Strava has released its global figures for 2020, and despite a year of event cancellations and global lockdowns, the number of cycling, running, and walking activities uploaded worldwide has increased significantly. compared to the same period in 2019, the numbers have doubled and most notably in the UK.

From 9 million UK users, Strava saw a significant 108% increase in the median number of activities uploaded by women aged 18 to 29. Globally, from 1.1 billion activities uploaded by 75 million users, the same age group saw a 45% increase over the previous year, while other age categories saw increases of 52% and 65%. In contrast, the global increase for men in all age categories was only about 10%.

The largest increase from the UK can probably be attributed to slightly lighter restrictions during lockdown that allowed people to get outside for daily exercise.

Simon Klima, Strava's international marketing director, stated in the Guardian (opens in new tab) that he had "never seen anything like this before" about the increase and declared that the statistics far exceeded Strava's projections.

He acknowledged that women had to play a major role in this increase and attributed it in part to the decrease in traffic during lockdown.

"We saw a substantial boost from women in terms of overall activity levels during the pandemic year," Klima explained. She added, "There could be a number of reasons for this, but in our past research, one of the biggest barriers for women to participate in cycling was the perceived safety risks. However, during the pandemic, temporary infrastructure improvements and quieter roads probably made it safer for women to cycle"

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It was not just the number of women uploading their cycling, running, and walking activities that surged in 2020. While the significant increase in numbers may be largely due to more people signing up for Strava accounts this year, Klima notes that the data also shows that, on average, many long-term users have significantly increased their activity this year compared to 2019. It will come as no surprise to many that indoor cycling has also boomed, thanks to many cyclists taking their training indoors during the shutdown. The growing popularity of virtual events and competitions has no doubt played a role in this as well.

Strava publishes a "Year in Sport" report each year that provides insight into trends in the sport based on data uploaded during the year, and despite the challenges we faced this year, the avid cyclists did not stop doing what they do best in 2020 It seems certain that.