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9 Jul 2025

A recent BBC Breakfast segment has sparked backlash from the cycling community over its portrayal of e-bikes, with critics accusing the broadcaster of conflating legal e-bikes with illegal,...

8 Jul 2025

More than 30 locations across Scotland have seen a major rise in the number of people cycling, according to newly released data.

7 Jul 2025

Sixteen illegally upgraded e-bikes capable of speeds up to 40mph have been seized and disposed of in a joint enforcement operation in Birmingham city centre.

7 Jul 2025

Bristol-based Cytech training provider and ACT member Life Cycle has launched its award-winning Bikes Beyond Bars programme at HMP Bullingdon, expanding a project that has already impacted lives...

4 Jul 2025

New data from Strava reveals a major surge in cycling across the UK, with Gen Z and Millennials leading the charge.

3 Jul 2025

Shimano has launched an urgent investigation into what it describes as a “critical” shortage of skilled bike mechanics across Europe, warning that the situation threatens to...

2 Jul 2025

MPs have called on Amazon and eBay to tighten controls after e-bikes and chargers flagged as serious fire risks were found for sale on their platforms.

25 Jun 2025

The E-Bike Positive campaign has seen major success in the first half of 2025, with its message reaching nearly 8 million people across the UK through high-profile media coverage and growing...

20 Jun 2025

The House of Commons Business and Trade Committee has asked the ACT, and its parent company Bira, to help them reach out to small business retailers across the country, for their quick input on...

20 Jun 2025

Activate Cycle Academy has reopened its Cytech training facility in Darlington, offering a full range of courses from Home Mechanic up to Cytech Technical Three.
 

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5.6 billion miles cycled on Strava in 2019

Posted on in Cycles News

This year the sport-fitness app Strava is celebrating its 10th year anniversary of helping people to log and share their physical activities.

The "Year in Sport" report was published on Wednesday and released various statistics gathered through the app, which currently has 48 million people in 195 countries and is growing quickly at a rate of a million new people a month signing up.

Specific to the UK, the data showed that 7.5 percent of adults are on Strava and data showed they cumulatively ran 308.5 million km and cycled 937.2 million km.

"The growth of distance running on Strava is mind blowing, and something I don't believe has been captured effectively in the past," Strava's UK country manager Gareth Mills said in a statement.

"As we are living increasingly sedentary lifestyles, particularly in developed countries, perhaps the call of the marathon or ultramarathon distance becomes a way of combating this trend for many of our community."

The data also revealed that the gender divide in cycling is worse in the UK compared to the other European countries, with women in the UK being 12 percent less likely to cycle when commuting than men, compared to a global average of 6.7 per cent. The percentage of female commuters is a metric that is often used in transport planning to assess the quality of the cycling environment. This is due to female riders are generally more risk-averse than male riders, and a higher percentage of female riders indicates that a city's cycling infrastructure is achieving its goals.

"The data also spotlights areas for improvement," Mills added. "It is disappointing to see that British women are much less likely to commute by bike than men compared to the global average, and we should refocus on the root causes."

Other stats showed that the peak ride start time on week days was 8am, something that can be easily attributed to a morning commute. In total, 2019 saw riders commute 315.1 million miles with a median distance of 5.2 miles. Taking these miles into consideration, cycling commuters have offset 140,329 tons of CO2.

Across all cycling activities, 5.6 billion miles were cycled, with the average distance per ride being 16.2 miles and an average elevation gain of 659 feet, with an activity duration of 1 hour, 18 minutes and 48 seconds.

 

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