Six arresting - and strange - images from Strava Global Heatmap

We’ve been having a little play around in the road.cc office with the latest version of Strava Global Heatmap, launched yesterday, and we’ve found some very arresting images, plus others that are just plain weird.

> Strava launches new Global Heatmap based on 1 billion activities

So, here’s a selection of some of the more ‘out there’ places we’ve found on our virtual trip around the globe where people have apparently been cycling and have uploaded their rides to the social network.

We say “apparently” because unless someone’s sticking a GPS on a pedalo, they’d have trouble cycling off the coast of St Helena, while we suspect a skidoo may be involved in the image from Greenland below.

We’ll start off with one of the more spectacular images – the site of the Burning Man Festival in the Black Rock Desert in Nevada. One of the festival’s founding principles is “leave no trace” – clearly interpreted as not applying to Strava uploads from a GPS by many of those who use two wheels to get around the sprawling site each summer.

Next up, the two Koreas. South Korea is ablaze with activity, shining as brightly as Japan, in the bottom right-hand corner – but across the world’s most heavily fortified border, it’s almost pitch black.

Almost, because zoom in on the capital Pyongyang, and it’s clear that some people are using Strava in the city. There’s even evidence of a bike ride all the way to the border with South Korea – although whether the cyclist concerned ever made it across is anyone’s guess.

This one is weird. Jarvis Island, administered by the United States, lies pretty much smack bang in the middle of the Pacific Ocean – yet it is uninhabited.

The only visitors are the US Coastguard and US Fish and Wildlife Service, who go there periodically, plus any scientists or academics able to get a permit to visit.

Yet there, on the Strava Global Heatmap, is an image shaped like a ghost. It’s got us stumped.

Over in the Atlantic Ocean, St Helena, has what in relative terms is a burgeoning population of around 4,500 people. One of the most remote islands on the planet, as this forum post shows, people do cycle there – and some upload the proof to Strava.

Here’s another strange one. A well-travelled, straight route slap bang in the middle of Greenland. While it appears to be in the rough area of the North East Greenland National Park, we can’t see any settlements that might be linked on any maps we’ve looked at.

Zooming out gives an idea of its rough location – it’s towards the top of this image, in the middle.

Finally, we thought we’d better bung something recognisably cycling-related – so here’s the unmistakeable switchbacks of Alpe d’Huez.

It’s easy to spot the route to the summit favoured by the Tour de France and amateur cyclists looking to conquer the same ascent the pros take.

Have you spotted anything unusual on Strava Global Heatmap? Let us know in the comments below.