I never understood why virtual rides didn’t count towards Strava’s challenges. Of course it’s possible that this stance, is at least partially informed by my state as a flat-lander. I think it’s stupid that they ignored virtual metrics, like climbing, from the monthly challenges. Riding on the trainer is at least as hard as riding in the real world, and the goal here (at least as I understand it) is to encourage physical activity, and engagement with their platform. Neither of which were served by excluding it.
Just like it appears that the world won’t spontaneously combust (still early days, so let’s wait an see) with so many of us working from home, Strava seems to have decides to create some distance from their old stance – at least for April.
For obvious reasons, Strava has seen fit, at least for the month of April, to allow manual entries, virtual activities, and trainer workouts to count towards completion of their challenges. This applies to both cycling and running challenges. The April challenges now include this language: