Keeping Score

[pooks]

I've been logging my miles (and fractions of miles) on bikejournal, and then decided to also keep them on my blog. I also went out on a limb and stated that I planned to ride 1,000 miles by the end of the year.

Today I added something new, "Green miles." While they are also included in the total miles cycled, I'm keeping track of how many miles I ride that replace a car trip. For example, I can ride to the post office every day to check our p.o. box, instead of driving. That's what I did, today.

My goal is to ride to the p.o. daily and save my health and the planet at the same time. By putting it on the blog, I hope it keeps me motivated.

Does anybody else keep some kind of public record? Or even private?

What kind of record do you keep beyond total miles? Miles on a stationary bike or road separate from dirt?

[SadieKate]

Pooks, I thought you were registered over at bikejournal.com? You can see how everyone who logs there (with a public journal) tracks miles.

[pooks]

I am registered there and I log my total miles there. I also log my weight there and keep it private, ahem. But to keep the pressure on myself, I am keeping the records on my blog where people who know me personally can see them, and ask my why I'm slacking (if I am).

And I was really glad that I decided to log the green miles. That's one of my reasons for getting a bike, and it's sometimes hard to convince yourself that the .5 mile here or 1.6 miles there is worth the effort, but I think that seeing the miles increase will make it more real and important to me, and maybe inspire some of my friends to do the same.

[Deanna]

I log all my miles on bikejournal.com and my commute miles also get logged on my clubs website: http://www.srcc.com/cgi_bin/commute.pl . They have a raffle at our year end meeting--the number of entries you get is determined by the number of trips and miles you commute by bike. Maybe you and your friends can do something similar.

[yellow]

pooks, I log my cycling on bikejournal but since I do lots of other stuff, I also keep a private Excel spreadsheet that is much more detailed. I heard (read?) a rumor on BJ a while back that maybe, just maybe, the database might be altered so that we can include other activities (such as running and swimming). So stay tuned in to BJ.

[mimitabby]

I am on bikejournal too. Before i heard of team estrogen, i watched my husband recording all of HIS miles on bikejournal and thought he was being really silly.

Then i got the idea of team spirit and i've been hooked ever since!

[pooks]

I log all my miles on bikejournal.com and my commute miles also get logged on my clubs website: http://www.srcc.com/cgi_bin/commute.pl . They have a raffle at our year end meeting--the number of entries you get is determined by the number of trips and miles you commute by bike.

That's a really cool idea. I admire people who bike-commute, too. That would be really challenging, between battling rush hour traffic and arriving (in my case) dripping with ... um ... a ladylike glow.

[Deanna]

That's a really cool idea. I admire people who bike-commute, too. That would be really challenging, between battling rush hour traffic and arriving (in my case) dripping with ... um ... a ladylike glow.

We define "commute" pretty broadly--any thing you do by bike instead of car. Including riding to the official start point of a club ride. So your green miles all count as commute miles. Trips add up pretty quickly too: a round trip counts as two trips. If I stop at the store on the way home, that brings the trip count up to three.

[CycleChic06]

This might be slightly OT for this thread, but it definitely falls under the Keeping Score title.

So...while riding, is it considered cheating to stop the clock, in a sense, when stopped at long traffic lights? I think avg speed is really important when tracking my prorgress and I don't think it's fairly relfected if I just let my computer run while I'm stopped for longer periods while waiting for traffic lights.

What are everyone's thoughts on this?

Emily

[Grog]

So...while riding, is it considered cheating to stop the clock, in a sense, when stopped at long traffic lights? I think avg speed is really important when tracking my prorgress and I don't think it's fairly relfected if I just let my computer run while I'm stopped for longer periods while waiting for traffic lights.

Many bike computers have an automatic start/stop feature. I've never had anything else. It stops counting time when your wheel stops turning. So I would guess that it is a "fair" thing to stop the clock whenever you are stopped!

If my average speed included all the stops I make to look at the ocean or talk with a deer having lunch by the road, I would get quite depressed at my slowness!!

[Bike Goddess]

Pooks- I think Slantz over on the BJ would love this idea! I'll bet he could figure out a way for us to do it.

We'd have to have another category in our own ride journals so we could separate out green from just riding!

Why don't you start a thread on the BJ and see what kind of response you get???? (I trust you know how to do this!)

[pooks]

Thanks for the suggestion, BG!