I download my Strava data monthly, it is easy. I do that in case one day we have to pay to retrieve it or if Strava goes away.

15yr ago I used to record rides using Garmin Forrunner 201 - very basic GPS tracking. All the files were stored in some Garmin app on local PC, nothing online, but it was easy to export all at one as a .tcx file (.gpx for individual rides) and import in bulk into Strava. Then in Strava I had to manually clean up some activities, categorize the type and give them names. Took about half a day of intermittent work, mainly the renaming and categorizing activity type.