Meet the bicyclist who creates beautiful images using a GPS app that maps his trails
Stephen Lund, a Canada-based cyclist, cycles about 70 km every day and creates clever doodles using a GPS app that maps his progress. He uses Strava, a popular GPS programme, to track his progress and create his doodles. Stephen started pedalling in the year 2015, and pedals an average of 70 km daily. He completed 70 doodles last year, and has logged 22,300 km in his app. He plans to get ever more creative with his unique craft.
Stephen started GPS doodling with a simple ‘Happy 2015’ message, but he quickly found himself hooked and started creating more elaborate designs. “After this my bike was no longer a bike, it was a crimson-dipped paintbrush and the entire city was my canvass. GPS doodling gave me a way to inject a sense of purpose into my rides. It gave me a way to disguise exercise as urban exploration and creative expression, a way to make exercise fun,” Stephen told the Cycling Weekly.
“The best ones pop off the map,” Stephen said while explaining his process to Bored Panda. “I like seeing shapes in the clouds. I pour over a map of the city. The challenge is that the roads have to connect – it has to be one continuous line.” Stephen carefully plans out a route on his bike, then uses a GPS computer to track his ride. When uploaded to Strava, the route forms a picture.