Strava - How to Upload Manually

Since Strava has decided to sue Garmin, and since Suunto has decided to sue Garmin as well, for different reasons, I feel now is a good opportunity to remind ourselves of how to upload to Garmin and Strava manually.

Exporting to Strava

Garmin

If you record an activity with a Garmin device, you can navigate to connect.garmin.com, log in and go to the activity. You can export file, TCX or GPX. I usually export the file, double click, and then use the .fit file to upload to Strava. You can add a name, photos etc.

Suunto

With a Suunto device you can export a GPX workout, route, KML, FIT, or JSON file. For the sake of consistency, export the fit file, and upload it to Strava the same way as from a Garmin device.

Suunto to Garmin

At the same time, if you want to export a workout from a suunto device to Garmin connect you can use the same file. In this case you go to Garmin connect, press on the arrow pointing up into the cloud and select import data.

Garmin to Suunto

In this direction you need to add information manually.

Strava App as SPF (Single Point of Failure)

If you’re confident in your phone’s battery and OS you can use the Strava app to track a workout directly, and if you pair an HR belt you will get heart rate data. with a new phone and a fresh battery this could be fun but if you can afford the latest phones, you can afford a dedicated cycling computer or suunto or Garmin watch. For a hundred francs more than you would spend on a Garmin Instinct 2 you can get an Apple Watch SE.

With the Apple Watch you can also track your bike ride but in my experience Apple is good for short, but not long activities. When an Apple watch gets old it has a tendency to die after four or five hours, especially with my daily use for daily walks and runs.

But Wait, There’s More

If you plug your garmin device into your computer to export rides via the Garmin Explore app, then you can also access rides straight from the GPS, without ingesting to Garmin Connect. You could transfer straight from the GPS to Strava.

What I find more interesting though, is to backup the fit files locally, to a hard drive or two that you own and control. If Strava, Garmin, Suunto, Apple or another company goes bankrupt, and you have backed up your data locally, then you can upload it to another service as it comes into being.

And Finally

I was playing with this workflow recently because I track with a Garmin Instinct 2 as a backup and a Garmin Explore 2 as a primary. When I got home I had to be careful not to upload both workouts to Garmin and Strava. That’s why I switched to the manual method rather than the API between Garmin and Strava. Now that I trust the Garmin Explore 2 I use the Instinct 2 as a backup for bike rides less often.

If for any reason Garmin, Suunto, and Strava, stop playing nicely together, you’ll be ready to transfer data the old fashioned way. This is what we used to do before everything was streamlined.