One of the most common questions I get asked is: “How do I meet fellow cyclists?”. It seems many of us want to socialise beyond our current friendship groups, but we don’t really know exactly how to go about it.
Despite feeling a little awkward at first, it’s a worthwhile pursuit as we can find people who share the new passions and perspectives we discover throughout life.
A new app, designed to help create these new connections, has recently launched and is gaining popularity.
The app is called HeyGreenGO. It’s free to download and it was created by a London based startup.
Interests: Cycling
Once you download the app for your iPhone or Android device and you’ve entered the usual necessary account details, you start by listing your interests.
The options include cycling, fitness, walking, blogging, food, film, outdoors and the list continues. You can also add your own interests in there and edit them at any time. For example, I’d love to meet more fellow London based entrepreneurs, so I’ve entered that in to the app.
After you’ve entered your interests, you are all signed up.
Radar: Connecting with people nearby
The Radar view is the first view you’ll see inside the app. On this screen you’ll see the profiles (avatars) of everyone who is on the app within 10 miles. You can zoom down to 0.1 miles via a little slider that sits at the bottom of the screen, or by pinch-&-zoom. You can then filter the app by interests to narrow down the crowd, and this is reflected on the radar screen. The more interests you pick, the greater the chance of people seeing you when they filter the radar.
I can also further filter my initial interests lists and enter new interests by tapping the filter button. This is the strong point of the app and as the audience grows, it’ll be useful for narrowing down the search to people with very similar interest areas.
Alternatively, I might post in the app that tomorrow I’m going to be doing a few laps of Regents Park if anyone wants to join. This can be a group meeting or a 1 on 1.
Get cycling!
If you’re looking for a good way to meet fellow cyclists in London or beyond, then give HeyGreenGO a try. The app is relying on getting a lot of new users in order to make these connections. Who knows you might even bump in to a fellow London Cyclist reader!
The app immediately felt very intuitive to use and quick to setup. It’s a relief to be playing around with something that isn’t focused on dating and is instead focused on friendships. This feels like an area that hasn’t been tackled as much by app developers and there’s clearly a need.
The initial concept sounds great but I’m not so sure about being able to zoom to a 0.1 mile radius – doesn’t that create a security risk/potential target location for would-be-bike thieves? Otherwise some really positive work!
Hi Alex,
Thanks for the feedback – a couple of points in answer to your question:
Firstly , whilst distance is accurate, orientation of the profile pins ( avatars) is not – this is randomised. Consequently, the resolution is down to ~160m at best, which in urban settings particularly, covers a relatively large area of settlement, so it would take a fair amount of effort to establish where someone is within this area without arranging through the app to actually meet up with them.
Secondly, if you have met them, you would clearly know who they are. If you had any suspicions regarding the motivation of that person, one can always block them having visibility of you by going into Settings on your profile page. Conversely, if they’ve not met you, then it would be challenging for them to work out whether or not you have bike of sufficient value to invest the effort in finding this out without actually meeting up with you, unless that is you tell them before meeting up. However, the purpose of the app is to enable users to easily and quickly find people with interests in common to theirs and arrange to meet up, so not really about sharing information online, but rather about enabling people to get involved in / share experiences in person.
I trust this eases your concern, and thanks for the positive note!
Enjoy the app!
StJohn
Concept sounds awesome! Gonna hire another bike off of Fat Lama and go out this weekend and try this out!
Why not find a cycling club with like-minded people instead? I go cycling regularly with the Central London Outdoor Group and it is a great way to make friends with others on two wheels….http://www.clog.org.uk/