diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index e3200e0..e93407a 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -45,7 +45,7 @@ build-iPhoneSimulator/
 
 # for a library or gem, you might want to ignore these files since the code is
 # intended to run in multiple environments; otherwise, check them in:
-# Gemfile.lock
+Gemfile.lock
 # .ruby-version
 # .ruby-gemset
 
diff --git a/Gemfile b/Gemfile
index d1565e5..d327db3 100644
--- a/Gemfile
+++ b/Gemfile
@@ -6,3 +6,4 @@ gemspec
 
 gem 'rake', '~> 13.0'
 gem 'nokogiri'
+gem 'minitest'
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/Gemfile.lock b/Gemfile.lock
deleted file mode 100644
index 0da698c..0000000
--- a/Gemfile.lock
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,39 +0,0 @@
-PATH
-  remote: .
-  specs:
-    tcxread (0.1.0)
-      nokogiri (~> 1.11)
-
-GEM
-  remote: https://rubygems.org/
-  specs:
-    nokogiri (1.16.6-aarch64-linux)
-      racc (~> 1.4)
-    nokogiri (1.16.6-arm-linux)
-      racc (~> 1.4)
-    nokogiri (1.16.6-arm64-darwin)
-      racc (~> 1.4)
-    nokogiri (1.16.6-x86-linux)
-      racc (~> 1.4)
-    nokogiri (1.16.6-x86_64-darwin)
-      racc (~> 1.4)
-    nokogiri (1.16.6-x86_64-linux)
-      racc (~> 1.4)
-    racc (1.8.0)
-    rake (13.2.1)
-
-PLATFORMS
-  aarch64-linux
-  arm-linux
-  arm64-darwin
-  x86-linux
-  x86_64-darwin
-  x86_64-linux
-
-DEPENDENCIES
-  nokogiri
-  rake (~> 13.0)
-  tcxread!
-
-BUNDLED WITH
-   2.5.11
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index e2d0958..93cc0c4 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@ $ gem install tcxread
 ```ruby
 require 'tcxread'
 
-data = TCXRead.new('23.tcx')
+data = TCXRead.load_file('23.tcx')
 
 puts "Distance meters: #{data.total_distance_meters}, " \
      "Time seconds: #{data.total_time_seconds}, " \
@@ -56,6 +56,8 @@ puts "Distance meters: #{data.total_distance_meters}, " \
 
 ```
 
+Use `TCXRead.parse(data)` to parse raw TCX data.
+
 ## 💾 Datasets
 
 Datasets available and used in the examples on the following links: [DATASET1](http://iztok-jr-fister.eu/static/publications/Sport5.zip), [DATASET2](http://iztok-jr-fister.eu/static/css/datasets/Sport.zip), [DATASET3](https://github.com/firefly-cpp/tcx-test-files).
diff --git a/lib/tcxread.rb b/lib/tcxread.rb
index 07ee14b..37db23b 100644
--- a/lib/tcxread.rb
+++ b/lib/tcxread.rb
@@ -43,10 +43,9 @@ class TCXRead
               :average_speed_all, :average_speed_moving
 
   # Initializes the TCXRead object and parses the TCX file.
-  # @param file_path [String] The file path of the TCX file to process.
-  def initialize(file_path)
-    @file_path = file_path
-    @doc = Nokogiri::XML(File.open(file_path))
+  # @param file_path_or_xml [String] The file path of the TCX file to process or a Nokogiri::XML document.
+  def initialize(file_path_or_xml)
+    @doc = file_path_or_xml.is_a?(Nokogiri::XML::Document) ? file_path_or_xml : Nokogiri::XML(File.open(file_path_or_xml))
     @doc.root.add_namespace_definition('ns3', 'http://www.garmin.com/xmlschemas/ActivityExtension/v2')
 
     @total_distance_meters = 0
@@ -66,6 +65,20 @@ def initialize(file_path)
     parse
   end
 
+  # Returns a TCXRead object from a File or file path.
+  # @param file_or_path [String, File] The file path or a Fule of the TCX file to process.
+  def self.load_file(file_or_path)
+    TCXRead.new(Nokogiri::XML(file_or_path.is_a?(File) ? file_or_path : File.open(file_or_path)))
+  end
+
+  # Returns a TCXRead object from raw TCX data.
+  # @param data [String] TCX data to load.
+  def self.parse(data)
+    TCXRead.new(Nokogiri::XML(data))
+  end
+
+  private
+
   # Parses the TCX file and computes metrics for all activities.
   def parse
     activities = parse_activities
@@ -88,8 +101,6 @@ def parse
     @average_speed_moving = speed_results[:average_speed_moving]
   end
 
