What do you get if you cross the best Strava data visualisation site with the best guidebook to mega climbs in the UK? A recipe for motivation and high levels of pain, surely.
Grab your bike, because all the “100 Climbs” routes have been brought together into a neat little web app within Veloviewer, the Strava data visualisation site.
Ben “Veloviewer” Lowe has teamed up with Simon “100 Climbs” Warren to bring some magic to your bike ride analysis. Who says 1+1 isn’t 3?
The foundation that makes all this possible is Strava, which should need no introduction to ScarletFire readers. If you ride a bike regularly and are remotely interested in using apps to track and improve your fitness, you will surely be well aware of it.
Keen Strava users will no doubt have also come across the fabulous Veloviewer, which sips at your Strava data, gargles with it for a bit, then sprays it in the air like a kaleidoscopic data visualisation fountain of awesomeness.
Anyone who likes to flog themselves up big hills may also have had the pleasure of reading Simon’s book, “100 Climbs”, which provides a detailed guide to some (100 actually) of the toughest road climbs in the UK. There’s probably a few near you.
The popularity of Strava has resulted in many versions of each of the 100 Climbs. My nearest one, affectionately titled “The Road To Hell” is about 7 miles long and so as you can imagine, there are various segments (and pointless overlapping micro-segments (why do so many Strava segments suck?)) all over it. I suspect this is contagious and that your local routes are suffering similarly with segment rash.
To get around this with regard to the 100 Climbs segments, there are “official” versions, presumably verified by Simon as being as close as possible to the actual start and end points as defined in the book.
Here’s the funky new clever bit
Veloviewer has grouped all of these official segments together into the various regions, to mirror the structure within the book.
It assigns points for segments that you’ve ridden, with additional points based on your position on the leaderboards.
It’s fairly new, but there are already over 1300 people signed up. I was astounded to discover that I was in first place on my local “road to hell” (I’m sixth on the main Strava leaderboard for that segment), and I’m third overall in my region. I’m sure this won’t last as more people join.
How the Points Work
- 1st place on a climb (out of those in the 100 Climbs Strava Club) is awarded 100 points,
- 2nd place 99
- 3rd place 98
- all the way down… to 100th place getting a single point.
- For each climb completed you are awarded 20 bonus points.
How to join in the fun
First, you need to join the 100 Climbs Strava Club.
100 Climbs Strava Club
Next, head over to the 100-Climbstastic page at VeloViewer
You can then navigate to a specific region, or view the whole leaderboard. Here’s a view of my local area – Wales.
100 Climbs Veloviewer analysis
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