Tony C. McCray Blog: HeyGreenGO – A new way to meet fellow cyclists

One of the most common questions I get asked is: “How do I meet fellow cyclists?”. It seems many of us want to socialise beyond our current friendship groups, but we don’t really know exactly how to go about it.

Despite feeling a little awkward at first, it’s a worthwhile pursuit as we can find people who share the new passions and perspectives we discover throughout life.

A new app, designed to help create these new connections, has recently launched and is gaining popularity.

The app is called HeyGreenGO. It’s free to download and it was created by a London based startup.

Interests: Cycling

Once you download the app for your iPhone or Android device and you’ve entered the usual necessary account details, you start by listing your interests.

The options include cycling, fitness, walking, blogging, food, film, outdoors and the list continues. You can also add your own interests in there and edit them at any time. For example, I’d love to meet more fellow London based entrepreneurs, so I’ve entered that in to the app.

After you’ve entered your interests, you are all signed up.

Radar: Connecting with people nearby

The Radar view is the first view you’ll see inside the app. On this screen you’ll see the profiles (avatars) of everyone who is on the app within 10 miles. You can zoom down to 0.1 miles via a little slider that sits at the bottom of the screen, or by pinch-&-zoom. You can then filter the app by interests to narrow down the crowd, and this is reflected on the radar screen. The more interests you pick, the greater the chance of people seeing you when they filter the radar.

I can also further filter my initial interests lists and enter new interests by tapping the filter button. This is the strong point of the app and as the audience grows, it’ll be useful for narrowing down the search to people with very similar interest areas.

Alternatively, I might post in the app that tomorrow I’m going to be doing a few laps of Regents Park if anyone wants to join. This can be a group meeting or a 1 on 1.

Get cycling!

If you’re looking for a good way to meet fellow cyclists in London or beyond, then give HeyGreenGO a try. The app is relying on getting a lot of new users in order to make these connections. Who knows you might even bump in to a fellow London Cyclist reader!

The app immediately felt very intuitive to use and quick to setup. It’s a relief to be playing around with something that isn’t focused on dating and is instead focused on friendships. This feels like an area that hasn’t been tackled as much by app developers and there’s clearly a need.