lower equipment barrier to entry, like walking and yoga, outpaced the growth of cycling activities and experienced twice as many uploads during the same period.

The massive dataset also indicated that 17 percent of all cyclists who uploaded rides to Strava in 2021 also recorded walking activities, while 41 percent of all walkers also uploaded cycling activities. Of this group, female cyclists were much more likely to record walks — with 32 percent uploading walking activities as well as cycling activities — while their male counterparts who cycled also recorded walks but at a rate of just 14 percent.

The annual summary of usage statistics also included a snapshot from users in Texas for the week of February 13 – 17, in which a freak winter snowstorm paralyzed parts of the state. Outdoor activities uploads from the Lone Star state plummeted during this time by 57 percent. It was also noted that during Hurricane Ida and its aftermath over Labor Day weekend, August 26 – September 1, outdoor activities statewide in Louisiana dropped by about 40 percent.

Photo uploads also increased by 58 percent during the past year. Activities with photos may garner more attention in users’ feeds, which may also result in an increase in positive interactions. More than 9.5 billion “Kudos” were issued over the past 12 months.

You can download and view more data, summaries, and graphs in the 2021 Strava Year in Sport global report.

*Period: October 1, 2020, through September 30, 2021

2021 Strava cycling activities Global vs USA comparison