Veloviewer Explorer/Cluster/Max Square

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   In a similar vein to the Cruzbike Time Trial Challenge, this is something else you can do to keep things interesting while riding on your own.
In brief, VeloViewer is an online tool for visualising and analysis of your Strava activities.  Amongst the various metrics are some measures of how many new places you've ridden to, and how many adjacent OpenStreetMap map tiles you've visited.  Increasing the size of your 'max square' or 'cluster' is a nice way to gamify local (for certain values of local) rides/walks/runs/swims etc. in a way that isn't directly related to performance.

By way of example, my current cluster looks a bit like this, with the 17x17 max square in the middle (this makes me a rank amateur by YACF standards):

Astute followers will notice that I've been avoiding the Black Country, because one does not simply ride into Mordor the West Midlands Conurbation is composed of an endless mess of horrible roads full of impatient drivers.  Large bodies of water present a similar challenge, unless you're a good swimmer or have some sort of human-powered boat.  Restricted areas mean you're out of luck, though.  (Bonus points for spotting the BHPC races on that map. )

Anyway, https://blog.veloviewer.com/veloviewer-explorer-score-and-max-square/ explains the basic idea, with clusters (which are a more recent addition) described here: https://blog.veloviewer.com/introducing-the-explorer-cluster-and-configurable-explorer-visuals/.

Health warning: It starts off as harmless fun, but I've seen people reduced to all sorts of ludicrous detours and comedy off-roading to reach awkward squares.  Apparently there's an old lady who's kept in boxes of chocolates by mad cyclists wanting to walk to the end of her garden with a GPS receiver...

Edited by Kim - 12 May 2020 at 11:00pm

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Kim Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Admin Group Joined: 13 April 2018 Location: Middle Earth Status: Offline Points: 1256	Post Options Post Reply Quote Kim Report Post Thanks(2) Quote Reply Topic: Veloviewer Explorer/Cluster/Max Square Posted: 12 May 2020 at 10:57pm
	In a similar vein to the Cruzbike Time Trial Challenge, this is something else you can do to keep things interesting while riding on your own. In brief, VeloViewer is an online tool for visualising and analysis of your Strava activities. Amongst the various metrics are some measures of how many new places you've ridden to, and how many adjacent OpenStreetMap map tiles you've visited. Increasing the size of your 'max square' or 'cluster' is a nice way to gamify local (for certain values of local) rides/walks/runs/swims etc. in a way that isn't directly related to performance. By way of example, my current cluster looks a bit like this, with the 17x17 max square in the middle (this makes me a rank amateur by YACF standards): Astute followers will notice that I've been avoiding the Black Country, because ~~one does not simply ride into Mordor~~ the West Midlands Conurbation is composed of an endless mess of horrible roads full of impatient drivers. Large bodies of water present a similar challenge, unless you're a good swimmer or have some sort of human-powered boat. Restricted areas mean you're out of luck, though. (Bonus points for spotting the BHPC races on that map. ) Anyway, https://blog.veloviewer.com/veloviewer-explorer-score-and-max-square/ explains the basic idea, with clusters (which are a more recent addition) described here: https://blog.veloviewer.com/introducing-the-explorer-cluster-and-configurable-explorer-visuals/. Health warning: It starts off as harmless fun, but I've seen people reduced to all sorts of ludicrous detours and comedy off-roading to reach awkward squares. Apparently there's an old lady who's kept in boxes of chocolates by mad cyclists wanting to walk to the end of her garden with a GPS receiver... Edited by Kim - 12 May 2020 at 11:00pm