How to Ride Your Strava or Komoot Route on a Smart Trainer

What riding a GPX indoors actually means

In route simulation, the controller reads the elevation profile and requests resistance as you move along the course. A climb becomes harder; a descent usually becomes easier. Progress depends on the controller's speed calculation; apps and head units can use different methods. In ERG mode, the controller instead tries to hold a prescribed watt target. These are different jobs, even if both happen on the same trainer.

The simplest gradient calculation compares a change in height with horizontal distance. A 3-metre rise over 30 metres is 10%. If those height readings are wrong, the apparent slope can be wrong too. Software can filter or replace elevation, so the profile after import matters more than the file extension.

Simulation can help you practise sustained climbing and pacing. It cannot reproduce outdoor traffic, road handling, weather or the feel of descending at speed. Treat the indoor time as a repeatable benchmark within that setup, not a prediction of your finish time outdoors.

Step 1: get the GPX from Strava or Komoot

Your own Strava activity

On the Strava website, open the recorded activity, choose the More menu with the three dots, then Export GPX. This particular export is web-only. Strava warns that an activity recorded without GPS can produce an empty or unreadable GPX. Choose an outdoor recording with a visible track. These are the documented steps in Strava's export help.

Someone else's Strava activity

Open the activity on the website and look for GPX Download at the upper right of its map. The export follows the owner's privacy and map-visibility settings and removes performance data. An activity set to Only You is exportable only by its owner. See Strava's activity-download instructions.

Strava's download page does not state a tier requirement, while its missing-timestamps help describes this as a subscriber capability. Check your account; do not assume it is free. If unavailable, ask the owner for a permitted copy.

Those downloads also lack timestamps. That is compatible with the purpose of describing a course, but it means the file is not a recorded activity you should upload as your own ride.

A saved or public Strava Route

A Route is separate from a recorded activity. Strava documents opening a public route on its website, selecting the down-arrow, and choosing GPX or TCX. Use GPX for the route-import workflows here. The official route guide establishes those steps, but does not settle export access for every account tier.

A Komoot saved route or completed activity

In Komoot's app or website, go to Profile, open Saved routes or Completed activities, select the item, then choose Download GPX file. Komoot requires access to the region where the route starts. Its export help describes geometry export without the service's planning waypoints, voice navigation or maps.

That does not automatically require Komoot Premium. Komoot offers one free single region; other map access depends on your purchases or plan. Check the starting region in your account before paying for anything.

Komoot's export help does not promise elevation tags in every file. Check your actual download rather than assuming its visible website elevation chart guarantees them.

Event and club files

An organiser's official course download can be the shortest route to the right file. Confirm the event year and distance: the long sportive and short sportive may share much of a map while using different climbs. Use files you created or have permission to use, especially if you intend to share them.

Step 2: check the file before you ride

Look for elevation and inspect the profile

Open the GPX in a text editor and search for <ele>. The GPX 1.1 specification makes elevation optional and uses metres. Track points (trkpt) and route points (rtept) can carry it.

An illustrative point looks like this; these coordinates are not a supplied rideable course:

<trkpt lat="50.0000" lon="4.0000">
  <ele>120.5</ele>
</trkpt>

Finding a tag establishes that some elevation exists, not that the whole file is accurate. Look at the full elevation profile in your chosen app. If heights are missing, the receiving software may reject the file, show a flat profile or add terrain data. The behavior is app-specific.

Investigate suspicious walls

A sudden 25% slope on a road you know is flat deserves a check. It could be a real short ramp, a bad recording, a gap or an import-processing issue. Compare the map and profile before changing resistance settings.

GPS Visualizer provides a public conversion form that can add elevation from a digital terrain model. It replaces existing heights where data is available. Keep the original file and compare the result; terrain heights are still estimates, not a guarantee of a perfect road profile.

Smoothing can reduce noise, but aggressive smoothing can also soften a real short climb. Your aim is a believable course, not the neatest-looking chart.

Check the start, finish and length

Confirm the direction and start point. Inspect repeated loops and any straight line joining disconnected sections. For a very long course, consider exporting a shorter section for practice. Check your app's own size and distance limits; there is no single import limit shared by all route simulators.

Step 3: choose how to control the trainer

An app that accepts your own course

MINI WATT documents GPX import and gradient riding. TrainingPeaks Virtual also has a personal-route workflow through its Routes Library. Riding requires a TrainingPeaks Premium athlete account; Virtual is included in Premium.

