Anyone keep written records of rides?

[Shut Up Legs]

I use SportTracks on Windows, and on Linux I use TurtleSport, GoldenCheetah and TripTrack. The last one you may not recognise: I wrote and named it myself, which is a perk of being a software engineer.

 

[Always Cross]

I’ve kept a exercise diary since 1999. Every run or cycle ride has gone in it since then. I’ve also logged cycling mileage on a few web sites one for 3 or 4 years then that shut down. Then after that I use My Cycling Log that went down for a bit at the beginning of the year but my trusty book and pen has never let me down.

 

[Vantage]

but my trusty book and pen has never let me down.

This.
I also find pen and paper to be a bit more 'personal'.
There's something cold and clinical about reading something on a screen.

 

[LeetleGreyCells]

I use a Numbers spreadsheet with data taken from Cyclemeter app for iPhone (I don’t have a dedicated cycle computer). Cyclemeter automatically uploads my rides to Strava as a back up. Of course, I have to remember to start the Cyclemeter app at the start of each ride....

 

[Heltor Chasca]

I use MyCyclinglog.com as this links to my maintenance record, plus Strava for statistics. I've also got a spreadsheet (overkill?) that links to how much I've spent and saved plus what I've actually got in stock bike/equipment-wise.

Only on big rides to a I do a 'proper' write-up.

New registrations disabled. The server must be full of your miles.

 

[robjh]

I record everything in an Excel spreadsheet. I started this about 15 years ago,with two different lists - 'tours and noteworthy rides' for exceptional stuff that I wanted to remember, and commutes, where I noted my speed (and hopefully, improvement over time).
This left a large unrecorded element, composed of local and utility rides such as shopping, which can be a 20 mile or more round trip from my house, and could have added up to several hundred miles per year. Since I like knowing my yearly total - for my own satisfaction, as well as replying to the inevitable posts on here every December - I gradually added more and more rides into the spreadsheet, and have for the last two years recorded every ride over a mile.

 

[Globalti]

Yes I record everything except quick test trips up the road. Depressingly my average speed hasn't increased at all over the eight years I've been road riding.

 

[AlanW]

I still write every ride down in a diary and have done since 20+ years ago, plus I keep a monthly spread sheet. When Strava and Garmin Connect came along I thought that I would cease to manually log my rides, but old habits die hard I'm afraid.

So now all my rides are logged on Strava, Garmin Connect and RWGPS....just to be sure

 

[Gary E]

I used to keep a spreadsheet of all my rides. It started with just the date and distance but then, over time, I added things like average speed, cadence, weather, route, companions, which bike I used, notes on the ride, marks for how much I liked the ride, traffic encountered, running totals for the year, change in average speed/cadence........you get the idea. It got to the point where I spent longer sat at the computer after a ride that I did in the saddle

I now rely solely on Strava (and my rapidly declining memory).

 

[Accy cyclist]

Not only my rides,but also other sport/any form of exercise since 1988 when i decided to become an exercise addict. I've kept all my diaries,though 1989's and 1990's were lost somewhere along the line. Regarding cycling,i record the distance,the time it takes,the route of the ride,the average speed and the maximum speed,though why the maximum i don't know,probably just because it's always available on basic cycle computers. The last year or so i've stopped writing down the route as they're more or less the same and the diaries i've recently been using haven't the space to write them down. This years diary will be a pain to keep as the others are 'pocket sized' ones,but this year's is one of those A4 sized ones that go on the wall. I can't see that not ending up dog eared over the coming years.

 

[AlanW]

....and the maximum speed,though why the maximum i don't know,probably just because it's always available on basic cycle computers.

Glad I'm not the only one and like you I could never understand why I recorded it??

 

[Accy cyclist]

Glad I'm not the only one and like you I could never understand why I recorded it??

I don't think we'll be the only ones and why not,it's there to look at and remember how things were then. It's also good for reference as i started swimming again last month after 26 or so years off. I can look back to say 1991 and see how long it took me then to swim 50 lengths compared to now. I've heard of folk writing down the weather for their ride that day,even what they had for their cafe stop. I'm not that obsessive,but i can empathise with someone who does.

 

[lane]

Only on Strava and think that only goes back about three years. I did a write up for my own interest of a recent tour to Holland. I keep my audax cards. I have done quite a few tours and it might have been nice to have had a write up of all those I suppose to look back on. Maybe I will get in the habit of writting up tours from now on. It might be of interest over the winter to at least try to remember where the tours were and when and list them all down with what detail I can remeber. I did most with a friend who has a brilliant memory and will be able to fill in the blanks. I'm not really interested in keeping a written log of my similar local rides - "did the shardlow circuit fot the xxxth time" or "cycled to Barrow on Soar for the xxxth time". Longer rides, audax or tours it might be nice to have a record.

 

[Low Gear Guy]

I started a pen and paper diary this year when I realized that I couldn't remember all my rides or what repairs I had done to the bike. A notebook is more flexible than a spreadsheet as you can add photographs and maps as well as notes.
I have never bothered with Strava etc. As I do not need to know if someone was faster up the hill.

 

[Always Cross]

Distance is my thing I know i’m Slow speed wise and getting slower. My diary is very simple just date, distance and what bike i’ve used. Unless it’s an Audax ride then I put in where it was. From this I can keep an eye on my Edington number. I run 7 Edington numbers one for each bike = 5 plus annual number and overall number to rule them all.