About Me

Rivera Labs LLC is just me, Axel Rivera, building apps independently. I have +10 years of experience building iOS apps in an enterprise environment (banks, government, health care, etc). Now I mostly freelance to support working on my iOS apps.

The Story

Just before the COVID pandemic started I was in the worst shape of my life. One day I was at a friend's place and I weighed myself. Imagine my face when I saw 260 lbs on the scale. That day I decided that I needed to make some changes and start working out. I used to play tennis in high school, but wanted to find a sport that I could do by myself. I tried running before, but didn't enjoy it. I did some research and decided to buy a hybrid bicycle － 2020 Trek FX3. The first few months were challenging, but everything changed after completing my first 10 mile ride. I was enjoying cycling so much that after 6 months I upgraded my FX3 for a 2021 Specialized Roubaix road bike. During my first year, I managed to complete 1,000 miles. As of September 2021, I completed my yearly goal of 3,000 miles. At the current pace I should be able to close 2021 with +4,000 miles. My longest ride so far is 62 miles; also known as a metric century. You can find me riding on the beautiful trails in Central Florida.

Why did I develop Better Workouts?

As an iOS developer I always start identifying opportunities for apps every time I get a new hobby. After experimenting with multiple ideas and prototypes I wanted an app that could store FULL workouts from my Wahoo cycling computer to Apple Health. I also wanted to review additional metrics not present on the default Fitness app on my iPhone. Now Better Workouts has become a critical tool to improve my training. And the best is still to come. I have a lot of ideas for new features that will be released in the near future. Stay tuned!

Contact

You can reach out to me in one of the following ways: