Fifty Plus (50+) - Record keeping

I'm new to the forum, been lurking for a while. I just started riding after several years or relative inactivity. the question I have is how do you keep record of your rides? I used to have a Palm program, but I don't think it works on my Palm Treo.

thanks
J

I've got an Exel spreadsheet, that started simple and which now has every bit of useless information my bike computer can give me, plus all sorts of totals - how far this year, how far on each bike, how far for the tag-along, how far the dog's gone in his trailer, how far I've gone on my Brooks.

I'm quite sure some people find riding logs a useful aid to their cycling, but I reckon they're just fun :D

Richard

mycyclinglog.com
mapmyride.com

bikejournal.com

You're supposed to keep records of your riding? :eek:

You're supposed to keep records of your riding? :eek:

A good nerd keeps records of everything :D

For what it's worth, my son thinks I'm mad :rolleyes:

Richard

I have a Garmin and download the info to SportTracks.

I'm surprised at all these "low tech" replies. I use the single-helix, bound orthogonally organized knowledge system from Mead, a/k/a a 4 x 6 spiral notebook. I keep basic numbers such as trip distance, average, maximum speed, and total miles. Also keep notes on the routes, bike repairs/adjustments, names & part numbers for accessories & parts etc. Thus far, the system has never crashed, and the battery life is phenomenal.

I'm surprised at all these "low tech" replies. I use the single-helix, bound orthogonally organized knowledge system from Mead, a/k/a a 4 x 6 spiral notebook. I keep basic numbers such as trip distance, average, maximum speed, and total miles. Also keep notes on the routes, bike repairs/adjustments, names & part numbers for accessories & parts etc. Thus far, the system has never crashed, and the battery life is phenomenal.

Obviously you can read your own handwriting - some of aren't so blessed :rolleyes:

Richard

I'm surprised at all these "low tech" replies. I use the single-helix, bound orthogonally organized knowledge system from Mead, a/k/a a 4 x 6 spiral notebook. I keep basic numbers such as trip distance, average, maximum speed, and total miles. Also keep notes on the routes, bike repairs/adjustments, names & part numbers for accessories & parts etc. Thus far, the system has never crashed, and the battery life is phenomenal.
That's close to my system, doc. I use a Officemate 520 #2 lead to log distance, route ridden, and bike ridden. I'm a simple man. :rolleyes:

I only try to record my training rides, the club rides and the recovery rides I am not too concerned about. I use a Forerunner 201, it logs everything and the training log maintains all the entries. I had written some programs that would compare speed & time between two rides on the same route but stopped using it, TMI. I look back every now and then and see how much improvement I have made from year to year.

My riding & skiing buddy records every mile logged on the bike and every foot of verticle skiied. Wants to make sure he gets enough in during a season. I am looking for quality, if I am having fun that's all that really matters. If I were training for the olympics then that would be different. I think I am training for when I'm 90...

how do you keep record of your rides?

I don't.

bikejournal.com and my own spreadsheet

I use a Filemaker Pro database I put together that tracks mileage, average speed, max speed, time cycled, the route, and riders.

I'm surprised at all these "low tech" replies. I use the single-helix, bound orthogonally organized knowledge system from Mead, a/k/a a 4 x 6 spiral notebook. I keep basic numbers such as trip distance, average, maximum speed, and total miles. Also keep notes on the routes, bike repairs/adjustments, names & part numbers for accessories & parts etc. Thus far, the system has never crashed, and the battery life is phenomenal.

Yea, but what happens when you spill coffee on this unit:D:D

I'm surprised at all these "low tech" replies. I use the single-helix, bound orthogonally organized knowledge system from Mead, a/k/a a 4 x 6 spiral notebook.

And I bet you have downtube friction shifters with a 2x5 drivetrain!:D

I don't keep records, don't use a cycle computer anymore, don't use a HRM. Like cyclinfool says, the most important thing is having fun. Since I work full time, I can never get enough saddle time. I think I'll ride about 6000 miles this year. Wish I could do 3 times that.

