Riding Journal

Hi all. Me again with a question. From my first time back in the saddle 11 days ago, I have been keeping my stats in a little date book. I remember when I used to ride, I kept very copious notes on my rides, including vital statistics from my HRM. Of course, back then my goals were very different than they are now. Those of you who are riding casually (that is those who are not training to race, for example), what kinds of stats do you keep track of for your rides? Right now I'm just recording time, average speed, and distance. However, today was OK ride, but felt crappy the whole time. I realized it was that time of the month. I had forgotten that those kinds of things are important to keep track of in a riding journal, as you can look back to see trends and adjust in the future.

It's all with pen and paper, as I used to do, but I'm sure there are some tools out in cyberspace that might help. So now I'm curious what others' systems are. How/what do you keep track of your rides?

I keep an Excel spreadsheet with mileage, time, type of ride (road, mountain, or commute), and short notes about where, who, etc.

I was really into tracking things a few years ago. Now I just find myself wondering when I'm ever going to do with this info.

I just keep a blog. I have some apps on my phone that track stuff that goes online as well. I also use my "Smash Book" for pictures, maps, and other stuff cycling related. Just need to take more pictures..LOL.

I used Bikejournal.com for a time. It worked well. If memory serves, there's a free version that allows you to track a limited amount of data and a paid version that allows you to track more. I stopped tracking a couple of years ago when my bike computer started acting up, and I didn't bother to replace or fix it. I should add that to my to-do list!

I have an Excel spreadsheet with mileage, the mileage from the odometer, and a spot for notes about conditions, what I ate, that sort of thing. I should add a spot for average speed, but I'm too lazy to figure out how to reset that.

Sporttracks. I use the paid version because it has so many incredibly useful plugins but the free version is still pretty robust.

Editing to add that I would not use an online site as the sole method. If that site goes defunct you will lose all your data.

I was using MapMyRide.com, but have pretty much moved to RideWithGPS.com. I find it helpful to track mileage, elapsed time, and HRM information. That is with road rides, the only thing I track when mountain biking is elapsed time and HRM information. I couldn't care less how many miles I've ridden on the trails, it is the time that is important. Eventually I might get fast enough on the trails that will change, but time will tell.

Interesting. I googled for some online stuff but there's so much out there, I'm not sure what's worth the effort. Or even if it's worth the effort. I'm not using a HRM now. It's good to hear what others are using.

To answer Becky, what are you going to do with it... well, when you get older, you look back at it, reminisce and say, "Holy crap, did I really do that? A metric century in 2 hours! Man, to be young again!!" ;) I'm kidding of course. About the 2 hour century, not looking back on your entries. For the short term, it's nice to chart my progress but yes, when I spent those 10 years off of the bike, it was cool to see what I was once capable of.

I have a weekly planner and list all my fitness activities. Each day has enough space for my lifting routine, and I like having everything in one place. For cycling, I write miles or time, route, maybe mph. Also anything different, for example if I adjusted the seat and had knee pain.

I downloaded Strava the other day. Used it for the first time and realized when I got home I forgot to turn it off when I stopped riding. Said I did 25 miles at 24 mph when I really did 4-6 miles at 5-10 mph. Wish I really was that fast..LOL!

A Smash Book is a scrapbook that is informal..stuff it with whatever you want. I put in my bike specs so I don't have to keep looking it up, notes, and need to put more pics in. Also notes about fixing bikes as needed or things to work on.

I just keep a blog. It has some other stuff in it too, but the narrative format of a blog allows me to think a bit about my mood, what I ate, what the ride itself was like, and I can search by keywords.

I upload data from my Garmin, but use bikejournal.com as well.

I use dailymile.com
It lets me track everything I do (rides, runs, weights-reps etc, hiking, swimming, HR, course type, etc).
It's an all-in-one tracker.
And it's free.

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Originally Posted by azfiddle

I upload data from my Garmin, but use bikejournal.com as well.

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Same exact thing for me also, upload from Garmin which I just got this year but have been using Bike Journal for quite a few years and enjoy having it in both places now. Plus I log my trainer miles which I don't do with the Garmin.

Used to use Bike Journal, which did nothing but make me feel inadequate about all aspects of my riding (not far enough, fast enough, enough hills), so I quit. It was liberating.
The only thing I use now is my bike computer, or I should say, computers, as I have 2 bikes. I look at my total mileage for each ride and cumulative mileage, as well as cadence, which let's me know if something is "off." I only look at average speed for certain kinds of rides, mostly, I don't anymore. I found that by only looking every few rides, I am often pleasantly surprised, instead of always upset.
Just me. I am not into stats, so I really do go by how I feel.

I've been logging runs on RunningAhead.com for about 6 years. When I first started cycling it was easy to log those workouts there, too. I like that I can easily look back at what I was doing a month ago, a year ago, or 6 years ago.

I also recently started uploading my Garmin to Strava, but I'm not as sold on it. I find it to be really slow and I don't want to pay for the added features. RunningAhead has everything available for free.

I like Bike Journal.

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Originally Posted by tulip

I like Bike Journal.

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+1 but I make it very simple. I am just looking at how many rides and miles I am doing. I am not riding to make the figures grow, I just like keeping track from month to month. I never change the terrain so when looking all my rides are flat. In my discription I just put how my ride was, and the what the weather was. I like comparing the weather from year to year and I keep I not what I wear in different temps to refer back to the following year. I do not use it to compete with myself or anyone else.

I think if I go the electronic route, bike journal is going to be it. Seemed simple, yet enough features to do what I'd want it to do. Thanks for the suggestions!

[QUOTE=Bethany1;643196]I downloaded Strava the other day. Used it for the first time and realized when I got home I forgot to turn it off when I stopped riding. Said I did 25 miles at 24 mph when I really did 4-6 miles at 5-10 mph. Wish I really was that fast..LOL!

OMG, that is hilarious! I would totally be doing that. One way to squash your competitors on Strava though, if you compare stats. :p

I keep my stats on a simple excel spreadsheet. I used to keep track of elapsed time, but now I only track mileage and average speed. I usually note where I rode and weather and anything fun or unusual that I saw on the ride. It's fun to go back and remember these little details sometimes. And I can certainly see the improvement in my average speed, even though it doesn't really feel like I have improved much. :rolleyes: