When you get any kind of app that allows you to track your destination, many people get creative with this. From people writing out their own initials to people using it for more, uh, bodily-inspired purposes, there’s a fine history of people getting very creative with said apps.
Some even use it for stuff like marriage proposals, putting in the hours to get around the place to spell out the big question. However, for one cyclist, the aim was to make the shape of a reindeer.
When Anthony Hoyte decided to make this so, it was seen as something of a joke by his mates. However, he decided to go for it, using a popular fitness app to turn a big of Cheltenham, England, into a massive virtual reindeer design.
The aim is quite simple – to make an awesome Christmas image that can be enjoyed by people time and time again in the future.
By using fitness app Strava, Hoyte got to work in making his own visual reindeer. By using Google Maps to plan out routes in the past, he would find different shapes and paths that he could take to make up a particular visual look that he intended.
When asked about it, Hoyte said: “I just spend a lot of time looking at maps and it’s waiting for things to jump out at you, normally I look at maps until I see something — ‘That looks a bit like a nose,’ so I think ‘Where can I find eyes near that?’”
Creative Cycling
Having managed more than a few wild images over the years, the reindeer one is his most elaborate yet by far. He started to create the reindeer, complete with antlers, having to take around a nine-hour trip to make it work out for him.
With around 80 miles covered, we’re sure he was feeling it the next day!
Sadly, as Hoye noted, sometimes your phone can drop out and leave you with a ruined or messed up drawing. For the most part, though, we can safely say that the reindeer one is instantly recognizable as soon as you load it up and take a look.
The finished product is one that has gathered quite a lot of comment and interest, especially from people with similar aims and ideas. You will find that the artwork that he creates, though, goes beyond just a reindeer.
From other festive images like snowmen and Santa Claus himself, taking around 10 hours for the snowman, he’s managed to make a bit of a name for himself online. Every year, we can expect to see Mr. Hoyte come up with something new and exciting.
He’s even picked up a few awards. In 2017, he was ranked first in the Bristol Cycling Festival Strava art competition, thanks to this “Foul Play” birds’ program. expect more to come from one of the most interesting, and no doubt one of the most athletically impressive, artists out there today.