Victoria cyclist creating quirky ‘GPS doodles’ with help of app

A Victoria cyclist is proving that a picture is worth a thousand pedals.

Stephen Lund has been marking up streets in the Capital Region since Jan. 1 with the help of an app called Strava that traces his bike routes onto a map.

Some 5,000 kilometres later, Lund has created a gallery-worth of what he calls “GPS doodles.”

“I’ve done about 70 doodles since I did ‘Happy 2015’ and they seem to average about 70 kilometres [per trip],” he says.

Giraffes, dinosaurs – even a portrait of Queen Elizabeth – are just some of the pieces he’s created by carefully mapping out every turn.

The doodle art has been a big hit online, and the giraffe picture Lund created from the seat of his bike even went viral in the biking community.

The process of “drawing” is fairly complicated once Lund settles on a picture he wants to create.

“I find the general shape of images pretty easily on the map, but fleshing out the details, the big challenge is that all the roads have to connect,” he says. “And Victoria’s got a pretty eclectic road system.”

Once he’s completed a drawing, Lund posts the finished artwork to his website GPSDoodles.com.

On Wednesday, his morning ride left behind a fitting tribute to Canada’s veterans – the words “Lest we forget” connected to a giant poppy that encircles the University of Victoria campus.

Lund says he started creating the doodles to flex his creative muscles, but the many hours he’s put in have had another positive benefit.

“I think I’m fitter at 50 than I’ve probably ever been,” he says. “The 5,000 kilometres I’ve done GPS doodling is about a quarter of my total mileage this year, and I think this has just really reenergized me on the bike and given me a new sense of purpose in my fitness regimen. And it’s been a lot of fun.”

And while he’s created most of his unique artwork in the Capital Region, Lund says he hopes to take his talents on the road one day.

“I don’t think I’ve exhausted Victoria as a canvas, but I’d sure love to get into some other cities and see what I can do there.”

With a report from CTV Vancouver Island’s Chandler Grieve