About
Strava Flyby is an experimental side project from Strava Labs that transforms your recorded workout data into a dynamic, multi-activity playback experience. By entering any public Strava activity URL, you can visualize your route alongside every other athlete who crossed your path — whether on a group ride, a marathon, or a solo hill climb. The tool detects "flybys" — athletes who came within 50 meters of you but didn't ride or run with you for an extended period — and distinguishes them from group activity matches using a correlation scoring system. Activities with over 30% temporal correlation are flagged as group matches, while high spatial correlation identifies others who traveled the same course regardless of pace or start time. Key features include adjustable playback speed controls, a zoomable distance axis that follows your activity in real time, an elevation profile viewer, and color-coded time-gap lines that let you see exactly how far ahead or behind selected athletes were at any point on the route. The map, powered by Mapbox and OpenStreetMap, displays the live positions and full paths of all selected activities. Strava Flyby is ideal for competitive athletes who want to benchmark their performance against others on the same course, casual runners curious about who they encountered, and cycling enthusiasts reviewing races or group events. Being a Strava Labs project, it is completely free to use but is experimental in nature.
Key Features
- Multi-Activity Playback: Simultaneously replay your Strava activity alongside other athletes who crossed your path, with adjustable speed controls and time-seeking.
- Flyby & Group Match Detection: Automatically identifies athletes who came within 50 meters of you (flybys) versus those who traveled with you for extended periods (group matches) using correlation scoring.
- Time & Distance Gap Comparison: Color-coded gap lines show exactly how many seconds or minutes ahead or behind selected athletes were at every point along the route.
- Elevation Profile Viewer: Overlay the elevation profile of your activity and compare how you and other athletes performed across climbs and descents.
- Interactive Map Visualization: Zoomable Mapbox/OpenStreetMap view displays the real-time position and full path of every selected activity during playback.
Use Cases
- Reviewing a road race or marathon to see who you passed and how time gaps evolved over the course.
- Identifying cycling group ride participants and comparing performance across climbs and descents.
- Finding fellow athletes who ran or rode the same popular route on the same day.
- Analyzing pacing strategies by visualizing time-gap lines between you and a faster or slower athlete on the same course.
- Reliving a memorable workout by watching an animated playback of your route with all nearby athletes overlaid.
Pros
- Completely Free: Strava Flyby is a free Strava Labs project with no subscription or paywall required beyond having a Strava account.
- Rich Activity Insights: Combines spatial correlation, temporal gap analysis, and elevation data into a single visual interface for deep post-activity review.
- Great for Race Analysis: Ideal for comparing your performance against competitors or pacers on the exact same course during events like marathons or cycling races.
Cons
- Requires Strava Activities: Only works with public Strava activity data — users without a Strava account or with private activities cannot use the tool.
- Experimental Stability: As a Strava Labs side project, Flyby may break, change, or be discontinued at any time without notice.
- Privacy Considerations: The tool exposes location and timing data of nearby athletes, which may raise privacy concerns for users who prefer not to be discoverable.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a 'flyby' in Strava Flyby?
A flyby is another Strava athlete whose activity came within 50 meters of yours at some point but who did not travel with you for an extended period — indicated by a low correlation score.
What does the correlation percentage mean?
Correlation measures the percentage of time another activity was close to yours. Activities above 30% correlation are considered group activity matches, meaning you likely rode or ran together.
Is Strava Flyby free to use?
Yes, Strava Flyby is completely free. It is an experimental side project from Strava Labs and requires no additional subscription beyond a standard Strava account.
How do I view an activity in Flyby?
Paste any public Strava activity URL (e.g., http://www.strava.com/activities/117975259) into the Flyby viewer to load the activity and see all associated flybys and group matches.
What is spatial correlation?
Spatial correlation measures how similar another activity's path is to yours, independent of speed or start time. A high spatial correlation means the other athlete traveled the same course as you, even if at a different pace.
