124Kviews
19submissions
Finished
Artist Draws World’s Largest Doodles By Riding His Bike With GPS
Stephen Lund cycles about 70km every day, creating clever doodles using a GPS app that maps his progress. The BC, Canada native began his unusual craft in 2015 to unwind and be creative; since then, he's logged 22,300km, and his longest piece has been a 220km mermaid.
"The best ones pop off the map," Lund says, explaining his process. "I liken it to seeing shapes in the clouds. I pour [sic] over a map of the city...The challenge is that the roads all have to connect — it has to be one continuous line."
Update: the actual world's record for the largest GPS drawing belongs to Yasushi Takahashi from Japan, for GPS drawing that was made in 2010. He made even larger piece in 2015 that was 105,734km long (not certified by Guinness World Records).
More info: gpsdoodles.com | strava.com (h/t: booooooom)
This post may include affiliate links.
Giraffe (95.5 km, 3 h 30 min)
T-Rex missing some teeth (39.4 km, 1 h 43 min)
Darth Vader (46.3 km, 2h 17 min)
when he was spelling Lord Vader he obviously saw a Macdonalds and took a deor ;)
Bicycling
Rio's "Christ the Redeemer" (25.8 km, 1 h 20 min)
Strava Yoda (25.6 km, 1 h 25 min)
The Mermaid of the Salish Sea (89.7 km, 4 h 13 min)
Queen Victoria (15.7 km, 56 min)
Dopey stegosaurus tramples Fernwood (44.4 km, 1 h 56 min)
T-Rex terrorizes Beacon Hill Park (37.3 km, 1 h 43 min)
Alan's Spirit Animal (26.3 km, 1 h 7 min)
Sorry sir but how exactly did you bike across the part of the ocean?
Armadillo
Maze (76.7 km, 3 h 44 min)
Easter Bunny (75.5 km, 3 h 17 min)
Enormous orca breaches from Strait of Juan de Fuca (33.2 km, 1 h 35 min)
Wicked Witch of the West Coast (85.9 km, 3 h 24 min)
Thug plucks a gator by the tail from the Salish sea (89.7 km, 3 h 50 min)
Name Of My City: Eger (hungary)
I'm finding it hard to believe someone put in that much effort…just to draw some pictures!? But seriously, wow!
Same here. But ten years ago or so, I heard also about a writer who cycled the world to write "art" across the globe, or something like that.
Load More Replies...What a beautiful and nice creation with a simple device :) I recently have bought some stuff from www.gpswox.com and am thinking to try these gps tracking device in my city :)
Must be fit as f**k, my butt hurts from just sitting on the saddle.
I agree with some others that some of these at least were not done by anyone driving, since there are no streets in many places. I happen to know the towns on the maps, in and around Victoria, BC in Canada.
He cycled, not drove, for a start. Also, he's actually explained in the past that he's turned off his GPS or whatever the app is he used, gone to a different point, then turned it back on again as that creates straight lines that go through buildings. He does cycle the entire route, he just doesn't constantly have his GPS on.
Load More Replies...But why? I mean even if he really tripped that stuff IRL what's the point? To get some attention? I hate art because it's either about art (i make music actually) or about getting attention. And it's sad that mostly it's second option nowadays. Music, pictures, movies and so on.
Or maybe he enjoys doing it? Maybe he's trying to get fit and decided to have some fun with it. Maybe he thought other people would like it as well. Maybe, just maybe, he isn't a d**k and he's doing it because he likes doing it. Ever think of that?
Load More Replies...Almost had me fooled until I saw the T-rex teeth. I use Strava all the time. The only way to make those teeth patterns would be to manually draw them with the build a map feature. More Strava frauds. Otherwise, let's see the actual route download, not just a screenshot.
F to the A to the K to the E. How does he manage to ride his bike in such straight lines, when there isn't even a road? Most of them look photoshopped.
There's nothing fake about it. If you visit my blog, I describe a technique I use for some of my doodles. I call it "connecting the dots." If I pause my GPS device at point A and restart it at point B, the dots connect with a straight line. It's a way to create straight/diagonal lines where the roads don't cooperate.
Load More Replies...I'm finding it hard to believe someone put in that much effort…just to draw some pictures!? But seriously, wow!
Same here. But ten years ago or so, I heard also about a writer who cycled the world to write "art" across the globe, or something like that.
Load More Replies...What a beautiful and nice creation with a simple device :) I recently have bought some stuff from www.gpswox.com and am thinking to try these gps tracking device in my city :)
Must be fit as f**k, my butt hurts from just sitting on the saddle.
I agree with some others that some of these at least were not done by anyone driving, since there are no streets in many places. I happen to know the towns on the maps, in and around Victoria, BC in Canada.
He cycled, not drove, for a start. Also, he's actually explained in the past that he's turned off his GPS or whatever the app is he used, gone to a different point, then turned it back on again as that creates straight lines that go through buildings. He does cycle the entire route, he just doesn't constantly have his GPS on.
Load More Replies...But why? I mean even if he really tripped that stuff IRL what's the point? To get some attention? I hate art because it's either about art (i make music actually) or about getting attention. And it's sad that mostly it's second option nowadays. Music, pictures, movies and so on.
Or maybe he enjoys doing it? Maybe he's trying to get fit and decided to have some fun with it. Maybe he thought other people would like it as well. Maybe, just maybe, he isn't a d**k and he's doing it because he likes doing it. Ever think of that?
Load More Replies...Almost had me fooled until I saw the T-rex teeth. I use Strava all the time. The only way to make those teeth patterns would be to manually draw them with the build a map feature. More Strava frauds. Otherwise, let's see the actual route download, not just a screenshot.
F to the A to the K to the E. How does he manage to ride his bike in such straight lines, when there isn't even a road? Most of them look photoshopped.
There's nothing fake about it. If you visit my blog, I describe a technique I use for some of my doodles. I call it "connecting the dots." If I pause my GPS device at point A and restart it at point B, the dots connect with a straight line. It's a way to create straight/diagonal lines where the roads don't cooperate.
Load More Replies...