What the ride dots represent
Each dot represents one ride, but it does not show where that ride started or ended. Dots are placed some distance along the ride path, so what you see is the shape of shared riding corridors—common streets, paths, and connectors that many rides pass through. As rides overlap, dots naturally line up along these corridors, revealing where cycling activity is concentrated without pointing to anyone’s driveway.

How this protects privacy
To reduce the chance of start/end location inference, we intentionally avoid placing dots near the beginning or end of rides. Any dot that would fall within 250 meters of a ride’s recorded start or end is removed, and very short or local rides may be hidden completely. At lower zoom levels, the map uses aggregated density blocks rather than individual dots to further protect privacy.