Rider cards and badges: show where you ride

Two new things for every rider, both free: a rider card to share your Byker page anywhere you post, and badges for the places you ride to and the routes you ride.

They're on byker.net now, and coming to the app in its next update.

Your rider card

Your Byker page lives at byker.net/u/ and your username. Your rider card puts it on one smart picture: your profile picture, your @username, your link and a QR code, in Byker black and red.

Open your profile and tap the QR code button at the top. In the app, tap Share to post it to Instagram, Facebook or WhatsApp, or save it to your photos. On the website, click Download. Just want the link? Tap Copy link.

Anyone who scans the code opens your page, with or without the app. It's the quickest way to get your riding mates from a group chat onto Byker.

Badges: proof you were there

Every rider has cafés they swear by, viewpoints they always stop at and roads they keep meaning to ride. Now Byker keeps count.

There are eight badges, each with four levels: Bronze, Silver, Gold and Platinum.

• Café Racer: cafés
• Pit Stop: restaurants and pubs
• Viewfinder: viewpoints and picnic sites
• Sightseer: attractions
• Camp Out: campsites
• Gearhead: bike shops
• Explorer: every place you visit
• Road Tripper: other riders' rides you start

Check in when you get there

On the Map tab, switch to Places, tap the café, viewpoint or campsite you've ridden to, and tap Check in. You have to be there for it to count: within about 150 m, or 300 m at bigger places like attractions and campsites.

Recording a ride? You don't even need to tap. Stop at one of those places for 5 minutes or more and it counts by itself when you save the ride.

Each place counts once towards your badges, so the way up is new places, not the same café every Sunday (though Byker does remember how often you've been).

Ride other riders' routes

Badges aren't only about where you stop. When you're at the start of a ride another rider has shared, open it, tap Ride it, then I'm at the start. It counts towards Road Tripper, and it's a good excuse to try the routes other riders rate.

Your badges, your choice

Badges start private: only you see them until you choose otherwise. In Privacy and blocking:

• Show my badges puts them on your rider page.
• Show places I've visited lists the places you've been, with the month (never the day or the time).

Each switch works on its own, so you can show off your badges and keep where you've been to yourself.

Your location stays yours. When you check in or start a ride, your phone sends its position once, so Byker can check you're really there. Byker keeps the place and the day, never your position. Checked in somewhere by mistake? Remove it from Badges in your profile.

Where will you ride first?

Open the map, pick a café you've never been to, and go and earn your first badge. Then make your rider card and tell your mates where to find you.

Questions, or ideas for new badges? Let us know in the comments.