Strava export problem

[Greg]

Hi,

I notice I am no longer able to export paths I have drawn in Locus over into Strava. I notice though that routes that I created via GPS tracking in Locus do export fine!
This was not a problem in the past.
Is it possible Strava will no longer accept Locus exports that do not have the "time taken" included in the exporting data?

Of interest perhaps is an option in Strava that I have never seen before. Its called "My Routes"... where one uses Strava online to draw out a route. Perhaps Locus needs to have an option to export to the "My Routes" section of Strava?

[Menion]

Hmm hard to say where is a problem. I just created a route by "add new route" feature. Export was success. Also response from Strava server is correct (info that track was created) , but nothing is visible in Strava profile on web site.

Question here is, why you need this feature? Isn't export to Strava about exporting your real activities?

[Greg]

Thanks for your response Menion. It appears we both went through the same process then ran into the same problem.

I discover/explore then Strava export/share "cleaned-up" proposed routes of upcoming rides with a cycling group I regularly lead. Though Strava is geared towards (competitive!) real activities it also seems to be a "de-facto" app for viewing shared ride routes here in Australia

My explorations usually included a lot of backtracking to work out the best route for a ride. Initially I used Locus to break apart then stitch back together a "cleaned-up" GPS-tracked route. To be honest though I found this process cumbersome  & time consuming. Main problems were...
*after some re-stitching the Locus screen got very busy very quickly,
*When I was ready I couldn't readily tell which broken apart sections could be deleted
*having a set distance between GPS signal checks meant creating more waypoints than needed for accurate path following.
(I haven't checked if any of this has changed in the last few months. There could also be possibilities I'm unaware of in Locus, eg. multi-select/deletion of a path's GPS waypoints)

So, in the end I found it easier (though still time consuming) to "clean-up" a route by instead plotting a route through "Add New Route". This gives accurate distance, I can minimise waypoints, readily avoid marked backtracking etc.

[Menion]

So if I understand, you use "Strava" server to edit your planned tracks, which you then use for your cycling activities, right?

I'm then not sure, how may I help here, as Strava purpose is storing already passed activities (recorder) and now a planning new activities. Or am I wrong (I do not use Strava)? Anyway if you expect, that even a track planned in Locus should be correctly exported, then it looks like more a problem on Strava server. Mainly because response on "upload request" from Locus returns "upload was correct".

[Greg]

Hi again Menion

Decided to look through Strava's Help pages. This page I found was quite informative...
https://strava.zendesk.com/entries/29275730-Import-GPX-files-as-a-Strava-Route

It appears Strava will not allow Imports without a "timestamp" (although it was possible to do so in the past). It appears this was done to stop "cheats" (people faking their cycle speed to get to top of leader boards).

There seems to be a workaround by using a third party link to add a timestamp in excess of 1 mile per hour to a GPX file which would then allow a successful import into Strava. Perhaps a similar workaround, adding a "timestamp" within Locus, would solve the issue?

No import is possible from another app (such as Locus) into the route plotting/planning "My Routes" section of Strava. On the abovementioned webpage A LOT of people seem quite displeased that Strava lacks this ability.

I've always used Locus for both GPS tracking and manual creation of cycle routes.

Have once tried Strava's "My Routes" implementation but it does not work well. Its slow and erratic & it wouldn't allow creating a waypoint on a major cycle path! Instead I kept having to create it on a nearby road then drag the point to the cycle path.

[Menion]

Cannot say I fully agree with export of manually created tracks to Strava webpage, but as I see, Strava already support some planning etc. directly on their web. Oki, so check this feature in next version and let me know if it works as you expected.

[Greg]

Many thanks Menion.

Will do as you ask.
And thanks for being so supportive of us Locus users!

[Greg]

Hiya

Latest Locus update seems to have fixed the problem 

I exported 3 different manually created tracks to Strava and this time they all worked. Oddly one export had me cycling the route at 384km per hour!, the other 2 showed zero time taken. Final result is that this doesn't matter to me as the Locus export is again working

Great work! and a big thank you.

Regards,
Greg

[Menion]

I do not call this a "problem". It is how Strava set it and I think that current Locus workaround won't be most welcome from their side.

Anyway speed is quite weird. Locus generate faked time value for all points based on speed 1 m/s. So there should not be any crazy speed values.

Anyway glad it works.