I'm surprised at all these "low tech" replies. I use the single-helix, bound orthogonally organized knowledge system from Mead, a/k/a a 4 x 6 spiral notebook. I keep basic numbers such as trip distance, average, maximum speed, and total miles. Also keep notes on the routes, bike repairs/adjustments, names & part numbers for accessories & parts etc. Thus far, the system has never crashed, and the battery life is phenomenal.
+1. For biking, I use two manual palm-pilots (aka 3"x5" spiral pocket notebooks):
I keep one in my bike bag. Every now and then an idea will pop in my head that I want to remember, or I see road-names that I want to remember for a later ride, so I transmit the input into my manual palm-pilot.
I keep the other at the house. After each ride, I jot the following: Total collective miles (about 440 miles since August) ... daily miles ... monthly miles ... average speed of the total collective miles (13.2 MPH). If I were to create an excel spreadsheet, for now this is all I would want to track.

I use microsoft Word. The first part is quantitative like start time, total time, ride time, average speed, total mileage. But the most interesting thing is the commentary on the ride itself. This is where I describe my ride experience. You most likely have heard "listen to your body". Well this is where you reflect on the ride and express it. Later on, you can go back on this and figure out how and why you might have bonked, etc. I also discuss my new purchases, flat tires, helping other riders with flats, etc. during a ride, close calls with death on the road, etc.

I separate the bike log into calendar years. The important thing on the commentary is to do it right after the ride, say after showering when everything is still fresh in your mind.

I have a Garmin and download the info to SportTracks.

+1 plus I use Bikejournal just for mileage. Really no effort, once a week do a download and more information that I possibly need is stored.

Beverly have you upgraded ST to the beta 2.0 yet? Well worth it, everything transfers smoothly, the new interface is very nice and I have only found a couple of small glitches. Some plugins are starting to become available to correct for elevation and to export course to .crs format.

Thank you all for the replies. At them moment I am also using MS Word, but was hoping there is a Treo compatible program out there. Most of what's available were written at the turn of the century.

Beverly have you upgraded ST to the beta 2.0 yet? Well worth it, everything transfers smoothly, the new interface is very nice and I have only found a couple of small glitches. Some plugins are starting to become available to correct for elevation and to export course to .crs format.

I haven't downloaded it yet. I really need to get online and update my Garmin but I keep putting it off:( I hate messing with upgrades!

i use bimactive.com

i manually input my ride data which can be a bit of a PITA mapping longer routes. there are options to import data from some gps models and a program that works with your cellphone that requires a a monthly subscription.

I have a cumulative odometer on my bike computer.
That's about all I keep track of.

I haven't downloaded it yet. I really need to get online and update my Garmin but I keep putting it off:( I hate messing with upgrades!

Here's a screen shot

http://i201.photobucket.com/albums/aa32/stonecrd/ST.jpg

[QUOTE=stonecrd;5296042]Here's a screen shot

I like that. I may have to download the new version soon.

I wish they had better report capabilities. I previously used a software package that had some nice report features but didn't accept GPS files:( Maybe they'll had some reporting in the future.

Cyclistats!

Produced and marketed by a forum member. It's an excellent program (I don't think it runs on a Palm, though).

Check it out here (http://www.shastasoftware.com/CycliStats/index.htm)

I don't keep records, but I do keep CDs.

I don't.

Most of my bikes don't even have computers on them. I'm afraid that if I started keeping records I'd obcess about going faster and farther every time that I got on the bike. That'd turn bike riding into another job. I don't want that.

I don't keep records of my riding and I don't keep records of love making with my wife. I continue to enjoy both activities.

I think I should keep records, but I don't. I think it's because I don't know what I'd do with them.
I do know my mileage for teh year because i wrote own my odo readings on my bikes on Jan 1.

SO. THREAD HIJACK. What do you do with your records?

