Lap Track app tutorial

Use this guide to load a race file and work through the current Lap Track analysis views, including race-window detection, sectors, elevation, playback, and the AI analysis prompt. Your activity file is parsed in the browser and is not uploaded by the app.

Open Lap Track

1. Load a race file

Open the app and select Choose race file.
Select a FIT, GPX, or TCX file from your computer. The app identifies the sustained race effort, course, start, finish, and laps, even when the file includes recording before or after the race.
Use the sample file shedpark-2024.fit to try the workflow.

Lap Track app file loading screen with the Choose a data file control — File loading state with the prominent Choose a data file control.

2. Load from Strava

The optional Strava integration lets you browse recent activities or search by time period and title. Open the app’s Load from Strava card, choose a period, optionally filter for races, and select Load on an activity.

Strava access is part of the Lap Track beta. Your Strava activity data is fetched only after you authorize it, and selected activity results are cached temporarily in your browser to make repeated searches faster. You can disconnect Strava from the dialog at any time.

Lap Track protects the owner athlete account and allows other athletes to use the remaining beta connection slots. When the limit is reached, an older non-owner authorization may be revoked to make room for another athlete. If no slot is eligible yet, try again later.

Lap Track Strava activity dialog showing the activity loading state — Strava activity dialog with the loading state and activity browsing controls.

3. Check settings and race tuning

Open Settings from the app menu to set FTP, threshold heart rate, units, and map style. Enable Race & Lap Tuning from the menu when the detected start, finish, lap overlap, or smoothing needs adjustment. It is hidden by default to keep the analysis view focused.

Lap Track app with the Settings menu open over a loaded activity — Settings menu open over a loaded activity.

4. Start with the summary

The summary view brings together the course, lap review, optimal lap, and section information. Select a lap from the quick selector or lap table to compare that lap against the rest of the race.

Lap Track summary view showing lap review, course overview, and optimal lap — Summary view with lap review, course overview, and optimal lap.

5. Read the map overlays

Open the Map view and choose a basemap and overlay. Available overlays depend on the data in the file and can include power zones, heart-rate zones, cadence, speed, grade, elevation, course sections, and quadrant analysis.

Use the lap and section-or-sector selector to change the highlighted data. The zone legend reports both percentage and time distribution for the current race or lap. Elevation bands are relative to the selected course range, while the optional elevation underlay uses a grayscale relief treatment.

Lap Track map view showing a color-coded course overlay and zone legend — Map view with a color-coded course overlay and zone legend.

6. Compare sectors and sections

The Lap Review strip divides the detected course sections into six consistent location-based sectors. These are not time percentages: Sector 1 represents the same course portion on every lap. Click a sector strip segment or choose it from the Section or sector selector to highlight the grouped ranges on the map.

Section Analysis lists the virtual sectors first, followed by the individual corners and straights. Each row can be compared across laps using elapsed time, speed, power, heart rate, cadence, and elevation.

Lap Track Section Analysis showing sectors and course sections across laps — Section Analysis showing the virtual sectors and individual course sections.

7. Compare charts

The Charts view keeps the charts synchronized. Hover over a chart to move the shared vertical datapoint marker across all charts and the map. Reference lines identify FTP in the power chart, threshold heart rate in the heart-rate chart, and 90 rpm in the cadence chart.

Lap Track charts view showing synchronized performance charts — Charts view showing the synchronized performance charts.

8. Use playback

Select the play control in the menu to start playback. Playback controls appear as a transparent map overlay. Pause keeps the yellow position marker visible; changing the speed updates the playback rate without rebuilding the map or charts.

Lap Track map with the paused playback controls and yellow position marker — Paused playback with the yellow position marker still visible.

9. Review laps and course sections

Use Lap Analysis to compare elapsed time, speed, heart rate, power, normalized power, variability index, efficiency factor, and intensity factor. Use Section Analysis to compare the same course positions across laps and identify where time was gained or lost.

Lap Track lap analysis table with grouped metric headers — Lap analysis table with grouped metric headers and variability index.

Lap Track section analysis comparing individual course sections across laps — Compare the same physical course sections across laps.

10. Prepare an AI summary

For locally loaded FIT, GPX, or TCX files, select the sparkly AI button in the navigation and choose Copy to Clipboard in the dialog to place a guided prompt and the current analysis JSON on the clipboard. This export is not available for Strava-loaded activities; download the original activity file from Strava and load it directly first. The payload includes lap metrics, section and sector comparisons, zone distributions, entry, exit, minimum, and maximum elevation for each section and sector, plus whole-race and per-lap temperature statistics when the source file contains temperature data. Paste it into your preferred AI assistant for a coaching summary, highlights, opportunities, and recommendations.

Lap Track AI race summary panel with the navigation AI button — AI race summary controls and the analysis data prepared for your preferred AI assistant.

Keyboard navigation: Use 0 for the whole race, 1 through the available lap numbers for individual laps, and l for the lead-in. Use the arrow keys to move through datapoints.