Are you tired of your 9-5 job? Have a bike and willing to ride it? I might have some work for you – join the exciting and rewarding world of Strava Jockeys!
https://www.bicycling.com/news/a61887589/strava-surrogates-new-trend/
According the Bicycling article above, there’s already a nascent movement of youngsters ‘selling’ miles to people on Strava (by doing runs for them) who don’t have enough time or motivation to do them themselves. This is only for runners for the moment – and maybe only in Indonesia – but I can feel that it’s only a matter of time before it catches on worldwide. Get in while you can!
The Vicious Cycle 
This is exactly the part-time post-retirement job I’ve been looking for! I wonder what I can earn for a steady 15 kph pace for up to 30 minutes?
You were going out for that ride anyway, Steve. Might as well monetize it!
Welcome Back from die Schweiz!
It’s nice to be back, but it also nice to be there.
What a good scheme. It fits the present age very well.
I thought the same thing.
Interesting to see this evolve into the overlap between physical/real world and the digital persona. I know that there has been so called “digital doping” where folks are using tools to subtly adjust their GPX files to game their performance in Strava in the last few years.
This trend seems like an extension of the online gaming community where citizens of western countries were paying eastern Europeans to run their “characters” in online gaming to level them up while they would otherwise be working, essentially playing 24/7 to gain prestige in the various MMORGS.
I suppose it’s all style over substance. For me, and many of my cycling friends of a similar age, one of the attractions was that it’s just you and the road, and particularly the climb and the satisfaction of doing the work, and embracing the suffering. There’s always going to be someone tougher, faster, stronger than you, but so what?
David, thanks for the new word of the day – MMORGS…or new acronym, I guess.
Like you, I ride to ride (and to work!) and I’m not very concerned with numbers, at least as they compare to others. I do know a few riders who are obsessed with Strava segments and their place on the leaderboards, etc.
As you said, there’s always someone faster than you. this is a good lesson to learn young, as I did when I did karate in the 80s (lots of beatings in the dojo!). My step-brother Rob always says that you never know who’s going to show up to the race, which is also a good lesson to focus on yourself and not others, who you can’t control.
When I got on Strava in early 2013 I was probably one of the first few thousand in France (there was no version in French yet) and I had some impressive KOMs and even one or two top tens on famous climbs. Then the French discovered Strava and I was relegated to the ranks of mere humans very very quickly. All very humbling and realistic, unlike the lives the Strava Jockeys’ clients are living.