You may recall that just twelve days ago we reported that Competitive Cyclist and Strava had teamed up to reward cyclists with store credit for documented hours on the bike. If you missed it, that article is here, but for the moment the program is on hold for what sounds like one simple reason: too many people took advantage of it.
A message arrived in my inbox this morning from “Competitive,” as they call themselves, which read as follows:
What an incredible few weeks it’s been here at Competitive.
When we came up with the idea to pay you a dollar an hour to ride your bike through our partnership with Strava, it was pure, it was simple and it represented everything we stand for. Apparently you liked it too, because you signed up by the tens of thousands and told everyone you knew. We had expectations and you blew them out of the water.
Because of this we’ve had to pause new sign-ups, and we must stop issuing new credits beginning tomorrow, April 21st. We’re already hard at work on a revised program that can support many, many more people. We will update you with the details of this revised program on May 19th.
If you have earned money, it’s yours to keep and we encourage you to put it towards something great. Those credits will expire on May 31st at 11:59 pm MST.
Because you’ve already connected, when the program resumes, you’ll be ready to roll. We won’t do anything with your data and we’ll maintain the privacy policy we’ve always held.
Enjoy the ride and we’ll speak soon.
Anyone who has been on Strava for a while knows that some people ride often. Some ride a lot. Other people seemingly have found a way to eat, sleep, and conduct business–both professional and personal–while on a bike. I’m not surprised that Competitive found themselves overwhelmed.
But hey, things happen. It sounds like they’re honoring the time earned and working on ways to make the program beneficial for everyone involved, which is all you can ask from any business. It’s still a cool program, and I think our industry would do well to have more people try stuff in a similar vein.
Can’t wait to see what comes next, guys.