-  private
-
   # Parses activities from the TCX file.
   # @return [Array<Hash>] An array of parsed activity data.
   def parse_activities
diff --git a/test/2.tcx b/test/fixtures/2.tcx
similarity index 100%
rename from test/2.tcx
rename to test/fixtures/2.tcx
diff --git a/test/23.tcx b/test/fixtures/23.tcx
similarity index 100%
rename from test/23.tcx
rename to test/fixtures/23.tcx
diff --git a/test/test_tcxread.rb b/test/test_tcxread.rb
index 70b7478..68b8f8f 100644
--- a/test/test_tcxread.rb
+++ b/test/test_tcxread.rb
@@ -1,41 +1,30 @@
 require_relative '../lib/tcxread'
 require 'minitest/autorun'
-require 'rubygems'
 
 class TCXReadTest < Minitest::Test
   def setup
-    # tests for file 2.tcx
-    @data1 = TCXRead.new('test/2.tcx')
-
-    # tests for TCX file where watts exist
-    @data3 = TCXRead.new('test/23.tcx')
-
+    @data = TCXRead.new('test/fixtures/2.tcx')
   end
 
   def test_total_calories
-    assert_equal @data1.total_calories, 924
+    assert_equal @data.total_calories, 924
   end
 
   def test_total_distance
-      assert_equal @data1.total_distance_meters, 24732.34
-
+    assert_equal @data.total_distance_meters, 24732.34
   end
 
   def test_total_duration
-      assert_equal @data1.total_time_seconds, 3876.0
+    assert_equal @data.total_time_seconds, 3876.0
   end
 
   def test_total_ascent
-      assert_equal @data1.total_ascent, 452.5999946594238
+    assert_equal @data.total_ascent, 452.5999946594238
   end
 
   def test_NA_watts
-    assert_equal @data1.average_watts, 0.0
-    assert_equal @data1.max_watts, 0.0
+    assert_equal @data.average_watts, 0.0
+    assert_equal @data.max_watts, 0.0
   end
 
-  def test_watts
-    assert_equal @data3.average_watts, 226.8091263216472
-    assert_equal @data3.max_watts, 587
-  end
 end
diff --git a/test/test_tcxread_load_file.rb b/test/test_tcxread_load_file.rb
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..764dabf
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/test_tcxread_load_file.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+require_relative '../lib/tcxread'
+require 'minitest/autorun'
+
+class TCXReadTestLoadFile < Minitest::Test
+  def setup
+    @data = TCXRead.load_file('test/fixtures/2.tcx')
+  end
+
+  def test_total_distance
+    assert_equal @data.total_distance_meters, 24732.34
+  end
+end
diff --git a/test/test_tcxread_load_open_file.rb b/test/test_tcxread_load_open_file.rb
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..fb4584a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/test_tcxread_load_open_file.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+require_relative '../lib/tcxread'
+require 'minitest/autorun'
+
+class TCXReadTestLoadOpenFile < Minitest::Test
+  def setup
+    @data = TCXRead.load_file(File.open('test/fixtures/2.tcx'))
+  end
+
+  def test_total_distance
+    assert_equal @data.total_distance_meters, 24732.34
+  end
+end
diff --git a/test/test_tcxread_parse.rb b/test/test_tcxread_parse.rb
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..b534bd3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/test_tcxread_parse.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+require_relative '../lib/tcxread'
+require 'minitest/autorun'
+
+class TCXReadTestParse < Minitest::Test
+  def setup
+    @data = TCXRead.parse(File.read('test/fixtures/2.tcx'))
+  end
+
+  def test_total_distance
+    assert_equal @data.total_distance_meters, 24732.34
+  end
+end
diff --git a/test/test_tcxread_watts.rb b/test/test_tcxread_watts.rb
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d022b2d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/test_tcxread_watts.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
+require_relative '../lib/tcxread'
+require 'minitest/autorun'
+
+class TCXReadTestWatts < Minitest::Test
+  def setup
+    @data_with_watts = TCXRead.new('test/fixtures/23.tcx')
+  end
+
+  def test_watts_present
+    assert_equal @data_with_watts.average_watts, 226.8091263216472
+    assert_equal @data_with_watts.max_watts, 587
+  end
+end