Review: Wandrer Strava Add-On
(2020) Pennsylvania apparently has 158,461 unique miles of road. We published an article last year exploring the desire to link cycling hotspots through Strava’s Heatmap feature. It is a goal that will take years, if not decades, to complete. This simmering goal is what has gotten us to explore new roads purposely, especially when the hour loop has become tedious on a good day. With no events elevating the fitness level this past year, motivation can be elusive.
A little encouragement can be the boost to any goal. With next-to-no care for Strava’s Local Legend feature, an app add-on went nearly unnoticed. Called Wandrer, this little bonus feature of Strava can quickly inform you of new miles ridden on your uploaded ride. Non-paying customers will only see the last fifty events reflected in the data so don’t be surprised if Wandrer reports new roads despite being confident you’ve hammered these miles numerous times. A paid upgrade can mine all of your digital data to provide you with accurate new mileage since your first GPS ride. For numbers geeks, the benefits keep coming.
The Wandrer add-on will provide free data for fifty recent rides or a $30 yearly fee to apply all digital data to your account. The website dashboard offers maps and percentages of roads covered/ new roads on the last fifty rides for unpaid users.
Move over to wandrer.earth’s website and more information is available. Want to know how many global miles you have ridden? Wandrer provides a percentage of roads ridden in the world. The information can be continuously isolated to the hemisphere, continent, and by country. In the United States the data was further reported by state and finally by county. With only recently signing up for Wandrer, the data is still fresh. Again, a paid upgrade can improve the information offered. Riders can see progress bars reporting how many roads have been ridden in municipalities under Explorer Achievements on the website. Looking for new roads has a new lasting excitement to it.
Wandrer has its safeguards in place. Roads that are not safe to ride are not scored. Private roads, major highways, indoor rides, and even golf cart paths are not part of the game, which Wandrer regards itself as: a game. The app add-on offers points for riders who meet a combination of new roads, feature in the top percentage, and starting/ completing in new areas. What these points lead to is anyone’s guess, but Wandrer suggests events with secret alleyways or collecting the toughest hills in one town. Overall one new mile equals one point.
The Strava add-on does one thing really well: it stresses cyclists to explore new roads while earning squiggly lines on the Wandrer account. As a rider who has struggled to find ambition and meaning in outings, this little encouragement has been boosting some of the desire to get out the door this year. With Strava Heatmap spots located in upstate New York, southeastern Pennsylvania, and parts of Delaware, connecting these spots involves new roads. This is the perfect time to jump onboard Wandrer. In the quest for new miles, it could evolve into an obsession to not only connect riding circles, but to traverse each road in the county first. That’s the allure of Wandrer, it’s all so exciting to watch potential turn into certainty.
