GPS Doodles on the airwaves

Posted on November 6, 2015 by Stephen

With TEDxVictoria fast approaching (I and the rest of this year’s speakers take the stage in just two weeks), I’ve seen a fair bit of media buzz around my GPS doodles of late.

On Wednesday (November 4), I enjoyed a great chat with Robyn Burns live on CBC’s All Points West. CBC Vancouver followed that up with a great web story about the interview.

You can listen to the interview here: 

A week previous (October 29), I had a brief interview with Pol Plastino at The Zone 93.1. I’m not sure when or if the interview aired, but The Zone did give GPSdoodles.com a great plug on their Facebook page. You can see it here.

Next Monday (November 9), I’ll be chatting on-air at 6:50 am with CFAX 1070 morning host Ryan Price.

And on Tuesday the 10th, I’m meeting up with CTV News Vancouver Island reporter Chandler Grieve to shoot a TV spot.

Fun!

 

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Wicked witch of the West Coast

Posted on October 31, 2015 by Stephen

Happy Hallowe’en!

Witchy_woman

Dating back to February 12, 2015, “Wicked Witch of the West Coast” was one of my earliest GPS doodles…and she’s still among my favourites.

Her portrait required 85.9 kilometres of cycling. Several parts of her profile – her brow, her nose and the top of her chin as well as her chest and withered bosom – are parts of the regular routes I ride with Tripleshot Cycling Club.

See it on Strava*

* Note: The GPS points will render correctly only if you are logged in at Strava.com

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He’s baaaack • another instalment in the “musclebound thug” series

Posted on October 26, 2015 by Stephen

Musclebound thug fulfils his lifelong dream and plucks a gator by the tail from the Salish Sea

Musclebound thug plucks an alligator by the tail from the Salish Sea by GPS artist Stephen Lund in Victoria, BC, Canada GPS Garmin Strava art cyclist cycling creativity urban art street art alligator wrestling

Victoria’s musclebound thug is at it again, this time showing off his he-manliness by manhandling an alligator that was splashing about down by Oak Bay Marina

Doodling this dopey dude demanded 89.7 kilometres (55.7 miles) of cycling, with just shy of 900 metres (3,000 feet) of climbing.

In case you missed the first two instalments, you can see them here:

  1. Musclebound thug in a fedora riding a grizzly bear wearing a pork pie hat and standing in a snow bank
  2. Musclebound thug in a pilgrim hat wrangles himself an organic free-range turkey for Thanksgiving dinner

Note: I rotated the mapped image 90º CW for ease of viewing.

I’ve also included two detail shots – one on a standard terrain map, the other on a satellite map.

See it on Strava *

* Note: The GPS points will render correctly only if you are logged in at Strava.com

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Another birthday, another birthday doodle!

Posted on October 13, 2015 by Stephen
Happy birthday message and Strava art gift • Strava art and bike-writing by Stephen Lund on the streets of Victoria BC garmin gps cycling cyclist bicycle teenager

Happy 13th birthday, Nicholas!

Today is Nicholas’s birthday.

He’s 13.

Another teenager in the house. God help us.

See it on Strava *

* Note: The GPS points will render correctly only if you are logged in at Strava.com

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Part 2 in the new “Musclebound thug” series • Happy Thanksgiving

Posted on October 11, 2015 by Stephen

Musclebound thug in a pilgrim hat wrangles himself an organic free-range turkey for Thanksgiving dinner

Musclebound thug in a pilgrim hat wrangles himself an organic free-range turkey for Thanksgiving dinner by GPS artist Stephen Lund in Victoria, BC, Canada GPS Garmin Strava art cyclist cycling creativity urban art street art Thanksgiving 2015

The second installment in my new “musclebound thug” series required 62 kilometres (38.5 miles) of cycling

I was so pleased with how my musclebound thug in a fedora riding a grizzly bear wearing a pork pie hat and standing in a snow bank turned out, I’ve decided to create a series of GPS doodles depicting the gorilla-armed goon in a variety of scenarios.

With apologies to the vegetarians, vegans and animal rights activists out there, my first Thanksgiving GPS doodle has him choking the daylights out of his Thanksgiving turkey.

Note: I rotated the mapped image 90º CW for ease of viewing.

See it on Strava *

* Note: The GPS points will render correctly only if you are logged in at Strava.com

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Look who’s speaking at TEDxVictoria 5!

Posted on October 2, 2015 by Stephen

TEDxVictoria logoThe lineup for TEDxVictoria 5 includes a quantum physicist. An Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation lawyer leading a charge against climate change. A social media dynamo who revolutionized the way VicPD interacts with the public. An Emmy Award winning visual effects artist. A grade 12 student who developed a test for a rare genetic disorder. Spearheads of innovation and defiers of convention in education, entertainment, science and technology.

And me – Victoria’s GPS Doodler.

On November 21, I’ll be taking the stage at the 772-seat McPherson Playhouse to share my passion for exploring the exhilarating interplay between cycling and creative expression.

When I started creating GPS doodles on January 1, 2015, I uncovered a way to revitalize my fitness regimen while recharging my creative batteries – a way to make the pursuit of fitness far more fun and, for people who’ve convinced themselves “I’m not creative,” a way to take the intimidation out of artistic expression.

I believe that’s an idea worth spreading – and happily, the organizers of TEDxVictoria agreed!

