One app for the trip, built on the trip.
Secret Rides was built by a New Zealand bikepacker who wanted one app for planning, riding with family watching, and keeping track of kit. Then rode it.
The name
"Out on a Secret Ride again." That's what my mate Jason posts in our group chat whenever Strava shows one of us went riding without the others. It stuck.
Who made it
I'm Doug, a rider from New Zealand. I came from mountain biking, rode the Tour Aotearoa on a fat bike, and slowly turned into a gravel bike bikepacker. On the TA I learned you carry plenty you never use, and nobody remembers which bag anything went in.
No app did the planning, packing and riding in one place, so I built one. My day job is enterprise software. I built Secret Rides for myself first, and I still use it on every ride.
Did you use AI to build this?
I’ve worked in enterprise software for years, and these days you have to use AI. It’s like a good tradesperson using the best tools available. AI is now part of how software gets built, and I use it to work faster and smarter.
The idea, though, is mine. I didn’t ask AI what to build. I knew exactly what I wanted from years of riding, and from writing code back before “we didn’t need to code”. I used AI as a collaborator to sharpen the requirements and speed up the build. Every decision is still mine, and I test everything on my own rides.
How it's run
- Invite only. For now, the way in is the pre-beta list. Later, it’s a friend who rides and likes it.
- Your data stays in New Zealand. It isn’t sold or shared, and it’s yours to download or delete.
- The beta hasn’t started yet. I’m building a list of riders who want to test it. Once it’s open, send me feedback from the app. I read every note.
What does it cost?
No ads, ever, and safety is always free.
The things that keep you safe are free, always: live tracking, SOS, crash detection, maps and recording your rides.
Everything else (all your ride history, your bikes and parts, your gear and as many trips as you like) is free for your first 30 days. After that, it’s your call: keep riding free, or keep the lot for:
- NZ$3.99 a month, paid once a year
- Founding riders: NZ$1.99 a month, paid once a year, plus extras. That’s the beta testers I pick to help shape Secret Rides. Some get up to 3 months of the lot free, and your price never goes up while you’re with me.
Either way, Secret Rides is yours to ride free for as long as you like. Paying just adds the deeper ride stats and the bike and gear tracking.
I’m building a list of riders to test it with. When it opens, I’ll hand-pick the founding riders from the pre-beta list, and they’ll help me shape Secret Rides.
No app charges during the beta. Prices in ‘What does it cost?’ start when the beta ends, and you’ll hear from me well before then.
The beta
Secret Rides is an iPhone and Android app. The beta hasn’t started yet: Doug is building a list of real riders who want to test it. When it opens, iPhone testers get it through Apple TestFlight and Android testers through Google Play.
- Put your name on the list and say why you want to test.
- When the beta opens, Doug picks testers from it.
- If you’re picked, you get an invite by email: from Apple TestFlight on iPhone, or a Google Play testing invite on Android.
- Every kind of rider. Doug needs commuters, road riders, gravel and weekend riders too, not only bikepackers.
- A few at a time. Testers are brought in in small groups, so every one gets looked after properly.
- It’s meant to stay a secret. No TV ads, no billboards. Even when it’s fully live, Secret Rides is invite-only, and the beta is too.
You start with Doug's example rides, trips and kit, each labelled, until your own fill in.
Send Doug feedback from inside the app.
Make it yours
Each with day and night.
Download everything, or delete your account. Heart-rate consent can be switched off.
Not in the EU or the UK for now.