Friends, we have a crisis looming on our hands and something must be done.
If you鈥檝e been living under the surface level of the pool, Strava sashayed into the zeitgeist last week when 贰濒濒别听published an article titled 聽According to the story, a pay-to-play, digital dating environment has ravaged younger American generations with swipe fatigue, and Strava, author Kelsey Borovinsky argues, provides a platform for people who enjoy endurance sports to find each other.
So far, so great. Endurance sports have infiltrated pop culture enough to get written up in the likes of聽Elle, without even Taylor Swift signing on? Rejoice! We can use Strava to find connection and community? Hallelujah!
But, Borovinsky, are we talking about the same ? The one with segments and leaderboards that breed ? The app that doesn鈥檛 even support direct messaging, much less discovery?
Sure, Strava has a 鈥渇lyby鈥 feature to see who you encountered on your outing. But if you manage to track down strangers you glimpsed for a quarter of a second on your run two days ago with this beta feature, what are you going to do? Ask them out in a public comment on their activity?
No, if you are a sane person with manners, you are going to find them on Instagram or something and send them a DM. Nicely. Politely.
I hear DMing is coming to Strava. We will deal with those ramifications later. One crisis at a time. Beyond practicalities, there lies the greater existential question that we must ask ourselves: Do we really want Strava to serve as a way to impress people in that dating-kind-of-way? It鈥檚 already a haven for those looking for validation and ways to look down on each other, but it could get worse, much worse.
滨苍诲别别诲,听Elle鈥檚 Borovinsky describes a Strava filled with young, single people like Ellie Gerson. She鈥檚 a runner and influencer from San Francisco who, after completing her scenic seven-mile run, 鈥渋mmediately opens Strava to upload her workout, along with a cute selfie and a relatable caption about the highs and lows of training for the Chicago Marathon.鈥
Marathon training, we love to see it. But Gerson isn鈥檛 here just to chronicle the highs and lows of her journey to 26.2. When asked if she hopes potential suitors will see her Strava uploads Gerson said, 鈥淥ne thousand percent. Whether it was a long run or I鈥檓 in a cute outfit, there have definitely been times where I鈥檝e thought, he will see this.鈥
Look, it鈥檚 a free country. Gerson, Borovinsky, and all one hundred million Strava-ers (Strava-ites?) can use Strava however they want. But do we really need yet another platform for people to impress each other? Can鈥檛 someone just spend a long run thinking about pancakes, not thirst traps?
Strava鈥檚 where I connect with friends and family. I see my 72-year-old dad鈥檚 five-hour Zwift ride, and I know he鈥檚 just as deranged as he was 50 years ago. Thank god. It鈥檚 where I get beta on trail and road conditions from those more intrepid than I. It鈥檚 where we -yes the royal we of all endurance peoples 鈥 bond over our mutual hatred of wind. And it鈥檚 what I turn to when I need a little bit of extra motivation from my psycho friends who run at 4 AM.
In short, I rely on Strava to learn about聽what鈥檚 really going on. It鈥檚 like getting an honest answer to, 鈥淗ow are you?鈥 without even needing to ask. Even for those people who call their hammer sessions 鈥渆asy runs,鈥 the heart rate data keeps them honest.
Strava feels like a safe haven for simplicity, silliness, and sincerity鈥攕egment hunting and threats of stalking put aside.
Maybe (probably) I鈥檓 being an overly cautious curmudgeon. I鈥檝e been off the market for like six years, I鈥檓 old and out of touch. But in our overly digitized and curated world of filtered photos and painstakingly edited reels, Strava is the last place on the internet that hasn鈥檛 wholly succumbed to the dramaturgical trap of masking your true self in service to an impossible ideal. It鈥檚 a place to be yourself, and to celebrate others for being the same. And in a world saturated with insincerity, I need Strava to feel like I still have a semblance of a grasp on the truth.
So, Strava-ites, here is my plea to you: Keep posting those snot-encrused selfies and silly Strava titles. In the spirit of love, celebrate your friends for doing the same. And then, if Strava happens to serve as the most wholesome accidental meet-cute on the internet, we all win.