Tickets for the event are available here.

What is TED?

TED is a nonprofit devoted to spreading ideas, usually in the form of short, powerful talks. TED began in 1984 as a conference where Technology, Entertainment and Design converged, and today covers almost all topics — from science to business to global issues. Meanwhile, independently run TEDx events help share ideas in communities around the world.

Watch the TEDxVictoria 5 launch video to get a sense of what’s in store!

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The answer: “Because it’s there”

Posted on September 28, 2015 by Stephen

To the question: “Why did you GPS-doodle a musclebound thug in a fedora riding a grizzly bear wearing a pork pie hat and standing in a snow bank?”

Muscle-bound thug in a fedora riding a grizzly bear wearing a pork pie hat and standing in a snowbank by GPS artist Stephen Lund in Victoria, BC, Canada GPS Garmin Strava art cyclist cycling creativity urban art street art

98 kilometres (61 miles) of GPS silliness: “Muscle-bound thug in a fedora riding a grizzly bear wearing a pork pie hat and standing in a snowbank” by Victoria, BC’s GPS-doodler, Stephen Lund

“Because it’s there.”

Known broadly as ‘the three most famous words in mountaineering’, this was George Mallory’s reply to a New York Times reporter who, in 1924, asked Mallory why he wanted to climb Mount Everest. (Sadly, Mallory and his climbing partner Andrew Irvine disappeared later that year during their attempt to complete the first ascent of the world’s highest mountain.)

Well, to anyone who wonders why I GPS-doodled a musclebound thug in a fedora riding a grizzly bear wearing a pork pie hat and standing in a snow bank, I offer precisely the same response: Because it’s there.

For as long as I’ve been planning GPS doodles, I’ve been aware of a hatted, gorilla-armed goon lurking vaguely in the southeast corner of Victoria’s map…but I just haven’t known what he was up to. This past weekend, I decided to figure it out. And here’s the answer!

Apart from one short line I had to fabricate (using my Garmin STOP/START ‘connect the dots’ technique) to draw the lower line of his forearm across the water, this goon and his grizzly live fully within the map of the city.

Note: I rotated the mapped image 90º CW for ease of viewing.

Also note: No hallucinogens were used in creating this GPS doodle.

See it on Strava *

* Note: The GPS points will render correctly only if you are logged in at Strava.com

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Happy birthday to our ‘Sweet 16’

Posted on September 22, 2015 by Stephen
Happy birthday message and Strava art gift • Strava art and bike-writing by Stephen Lund on the streets of Victoria BC garmin gps cycling cyclist bicycle

A big “Happy birthday!” to you, Sophie!

Today my daughter turns 16.

When I asked her what was on her birthday wish list, she said, “Dad, all I really want for my 16th birthday is a GPS doodle.”

What a sweet, sweet girl.

(Okay – I made that up. She asked for a whole bunch of other stuff and didn’t even mention a GPS doodle. But she’s getting one anyway.)

 

See it on Strava *

* Note: The GPS points will render correctly only if you are logged in at Strava.com

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Masked man who lurks in the map of my city

Posted on September 21, 2015 by Stephen

Who is he? Who knows – he’s wearing a mask.

Masked Man by GPS artist Stephen Lund in Victoria, BC, Canada GPS Garmin Strava art cyclist cycling creativity urban art street art

Zorro? The Lone Ranger? A cat burglar? Who know – but I recently found this masked man lurking in the map of Victoria, BC, and I had to cycle 37 kilometres (23 miles) to flush him out.

Here’s another GPS doodle that I designed after I spotted the general shape in Victoria’s map (à la “The art of giraffe spotting“.)

Again, this doodle was one continuous route, though the quick-paced straightaways were punctuated by stairways and steep rocky paths that required me to awkwardly “portage” in my cycling cleats.

To flush this masked man out of hiding, I had to cycle 37.1 kilometres (23 miles).

Note: I rotated the mapped image 90º CCW for ease of viewing.

See it on Strava *

* Note: The GPS points will render correctly only if you are logged in at Strava.com

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Little digger with a great big bucket

Posted on September 11, 2015 by Stephen

This GPS doodle has been saying “Draw me!” for months

Digger by GPS artist Stephen Lund in Victoria, BC, Canada GPS Garmin Strava art cyclist cycling creativity urban art street art hydraulic digger construction equipment

I’ve been meaning to doodle this digger for many months now…because every time I look at my planning map, I see the bucket plain as day!

Shortly after I doodled my GPS giraffe back in February, I penned a blog post explaining how I discovered her general shape after I highlighted the city’s main roads. (See “The art of giraffe spotting“.)

Well, the inspiration for this digger also popped off the page after I highlighted Victoria’s main roads. In the bottom image, you can clearly see the digger’s bucket, arm and boom. It just took a little trial-and-error to find the best fit for the cab and tracks.

As an added bonus, this doodle was one continuous route with plenty of opportunities to ride hard and fast. That said, I stopped my Garmin and took a supper break around 38.5 km into the ride – less because I was hungry and more because Friday afternoon rush hour was hitting its peak and the roads I had to ride just didn’t feel safe.

To doodle my long overdue digger, I cycled 52.9 kilometres (32.9 miles).

Note: I rotated the mapped image 180º for ease of viewing.

See it on Strava *

* Note: The GPS points will render correctly only if you are logged in at Strava.com

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