Cyclist creates impressive 'face' Strava art in Cardiff

A 49-year old cyclist from Cheltenham has created an extraordinary piece of Strava art in Cardiff. Anthony Hoyte’s seven-and-a-half-hour 78.9 mile ride saw him create a bespectacled moustachioed face. You can see details on Strava here.

Last month Hoyte won a prize for another piece of work. Fowl Play was created in Bristol as part of a Strava art competition. It took him 7h40m and was later printed to canvas.

Explaining how he chooses his locations, Hoyte said: “You need the concentration of roads to do the complicated ones so I look for different cities across the UK. I made a special trip to Cardiff to do the face but the other ones I managed to do in spare times on trips for work. I do quite a bit of research using route planners.

“It does take a ridiculous amount of preparation. I couldn’t really put a time on it. I do it in my lunchbreaks on a rainy day, each one over a period of weeks but spending an hour here and an hour there.”

Hoyte said Strava art isn’t as easy as you might think, recalling that his early efforts left something to be desired. “I tried it and found it quite a bit more difficult than I thought. The first one was quite rudimentary, but I persevered and found I got better at it. I liken it to staring at clouds and seeing pictures. I look at maps and see things I can draw.”

He also said that his friends and family think he’s ‘a bit crazy’.

“It’s a bit of a strange thing to do, but it’s harmless and keeps me entertained. I’m a member of a local cycling club, I get quite a few comments on Strava from my cycling mates. I turn up to meet them on a Sunday and they ask ‘What’s the next one?’”

As he said himself, Hoyte is limited by roads. Here’s some Strava art done by a runner recently.

Ready for a ? #StravaArt from Gustavo Lyra https://t.co/pJjFnGUVPR pic.twitter.com/JPDCS1YIax

— Strava (@Strava) October 17, 2017