Journaling
 

When I get my bicycle I was thinking it might be a good idea to journal, or keep a log, of each ride. That way I can see my progress. Do any of you do that or is it just a waste of time? If you do it would you mind giving me ideas of what you journal/log? Are there any journal/logs premade?

Thanks,
Coach50

I use a technologically advanced system known as Bound Orthogonally Organized Knowledge (a/k/a BOOK).

It's a 4" x 6" spiral notebook. I record day, date, which bike I rode, route, miles, average speed, max speed, and accumulated mileage to date (from two road bikes). I'll also record weather conditions on occasion, the names of new people I've met, the details of the route if it's a new route, and other tidbits of information. I have names for most of my after-work routes to minimize the amount of writing required.

Also, I keep a spreadsheet of miles, speed, average etc. so that it's easy to compare last year to the current year. I update the spreadsheet every now and then.

I like the book, because it doesn't have to boot up, it's not subject to power surges, outages, or software issue, and it's easy to bring along when I travel.

+1

Here's my ride log. Just commuting and errands happening lately, what with moving and all. I hope to resume longer, recreational rides this weekend. Since I'm up early this morning, maybe I'll leave for work a hour early.

Anyway, BikeJournal lets you record what you want, so my ride log looks different from what yours may. There are a ton of fields I didn't add to mine, and I use some that others don't.

There's a nice community there too. Did you know that DF was inspired to do the 50+ Annual Ride by my reports of attending the BikeJournal Annual Reunion Ride last summer?

I use a Pocket Pal day calendar. When opened the two visible pages represent 1 week. I record my weight at the top left corner and at the conclusion of the week I record the total hours spent riding and exercising. For each day that I ride and/or workout I record the activity, specifics about the ride or workout, make any comments that can help later, or report any "breakthroughs". In the outside margin, for each day, I record the time spent for that particular workout.

I keep a a detailed spreadsheet and the blog in my signature line.

Thanks for the link on bikejournal. I may move my blog over there as I like the stats you can track.

I use a table with columns headed "ride", "time" and "notes". I'm thinking of changing the last column to "excuses".

Returning to riding after a few years without a bike I am considering the same.However I'm not going to make this a contest.Just whatever comes to mind.No computer,odometer,group rides or any of that for me this time.I'm going to ride for the simple joy of riding.Nothing more.I don't look down upon those that enjoy the things I'm avoiding,just going to do it different this time.Probably just use a plain old journal and write whatever ends up on the paper.

I don't keep track of anything beyond ride reports I might post here or on other forums. Keeping records would be a waste of time for me and might even make me want to quit riding, but it might be the best thing since sliced bread for you.

I keep a running "blog" but don't publish it anywhere. It's just a Word Document that runs about 80+ pages by the end of the year. I have all sorts of charts (I love charts) for all my ride statistics. I also use a spread sheet supplied by a BF member a few years ago. I write a narrative for some rides and include pictures. I have found it very helpful to have notes on when I put on new tires, replaced brake pads, etc.

I use an Excell spreadsheet with days in columns with a weekly summary column after every seven daily columns. The rows are:

Day
Date
Daily mileage quota (according to a ten-week century training program I use to prepare for a century, and for maintainence)
Excuse (really :D)
Distance
Time
Average speed
Average Cadence; these last four items from the computer
Difference (Quota-Distance)
Route
Arrival Time (mostly for commute to work)
Comments

The weekly columns are total mileage for the week. I then graph my actual weekly mileage in comparison to the weekly quota (as side-by-side vertical bar graphs), and I graph my daily mileage similarly with a secondary line graph of my daily average speed. OK, I admit I am a wonk, but it's very motivating to see the display and gratifying to enter the data.

I used to also record some things like resting HR, temperature, wind speed and direction (at the start of the ride), mileage at which I spontaneously feel warmed-up, preceding sleep length; but these all fell by the wayside, and may be recorded as comments. For wind speed instead of mph, I use my own version of the Beaufort Wind scale depending on which way and how the flags are flying en route, 0 to 6(+) for tailwinds and 0 to 6(-) for headwinds. A flag waving almost to straight out is about a 3(+) or 3(-).

Just started doing it this season, I include the bike I rode, how far, sometimes weather conditions and things I find interesting about the ride. Oh yeah, and the route I took. Sometimes include how I felt, strong, struggling etc. I also total the miles at the end of each month so I can see the progress and variations. It's fun.

I just keep it in a Word document on the computer, nothing formal.

I use the Cyclistats program you frequently see ads for on the sidebar. Works great for me.

Here is one of my logs. It is a bit complex, but you might be able to figure it out.

Date ......... Ride?

09/03/2009 YES
09/04/2009 NO

That's more info than I would want to track.

About as close as I get to a log is for the days I commute. I have a large dry erase year at a glance calendar on my office wall. On the days I commute I put a black triangle on the corner of that day. The triangles are easy to see and make me feel good about riding. That is it. On all of my other rides I log absolutely nothing and still feel good about it. Now that one of my bikes doesn't even have a computer I have lost track of my mileage for the year. I will probably put a computer on it just so I will know my annual mileage.

I track weight and mileage in an Excel spreadsheet. In addition to some of the stuff mentioned above, I calculate several averages (for example, since weight fluctuates daily, I calculate my 7-day average and 30-day average weight). Same with mileage - I watch 30-day trailing mileage.

I also track number of days I commute to work.

I don't track speed at all....my riding is so varied (flats. vs. hills; recreational vs. commuting) that I don't find avg speed very useful at all.

Well, I have actually never done it, but I have thought about it.

NO. Waste of time. I know how much I ride by my fitness. When I am not riding enough I am not as fit as I want to be. Simple way to keep a log.

I have a Garmin Edge 305 cycle computer. It contains a GPS and heart rate monitor. With it I can upload all my ride stats to my computer and a website. I like the SportTracks software rather than the Training Center software that came with the Edge. SportTracks allows me to track my weight, blood pressure, etc. along with my ride stats. I reall like being able to look at the impromements in my rides and physical condition.

I'm going to check out bikejournal. I am intruiged.

BikeJournal. Google spreadsheet. Excel spreadsheet. VooMaxer on Facebook. And a little spiral notebook I keep in the van where I write down the date, where I parked, a note about the weather conditions, a paragraph (sometimes quite lengthy) about where I rode. Miles. Elapsed Time of the ride. Which bike.

I use an OpenOffice spreadsheet.
I daily log my blood pressure and weight. I use the spreadsheet to calculate the min/max + averages (as well as BMI). I do this for years or parts of years (averages). In the same spreadsheet I note the distance, time + route that I did. I also note the weather conditions (e.g. "sunny, breezy"). I track walks (Nordic or normal) that I do. I track the cross training that I do - I normally do this to do interval training - or for training when the weather outside is really miserable.