I biked 11 miles with the Apple Watch Ultra 3 vs Strava — and there's a clear winner

Close-up of the Apple Watch Ultra 3 in a user's hand with the Outdoor Cycle workout tracking mode shown; a lime green bike is out of focus in the distance.

I biked around Seattle’s most famous glacial lake this weekend, a roughly 11-mile ride past houseboats, seaplane docks, gleaming corporate tech offices, rusting industrial remains, and grunge-era strip malls. The big finish is a captivating yet challenging 200-foot ascent that twists and turns for 1.5 miles through a towering, emerald-encrusted innercity forest.

To log my journey, I recorded a biking workout on the Apple Watch Ultra 3 using Apple’s native Workout app and on my handlebar-mounted iPhone 16 Plus using the Strava app. After comparing the data from each post-workout report, these are the five biggest takeaways.