What do you do with your records?

Send them to my club for annual awards, compare progess from one year to the next, compare progress on a specific course, etc. I guess I'm one of the "data junkies":)

SO. THREAD HIJACK. What do you do with your records?

I finally thinned the herd down to a couple hundred albums I just couldn't bear to see go. I never play them. Maybe some day I'll get a new cartridge for my turntable and spend a few months listening to them again.

;):p:rolleyes:

I finally thinned the herd down to a couple hundred albums I just couldn't bear to see go. I never play them. Maybe some day I'll get a new cartridge for my turntable and spend a few months listening to them again.

;):p:rolleyes:
+1. My wife and I have compromised on what we can get rid of ... and upon penalty of death, can not get rid of. We shall not get rid of her Frank Sinatra albums (from her mother). A fair price to pay I suppose, considering some of the shall-not-dispose-items I've accumulated.

And so the thread-hijacking continues ... :D

The nice thing about an Excel spreadsheet is you can make your own categories of things to keep track of. I designed an Access relational database to hold everything to make getting data out easier.

I keep track of miles, who I rode with, where we ate, wind direction, temperature, weather, towns visited, what I wore, interesting people met, interesting bicycles spotted, topics of discussion, accidents. I used to keep track of average speed but eventually realized that it varied more by how much time was spent riding through small towns, terrain, and wind speed and not by fitness level.

What's it good for? It's something nice to read in the dead of winter. I learned that although I wear polyester jerseys during the period of greatest riding in the summer, I have more road miles wearing wool since it's good for the other three months of the year. With data like that I can justify buying another expensive wool jersey.

I purchase a new cycling related calendar each year and hang it where I can see it daily. I put mileage and ride time only under each date I ride. When I choose the right calendar, the photographs help to inspire me. If I started using spreadsheets, journals, and the like, it would take some of the joy out of it for me.

When I started riding this year, I started keeping records like I used to when I was racing. AFter about 3 weeks I lost interest in the record-keeping because it just doesn't matter like it used to. I did have to replace my cycle computer, and I got a Cateye Mity with a programmable ODO so I was able to keep that number current. Interesting fact: I had a 15-or-so year old Cateye (wired, of course) on my bike. It worked after I put in a new battery when I started riding again. This old Cateye died on a ride last week and didn't want to come back to life, even as a zombie. I bought this new Cateye and when I opened the package, the mounting arrangement looked the same as my old one. I tried putting it in the old bracket and it works. I did not have to do anything to mount the new computer! Compatibility across 15 years or so is pretty amazing.

-soma5

The nice thing about using something like excel is that you can get it to do weird stuff, like tally the miles done by the dog, tally the miles on the Brooks. It also provides hours of harmless fun trying to get it to do what you want rather than what it wants.

Mine is used more for milestones rather than performance. Yes, I like to know how fast I've gone - that's how I know I'm in the 80km/hr club. On the other hand, it's scary to note that despite riding that same hill many times, I've only hit 80 once and have never recorded a max in the 70's. It's nice to see your totals mounting and the milestones passing ... though there is also a tendency to hide from the totals because they don't grow quickly enough.

So my record keeping satisfies the inner nerd, provides some harmless ego stroking and does nothing at all for my performance :D

Richard

I have a cumulative odometer on my bike computer.
That's about all I keep track of.

+1

I get on my bike and ride it about 3 times a week and thats about it. I set my odo at 0 in January and will do it again at the end of the year. I started a spreadsheet but it is more fun to read the forums.

Is anyone keeping a record of the number of times this thread has been hijacked.


I reset my ODO on December 12. Avoid the Christmas rush and encourage myself to get back to riding after the Thanksgiving Sloth.

Thats the Bicycle year Dec 12 to Dec 11

I zero the trip meter before most rides and take a look at the total mileage before changing batteries in a computer. I also keep one iteration of drive line parts that have been replaced with a note of the date they were removed.