Cyclists of Canberra (and the world) rejoice - a new app launching next month will help you find the best bike trails and bike-friendly cafes in potentially any city across the globe.
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And in even better news, it's a platform concepted right here in the ACT.
CycleLifeHQ - a website designed to help cyclists find the best bike trips, bike tours and cycling vacations around the world - is launching a new smartphone app in a matter of weeks and in a major coup has just signed the International Mountain Bicycling Association as a partner.
The brainchild of Canberra friends and former technology consultants Charles Black and Matt Ryan, the premise of CycleLifeHQ is simple: help cyclists design bike-friendly travel experiences anywhere in the world.
Cyclists can filter their experience by ride difficulty, ride duration, kid-friendliness and even plug in a food and drink option to be shown a city's best bike-friendly cafes and restaurants. More than 150 cities and 2500 listings feature on the website and that's about to grow significantly.
According to Black, CycleLifeHQ unites cycling-specific information from a range of sources - online, brochures and word-of-mouth - into a single app.
"[The idea] came about because when I used to travel overseas, I used to land in a destination and say, 'Hmm, I wonder whereabouts I can ride' and I found it really hard to get information that would suit my style of riding - which is more relaxed and recreational," Black said.
"So to get the information I'd either sound it out from people or I'd do a Google search or I'd get a stack of brochures from the local tourism bureau.
"It was always different for different destinations and so I thought, 'surely there's a better way of doing this'."
Black was convinced there was a market for his idea and when research showed that "literally no-one" was targeting cycle travel experiences, he pulled in Ryan and started work on CycleLifeHQ. He said while "hardcore lycra-clad cyclists" represented about 6 per cent of the population, his potential audience is represented by the 45 per cent of the population who "are interested in riding but need a lot information before they'll ride".
"When people think of the bike industry they generally think of the sale of bicycles and products and accessories, and that's worth about $30 billion a year globally," he said.
"But then I did some research on the 'bicycle experience industry' - a phrase I came up with - which you can broadly translate to the bicycle tourism industry, and that experience industry was already worth at least $100 billion.
"So it was already three times the size of the product industry and yet there's no platform that pulls together all the information that you need as someone looking to cycle in a different city or country."
Cycling apps Strava and Ride With GPS play a specific role for cyclists, Black said, but likened CycleLifeHQ to "AirBnB for cyclists".
The CycleLifeHQ website has been running for almost 18 months but the new app will take things to the next level, with GPS functionality meaning riders can "search bike trails near me" and access offline maps in areas with little or no phone service.
The app is free for users, with CycleLifeHQ monetising its offering by charging destinations for the creation of content on the app, and taking a small commission on tours and accommodation booked via the platform.
The partnership with the International Mountain Bicycling Association (IMBA) means all cities that fall under IMBA's remit - including Boulder, Colorado, the mountain biking capital of the world - will be rolled out on the app as a matter of priority.
For further info head to www.cyclelifehq.com
