This covers tracking an event you've registered for. For personal tracking, see Just Ride.
Start tracking
- On the Go Live tab, your registered event shows as a card — Your event. Tap Start [event name]. (If the button shows "Opens in…", the start window hasn't opened yet — see below. In the last hour before a mass-start race's gun, the card also shows a "Starts in M:SS" countdown.)
- The app does a short GPS warm-up (about 15 seconds, a little longer if it's still waiting for an accurate fix) so your first position is right — you're away once the fix looks good.
- You're now tracking. What happens next depends on the event format — see "How the clock works" below.
An event starts on the Standard battery mode with automatic fall-back switched on — there's no battery-mode question at the start line. You can change battery mode mid-ride if you need to.
You can start with no signal. Starting works fully offline — the app uses your phone's GPS and your saved copy of the event. Your positions are stored on the phone and sync when signal returns.
How the clock works
- Mass-start race — you're armed, not racing, until the gun. The screen shows ARMED, waiting for the start; in the last hour before the gun you'll also see a "starts in…" countdown, and in the final five seconds you get tick beeps and a big count, then GO! with a beep and a buzz. Your race clock is anchored to the gun, the same official start moment for every athlete — not to the instant you tapped Start. Points recorded before the gun don't count.
- Time trial and sportive — your official time runs from when you physically cross the start line to when you cross the finish, not from when you tapped Start. You'll see "Start line crossed — clock is running!" as you set off. Warm-up wandering before the line doesn't count. Crossing the finish line ends your tracking automatically, the same as a race. (In a sportive there are no published positions — it's unranked, but stopping early is still a DNF, see event types and Finishing a ride.)
- Meet-up and point-to-point — your time runs from the moment you start. No gun, no gate.
- Distance is measured from the GPS points recorded between your start and now. Average speed is distance ÷ time.
The live screen
While you're out you'll see:
- The map with your live location and the trail behind you, the route line, and — in an event — other athletes' markers.
- Live stats: battery, distance, current speed, time and average speed.
- A health pill summarising GPS, connectivity and battery state at a glance.
- Buttons for I'm OK, Alert, Pause/Resume, and an end control
that depends on the format:
- Race — before the gun, Cancel start backs you out cleanly and keeps you registered, no DNF. Once the gun's gone, the only early exit is Abandon, which is a DNF.
- Time trial — Abandon is the only early exit, from the moment you tap Start. There's no pre-gun grace period like a race has, since a TT has no gun — abandoning before you've even crossed the start line still records a DNF.
- Sportive or point-to-point — slide-to-end, if you want to stop before reaching the line or your final checkpoint. There's no challenge-code friction like Abandon, but ending early is still a DNF — unranked doesn't mean DNF-free.
- Meet-up — slide-to-end, whenever you're done. This is the only format that never records a DNF for ending your own activity.
During the ride
- Pause when you stop for a mechanical, a café or a nature break — it freezes your distance and moving time. See Pausing and resuming.
- Tap I'm OK to reassure your watchers if you've been stationary a while. (Sending it needs signal; the app tells you if it couldn't go.)
- Tap Alert in an emergency. You'll confirm, then have a short cancellable countdown before it actually sends, so a pocket-tap can't fire it by mistake. It alerts the event organisers with your location; it does not contact emergency services, and it never ends your ride. See Alert and crash detection.
- Automatic crash detection runs during events too, the same as on a Just Ride: if your speed drops from fast to a dead stop, the app starts the same cancellable countdown and, if you don't cancel, raises a crash Alert to the event organisers.
- Open the app on another device (say the web app) while your phone is tracking and you'll see a "You're live on your other device" strip with a link to watch your own tracking. It's read-only reassurance: your ride keeps running on the phone, and a second device can't stop or end it. You can still sign out on that second device without affecting the ride.
Important
- The app never ends your ride on its own. It won't stop because you paused, lost signal, your phone got killed in the background, or a network request failed. Your ride continues until you stop or abandon it, you cross the finish line, or the organiser's cut-off time passes. See Finishing a ride and What happens when I lose signal?
- The app never signs you out mid-ride. If your login needs refreshing you'll see a gentle banner, but your ride keeps recording.
- The tracking notification can't end your ride. It shows a single "Finish…" action that just opens the app on your end screen — tapping it doesn't stop tracking by itself. Nothing in your pocket or on your lock screen can end the ride on its own.
Troubleshooting
- The Start button shows "Opens in…". The start window opens shortly before the event: about 1 hour before mass-start races, 15 minutes before time trials and sportives, 2 hours before point-to-point events, and a full 24 hours before meet-ups (going early is a real recorded start — see Register for an event).
- GPS warm-up is slow. Step into the open, away from buildings or tree cover; you're away once accuracy looks good.
- I armed for the wrong race. Before the gun, tap Cancel start — you stay registered and can start again any time before the gun.