Strava hosts its second annual Global Bike to Work Day Challenge next Thursday

Next Thursday 11 May will see Strava host its second annual Global Bike to Work Day Challenge, with one of its aims being to show how the social network can help improve conditions for people on bikes by highlighting to city planners how cyclists get around.

Last year, more commutes were uploaded on the day by cyclists from the UK than for any other country, with riders from 180 countries participating.

> Global Bike to Work Day sees tens of thousands upload their commutes to Strava

In all, some 80,000 commutes were logged on the network, for a total of 1.3 million kilometres.

In an average week, more than 200,000 commutes are uploaded to Strava, according to the company.

People are encouraged to use the hashtag #CommutesCount on social media next Thursday to highlight the initiative.

Strava says:

Every time a commute is recorded on Strava, anonymous data is created. Strava Metro aggregates the millions of human-powered commutes uploaded to Strava every week. Strava then partners with urban planners to improve city infrastructure for cyclists and pedestrians. To date, 160 million people already live in a city where Strava Metro partners with organisations and government agencies to make commuting better, including London, Los Angeles, Sydney, Oslo, Glasgow, Calgary and Portland.

Strava Insights for the UK show that in 2016 an average of 223,376 commutes were uploaded to Strava every week, with cyclists logging an average distance of 13.5km and an average of 35 minutes in the saddle. Last year, the first-ever Strava Challenge to ride to work saw a total of 79,879 cycling commute activities logged on Strava across 180 countries As a result, 514.51 tons of carbon emissions were offset on the day.

The company’s director of local marketing, Simon Klima, said; "Every time you commute on Strava, you can make a difference.

“The Strava community can show urban planners how to improve infrastructure for your local area.

“Last year, Strava members who joined our first-ever Global Bike to Work Challenge recorded nearly 80,000 commutes in a single day across the globe.

“By hosting this Challenge for the second year, we hope to see an even greater movement of cyclists take to the roads.

“We want to continue to show our commitment and give back to the worldwide community, aiming to make our towns and cities better.”