Measuring distance--bike odometers?

Since I ride on our land--with curves, winding routes through brush, up and down sections, etc.--it's very difficult to know just how far I've gone (other than "as far as the first cedar from the corner post...as far as the second cedar from the corner post" etc.) I'd like to be able to track my distance in something other than country-speak. I looked up bike odometers online and found way more stuff than I can process. It seems like there are bike computers that will give you distance, all right, but include lots of other functions for which I have no use and do everything but push the pedals. Any recommendations?

Any basic bike computer will have distance. You don't have to use the other features unless you want to.

Thanks. I'll see what the LBS has in stock, then, next time I take NewBike in.

Now have a Cateye entry-level bike computer and a rear-view mirror--got them Thursday and am very, very happy with both. I'm jotting down the distances on various routes on our land, as well as street distances. The instant feedback on distance as I'm riding is a great motivator.

If you want to check out a distance before you ride (or during) (or after) :D check out mapmyride.com I use to plot my rides and also I use the recording feature. A few close friends are "friends" on the site and can track me when I'm out. It logs in to FB when I start and if they don't hear from me in 2 hours, my phone is buzzing off the chain. Worst case scenario, they could log into MMR and see where I last was.

L

Elphaba, I guess that means mapmyride has got that working now? Last I looked at it, you had to set your profile to public before it would let you do live tracking. If you can limit it to friends now, I may start using it, especially now that I've got a new phone with a little better battery life.

Also, can your friends track you from their phones, or do they have to be at their "big" computers?

I know I checked a box that says to allow my friends to track me. As for how they can, i am actually not sure since we have never had to rely on it to find me...and that is a good thing!