STRAVA Art

 Drawing While Exercising
   Strava is an app that combines the internet and satellites to track your routes while exercising. Although I had forgotten when I started using it, Strata just sent me an email congratulating me for being with them since July 2021. I am using the free version and it provides me with all the data I need and more. I am just an ordinary octogenarian who starts up Strata when I go for a bike ride and find it interesting that I have gone X miles averaging X mph and have done so X times. Others subscribe for even more features and share and socialize with Strava users around the world. Occasionally, I get an email from them reminding me to connect with one of my sons in Vancouver if I want to compete or boast about my activities. 
  Recently I read about a woman out in that area who creates art while riding. Apparently others have been as well and you likely have seen examples, so I will keep this short for the few other people who didn't know about it.
   

  That is an example of one of my recent simple routes. The next one is slightly more complicated. If you are creative, you likely recognize that you could choose a route that might result in a picture. I can't draw, so this could be an option for me if I wasn't so tired from exercising -- and if I was more creative. 

Ms Janine Strong, out on Vancouver Island, is more creative and here is one example.

 She has also "cycled out giant bananas and long-haired women in New York, Santas in Victoria, penguins in Campbell River, strawberries in San Francisco..."  More examples can be found on her website under "GPS ART."
  Since you probably were aware of this new artistic development I will supply a few sources which may yield something you didn't know. For example, it didn't take long for people to realize that naughty pictures could also be created if one could figure out an anatomical route.

Sources:
   For the article about Ms. Strong, whose website is recommended, see: "Road is a Canvas for two-wheeled artist; Vancouver Island Athlete Merges Creative Flair with Fitness, Drawing Large Scale Images with GPS," J.J. Adams, Vancouver Province, June 17, 2025.
   For the naughty bits, if you must: ‘The Giant Penis Took Shape Easily, as I Passed Through a Village called 'Three Cocks’: Meet the Artist Athletes Drawing with GPS: From the phallus on a Welsh hillside, to a huge portrait of Chappell Roan, these Strava runners, riders and skaters have been busy …" Chris Broughton, The Guardian, May 25, 2025.
  For an early piece: "Runners and Cyclists Use GPS Mapping to Make Art: Fitness apps and the power of live satellite tracking have allowed runners, cyclists and others to draw hearts, animals, birthday wishes — and even homages to Vermeer — across their local landscapes," Claire Fahy, NYT, Sept. 24, 2022.
  Strava appears to be doing okay, if you want to sign up: "Popular Fitness App Strava Clinches Valuation of More Than $2 Billion:  Strava, whose valuation includes debt, says it acquired cycling app Breakaway," Ben Glickman, Wall Street Journal, May 22, 2025.