What do the Strava (GPX) <type></type> elements mean?

Question

Kia ora,

I exported all my GPX files from Strava so I could do some analysis on them and am stuck trying to figure out what type of activity each file is for.

My file looks like this, for example, where the <type> element seems to define the activity type.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<gpx creator="StravaGPX iPhone" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xsi:schemaLocation="http://www.topografix.com/GPX/1/1 http://www.topografix.com/GPX/1/1/gpx.xsd" version="1.1" xmlns="http://www.topografix.com/GPX/1/1">
 <metadata>
  <time>2014-03-21T22:44:39Z</time>
 </metadata>
 <trk>
  <name>Sugar Loaf</name>
  <type>9</type>
  <trkseg>
    ...

I know (in my head) that the activity was a run, but I cannot find any documentation of all the numbers and their corresponding activity types.

Strava says:

Strava strives to comply with the FIT Activity File (FIT_FILE_TYPE = 4) spec as defined in the official FIT SDK.

That is great, but if I interrogate the FIT SDK I can find the following in the fit_profile.hpp file:

typedef FIT_ENUM FIT_SPORT;
#define FIT_SPORT_INVALID                             FIT_ENUM_INVALID
#define FIT_SPORT_GENERIC                             ((FIT_SPORT)0)
#define FIT_SPORT_RUNNING                             ((FIT_SPORT)1)
#define FIT_SPORT_CYCLING                             ((FIT_SPORT)2)
#define FIT_SPORT_TRANSITION                          ((FIT_SPORT)3) // Mulitsport transition
#define FIT_SPORT_FITNESS_EQUIPMENT                   ((FIT_SPORT)4)
#define FIT_SPORT_SWIMMING                            ((FIT_SPORT)5)
#define FIT_SPORT_BASKETBALL                          ((FIT_SPORT)6)
#define FIT_SPORT_SOCCER                              ((FIT_SPORT)7)
#define FIT_SPORT_TENNIS                              ((FIT_SPORT)8)
#define FIT_SPORT_AMERICAN_FOOTBALL                   ((FIT_SPORT)9)
#define FIT_SPORT_TRAINING                            ((FIT_SPORT)10)
#define FIT_SPORT_WALKING                             ((FIT_SPORT)11)
...

I can also find in that same fit_profile.hpp file:

#define FIT_FILE_ACTIVITY                             ((FIT_FILE)4) // Read/erase, multiple files. Directory=Activities

Which would confirm to me that it is indeed an activity file.

Does anyone know where I can find a reference for these integers?

Answer 1

By experimentation, I’ve produced this list.

 1: Ride
 2: Alpine Ski
 3: Backcountry Ski
 4: Hike
 5: Ice Skate
 6: Inline Skate
 7: Nordic Ski
 8: Roller Ski
 9: Run
10: Walk
11: Workout
12: Snowboard
13: Snowshoe
14: Kitesurf
15: Windsurf
16: Swim
17: Virtual Ride
18: E-Bike Ride
19: Velomobile
21: Canoe
22: Kayaking
23: Rowing
24: Stand Up Paddling
25: Surfing
26: Crossfit
27: Elliptical
28: Rock Climb
29: Stair-Stepper
30: Weight Training
31: Yoga
51: Handcycle
52: Wheelchair
53: Virtual Run

I suspect 20 is for sailing, but Strava won’t let me set any of my activities to sailing to check.