You don't need anything to start watching — no account, no app to install, nothing to pay. Watching is part of what Aster is for. Here's the quick path.
Watching an event
- Open the event link someone shared, or find the event under Events. It opens in any browser — no sign-in for public and unlisted events.
- Open the Map tab: each athlete is a moving marker showing their live location, with the route and the trail they've left behind.
- Open the Riders tab for live progress. Races and time trials show standings and gaps; sportives and point-to-point events show times and "on course / finished" instead — here's why. Meet-ups skip this tab entirely — it's a map-only, untimed activity, so the marker is the whole picture.
- Tap any athlete to focus on them and see their trail and stats — tapping also stars them as a favourite for this event, so their marker is easy to find.
That's it. More on reading the map · More on the leaderboard.
Watching one person (a shared ride)
- Open the watch link they sent you (it looks like
…/ride/watch/…). - You see their live location, trail, distance and time — no account needed.
- The page updates live until they finish, then keeps showing the finished ride.
Want alerts? Add an account
Watching is open to everyone, but if you want Aster to tell you when something happens — an event you care about goes live, an athlete you follow starts or finishes, or someone raises an Alert on a ride you're watching — sign in and follow the event or athlete. Use the mobile app if you want push notifications. See Following riders and getting notified.
Three things to know
- A paused or stopped marker usually means the athlete paused or lost signal. When an athlete finishes, their result freezes and — on the live map — their marker fades out and clears a couple of seconds later; the live map is for who's still on course. Their frozen result stays on the leaderboard and in the replay.
- Trail gaps are usually just dead zones; the missing section fills in when the athlete's phone reconnects.
- Private and members-only events are the exception to open watching — they need a sign-in. More on privacy levels.