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Man Cycles 264 Miles Across London to “Draw” Olympics-Inspired Map Art With GPS

By Regina Sienra on August 8, 2024

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Una publicación compartida por Nicolas Georgiou (@nico_georgiou)

The Paris Olympics still have a few more days to go, but across the English Channel, a man found a unique way to celebrate the games. Nicolas Georgiou is a designer and cyclist who makes GPS-based artwork. By creating tracking models with the help of the Strava app, he then goes out on his bike for hours on end, traveling for miles to “draw” a picture on the London map.

In honor of the Olympics, Nicolas Georgiou chose the original Greek discus thrower for his latest endeavor. Inspired by the image used for the 1948 London Olympics, the design had Georgiou cycling for 264 miles across London and Surrey. In the end, it took him 40 hours to complete it, “cycling through day and night,” as he told the BBC. He did it in two days with only three hours of sleep.

For Georgiou, his Strava art projects combine his love of cycling and drawing. This time, it also allowed him to pay tribute to London's Olympic history by visiting some landmarks from the editions hosted by the city in 1908, 1948, and 2012. “I am a proud Londoner and love my city,” he says. “What a great way [to] celebrate and to look back.”

While impressive, this is far from the first sports-themed piece of GPS art Georgiou has created. He recently drew a cyclist to celebrate the Tour de France, as well as the logo of The Black Unity Bike Ride.

To stay up to date with his GPS designs, you can follow Georgiou on Instagram.