Cycling is not an inexpensive sport. You can spend $10,000 on the bike alone, while the rest of the kit鈥攈elmet, shoes, jersey, and bibs鈥攚ill easily set you back another $500. 聽聽
But it turns out cycling can pay at least one of your bills. Last week, two leaders in the digital cycling space鈥 Strava, the popular activity tracking app, and Competitive Cyclist, the online retailer of specialty riding gear鈥攁nnounced a new partnership program called 鈥.鈥澛
The concept鈥檚 simple: for every hour you spend on the bike (as recorded and verified by Strava), you鈥檒l receive a $1 credit to spend at Competitive Cyclist. Strava credits (which max out at 40 per month and don鈥檛 roll over) are automatically sent聽to your account to be applied toward your next purchase.
鈥淲orking long hours, you cherish every ride you get to take,鈥 explains Noah Singer, senior product manager at Competitive Cyclist. 鈥淎fter speaking with friends and customers, we realized that if there was only a 60-minute window to get out, it was often passed up. We wanted to create a simple way to encourage everyone to take every opportunity they can to ride.鈥
Cyclists are a connected bunch, of course, and the 鈥淵ou Ride, We Pay鈥 program exploded faster than either company anticipated: over 20,000 people linked their Strava and Competitive Cycling accounts in just seven days. The level of interest blew all projections out of the water, and the companies were forced to end the enrollment period early. As of Tuesday night you can no longer register for the program.聽
Did you miss out? Take a deep breath, spin a lap around the block, and to receive news and updates on future programs.聽
Meanwhile, the lucky ones should be stoked. Do the math: you can earn up to $480 per year! That鈥檚 a lot of money for things like gels, bars, tubes, tools, socks, CO2 cartridges, lubricants, and all the other essentials you need as a cyclist. Of course, you might want to add some chamois butter to your shopping cart as well, considering how much saddle time it will require to take full advantage of the offer.聽
Update: Not only is the You Ride, We Pay聽program closed to new enrollments, but it's also no longer issuing Strava credits as of Tuesday, April 21. A press release states that Competitive Cyclist will honor all credits earned to date, and that a revised program will be announced May 19.