ROUVY now imports personal GPX and FIT routes. Its official instructions specify subscriber access through Riders Portal > Routes > Import from file. Imported courses use map mode, are private by default, and currently exclude tvOS.

For KICKR owners, the Wahoo app offers route simulation during an active trial or subscription. Load the route, select it under Plan > My Routes, choose Launch indoors, and use Sim or Route Simulation with the supported trainer connected.

Use the GPX app comparison to compare the types of indoor route app, then check the provider's current platform and hardware requirements.

A supported Garmin or Wahoo bike computer

Some head units can follow a course and control a trainer. For example, Garmin's Edge 850 manual documents Training > Smart Trainer > Follow a Course, using a compatible ANT+ trainer. Wahoo's ACE, BOLT 3 and ROAM 3 instructions document route control with KICKR or compatible ANT+ FE-C trainers.

Check your exact model's manual. Receiving Bluetooth power data does not establish that the computer can control every Bluetooth FTMS trainer. A sensor pairing and a trainer-control pairing are different capabilities.

A filmed route

If road footage matters most, choose a filmed route that covers the course you want. A personal GPX can describe the same road without supplying any footage of it. Check which mode you are choosing before subscribing.

Step 4: make the first ride a short test

Choose a familiar climb that takes roughly 10–20 minutes. If the app uses rider weight, enter it accurately. Pair the trainer as the controllable device, choose route simulation, and close any second app trying to control resistance.

Start with comfortable gearing and a fan aimed at you. Check that resistance changes on the climb, then test pause and resume. Use physical shifting or virtual shifting supported by that controller; do not assume one app's shifting buttons work in another.

Trainer limits matter. Wahoo publishes a 16% maximum simulated grade for KICKR CORE. Check your own model and any grade-scaling settings. A steeper point on a chart does not guarantee equivalent resistance at the trainer.

Step 5: save the ride you actually completed

The course GPX defines the route. A completed FIT activity records the indoor session. Choose your app's upload option or download that recording. MINI WATT can upload completed route rides to Intervals.icu as FIT activities, as described on its download page.

Check the destination before uploading twice. If your app sends the ride directly and you also upload its FIT manually, you can create duplicates. Use the correct indoor classification. Strava's rules exclude trainer efforts from public outdoor segment leaderboards, even when a simulated ride contains GPS coordinates.

Action plan: rehearse one course

1. 1

   Export a permitted GPX and check its direction, distance and elevation profile.

2. 2

   Choose a controller with documented file and trainer support.

3. 3

   Test one short climb, including shifting and pause/resume.

4. 4

   Save the completed activity through one upload path and check the destination.

Common mistakes

• Assuming every GPX has usable elevation

  Inspect the profile after import and repair missing or suspicious data.

• Choosing ERG for a gradient ride

  Select route simulation when you want climbs to change resistance.

• Assuming Bluetooth means trainer control

  Check the exact controller, trainer and protocol.

• Expecting footage from a route file

  GPX supplies course data; video is separate.

• Uploading the course as a completed ride

  Save the activity recorded while you pedalled.

• Testing the whole sportive first

  Use a short familiar section to find setup problems early.

When MINI WATT fits

MINI WATT Routes suits desktop riders wanting permitted GPX imports, gradient resistance and 24 virtual gears with Zwift Cog, or their bike's physical shifters. Its published workflow processes the route and sends it for review before library sharing. It also offers segment results, pro benchmarks on supported courses, local FIT downloads and optional Strava upload.

For route rides, Companion turns your phone's browser into the shifter. Scan the desktop QR code and use its gear controls; no phone app installation is required. This controls the desktop ride, rather than running the riding app on your phone.

Download requirements are macOS 13 or later, or Windows 10 or later on a 64-bit PC, with a compatible Bluetooth FTMS trainer. The trial lasts 14 days, followed by $1.99/month plus applicable tax. Check Bluetooth FTMS compatibility and how Zwift Cog works before choosing your setup.

When MINI WATT is not the right fit

Choose another option for filmed roads, live group riding, native phone/tablet riding or ANT+-only trainer control. If Zwift Click buttons are essential, confirm current MINI WATT button support before choosing it. The public route page does not establish private-import behavior, elevation repair or an import-size ceiling. Check those details if they determine whether your particular course will work.

FAQ