Bike Journal - Journals

[Veronica]

I'm curious about how many of us have their journals viewable to others. So a few questions for the journalers.

Do you read other folk's journals?


Why do you keep yours public/private?


What categories do you pay most attention to in your journal? In other folk's journal?


V.

[Veronica]

I'm curious about how many of us have their journals viewable to others. So a few questions for the journalers.

Do you read other folk's journals?


Why do you keep yours public/private?


What categories do you pay most attention to in your journal? In other folk's journal?


V.

I read other people's journals - usually the women I ride with. I get a kick out of Jo's. Having ridden some of the rides she does, I can get a real feeling of being there with her. She's also funny! I'll read other people's when something they have posted sparks my interest - like when Ladyjai did her big ride.

I keep mine public because, there's nothing it that I feel needs to be private. I don't do detailed route descriptions, so I'm not worried about stalkers. It's enough info, so I know what ride I did.

In my journal I care about mileage, climb and average speed - in that order. I was surprised to see how detailed other people get, average cadence, weight, average heart rate, etc. Of course my HRM software keeps track of cadence and heart rate.


V.

[mary9761]

my journal is public, I don't read often, but periodically I will.

[jobob]

I use my journal to keep track of my progress (or lack thereof ). Since I have a more-or-less fixed loop I ride in the mornings, I like to see if my average speed improves over time. Someday, maybe it will.

I also like to note any changes or adjustments I've made to my bike, cleat position, that sort of thing. Then over time I can page back and see if what I did helped. That's really useful.

If anything noteworthy, unusual or funny happens during a ride, I'll put that down too. Since I have a horrible memory for names, if I meet someone on a ride I try to put down the name so I'm less likely to forget it.

I refer back to my old entries quite often. I'm really glad I have that journal.

As for other's journals, I read mainly V's and SK's, since I sometimes ride with them & I like to see their impressions of rides we've been on together. Plus I'm curious about V's training plan.

I also occassionally look at the journals of others I know to see what they're up to.

Woo woo, I'm seven whole miles ahead of SK at the moment so I'm currently wallowing in my superiority.

Edited to add: lest anyone gets the wrong impression, I really don't compare my stats to others ! My goal for this year is to be stronger and a bit faster than last year, and to be able to ride longer distances, so my competition, as it is, is with myself

[tatormc]

BJ for me is a way to challenge myself against my own stats and others so I occasionaly look at the journals of the riders around me. I do it just out of curiousity to see their speed and how long their rides are and such. I've also seen some comments that gave me a giggle. I keep mine public just in case someone would be interested. Right now my comment is Trainer over and over so it's not that interesting.

[caligurl]

my journal is private because i write detailed route info.... i put my weight.... (along with distance, average cadence, weather, average heart rate, average speed, elevation gain, ride time) and i've ridden EVERY STINKING MILE that's in there... and then some... cuz the times my HR acted up... and wasn't recording miles.. i was still riding!

that log is for ME... not to post for someone else...

i did use bikejournal last year for some motivation.... so what.. a LOT of people do... this year i've cut back on my riding so far (and i've ridden every stinking mile i've posted this year, too!)

i don't read other's journals... i looked at a couple when it was a new function.. just to see what it was all about.. but i don't even remember who they belonged to...

[SadieKate]

Gosh, Cali, I didn’t see anyone accusing you of anything. Am I missing something? I think if you take the time to do a little research, you’ll see you can choose what data to display.

Public journals are a benefit of premier membership, as are enhanced stats, rider comments and the ability to upload and download your journal. $20 a year is cheap to be able to download my journal whenever and play with the numbers. I go back and look at the data for a specific ride. I can compare the data that I record for a ride as well as the data others record for that ride. Gives me a great deal of insight into people. A cyber form of people watching - and, no, I am not a stalker. It is interesting the differing data points folks collect. I'm thinking I need to record the clothing I wear in the winter. Every year, I go through this trial and error period trying to remember what worked the best at certain temperatures.

I read the journals of those I ride with (hey, they might be saying something unflattering about me! ) and I read those of forum participants whose comments I find interesting. Plus, there are some very cool bikes to be seen.

All of which reminds me, I need to fabricate and enter a comment about Miss CindySue YouHoo.

Then, there is Jo who I thought was my compadre and there she is bragging about more miles. Gonna have to edit my comments about her.

[caligurl]

in the other thread i posted... about the fee increase....

editted to add... and i know you aren't a stalker! i'm just careful about what i put on the internet.. heck.. i try to not say where i live on forums.. other than socal!

[Veronica]

How do we know that anyone logging on bike journal is honest about what they report - other than the people you regularly ride with. Cali for all I know you haven't ridden as many miles as say you have. How do you know I'm accurately reporting my miles? You don't. It makes no sense to me, to really care about where you are in the stats in relationship to unknown people.

snipped from other thread


It's not an accusation - it's an example to make a point. We are ALL on the honor system on BJ.

Veronica

[aka_kim]

The only reason I use the BJ journal is because there was a call-out last year to add miles to the TE club to meet various mileage goals. I don't make my journal public because all entries are bulk entries for one or two week periods, and say something like "Date1 - Date2 inclusive" - makes for fascinating reading . I use Cyclistats to record the detailed info on my rides, and equipment, and weather.

I have been thinking about discontinuing my BJ membership when it expires this spring, though. I'm starting to like the forums there, where I sometimes lurk, but I don't need the journaling features, and I don't want to participate in mileage contests.

[Trekhawk]

After reading this I had to go and check mine because I had no idea what I had for mine. Ends up mines private which is just as well really because when you ride as slow as I do you dont need to advertise the fact.
I think mine would make pretty boring reading I just log the basics but as soon as I get that new computer on I will be able to add altitude stuff (and before anyone mentions the fact that Ive had the computer since Xmas and what have I been doing ---- I know I know slack I guess.

[CorsairMac]

I keep mine private. I use my logs as personal entry logs and have things in there that don't need to be in the public eye. I didn't realize I could filter out what I display publicly, if I truly can then I might make mine public (but probably not). I don't read other peoples journals just coz I figure if someone wants to share something, they'll post it as a thread. Since I ride the vast majority of the time alone, I guess it just doesn't occur to me to compare my stats with someone else.

[MomOnBike]

Actually, I don't remember if my journal is public or not.

I'm afraid that any of the ride data I put in is pretty useless to most people. "Hwy 2 loop" means nothing to anyone but me, for example.

Mileage is odd, too. DH (Dear Hubby, Dumb Hunk, make up your own...) & I often ride together & his mileage is often off from mine by several tenths of a mile. One of us probably has an inaccurate wheel diameter in the computer - or takes turns differently, or something. I try not to obsess over mileage, I don't want the mileage police coming and verifying each and every revolution of my wheels. Close enough is, well, close enough.

As for my relative position on BJ? Somewhere above 1000 works for me, and if I don't stay there, the world will keep turning. Really. I'll turn my OCD loose on something more satisfying.

[Veronica]

Now Corsair I would love to see your journal because you've been doing the unsupported centuries which I think is so cool.

V.

[mary9761]

there are two sides to the public journal and detailed routes, if something ever happens to me since I ride alone so often, it gives them somewhere to start looking for me.