Logging those miles is pretty useful
for those in training and for those who are mileage junkies. Some
of you are probably just too casual to be bothered. Still you
might like to look at some of the tools available for keeping
a training log.
Log
in Quattro These have been updated to correctly calculate
averages.
Here's Steve's take on keeping
a log:
I log daily distance,
time, and route. I use the comments column to note increased
opportunities (Cycle Oregon 503 miles) or excuses (20
days of Red Air Alerts this month reduced my monthly
cycling). The log gives average daily distances, but
I’m not too concerned with that; occasional mountain
biking really messes with meaning of average speed and
distance. I often compare this year’s totals to
last or the year before to see how spring training is
going, and I like looking up prior “Bite the Bullet”
(Old Winchester Grade) results just prior to that ride
so I will have accurate comparisons instead of vague
memories confused with I Made the Grade and The Whitebird
climb. The log often gives the answer to two questions:
1) why am I enjoying this ride so and feeling so strong
or 2) why is this ride so miserable and slow? We often
unconsciously lie to ourselves about how much we’ve
been exercising, and the log doesn't lie unless you
consciously lie in your log which is then meaningless.
Cost: So I
downloaded Cyclistat and installed it on my PC. The program
is 50 bucks but you get a 30 day free trial fully functional
copy. Cool. Or, so I thought.
The install went fine
but the program takes some time to load even with only a
small amount of dat. I can live with that. How is it as
a cyclist log?
Lots of fields
to fill beside the obvious distance and speed. There's
heartrate, maxheartrate, watts and max watts and three
calorie fields.
Extras: You can
set goals and track rides for multiple riders. There
are calculators for gearing, body mass, rate, climbing,
energy burned and more.
You get Statistics
and graphs.
A Mainenance log allows
you to track when you change tires, chains or whatever.
You can do the same with
health events.
And you can see your rides
as a list or in a calendar view.
This is overkill for most of
us recreational riders. Of course you can ingore it all.
But I discovered for me the fatal flaw when I tried to import
7 years of logs. The progarm says it supporst Excel but
I had to stay with CSV (comma-separated-values). The program
won't look at anything not in the right format. I had to
tweak the field names and sequence to match those in Cyclistats
to get my import to work. A couple of thousand rides seemed
to choke the program. It didn't warn me that it was working
and nothing seemed to happen. The task manager reported
the program as 'not responding." I forced it to quit
and tried with only 12 rides. Again, the program seemed
to hang but did do the import.
I noticed a couple of things
in the preview panel, however, that were a problem.
First, my data had distance in text with the word 'miles'
following it. The program just ingnored this data. I'd have
to edit the text out in Excel. Even worse, The field I had
matched with my ride name was also blank. Turns out you
need to specify the Routes and then enter them from a drop
down list. It would have been nice if the program had generated
the drop list for each ride name I already had. No such
luck. If I created a route first and it matched something
in the import field, it would get loaded.
However, that reveals the
problem with the program. I seldom ride exactly the
same route. Oh, mostly but what about that trip to stop
at the video shop on the way home? Or, the couple of extra
miles I sometimes like to add? You are going to have lots
of rides in the pick list. This program is too regimentetd
for the non-training cyclist like myself. It wants your
rides to be exactly the same route so that it can give you
comaparitive data. Very nice for the trainer, not so useful
for me.
Still the program has thought
of nearly everything you could want including a form you
can print to take with you on vacation to fill out those
new routes when you are away from your computer. I'll pass
but if you don't have years of logs you'd like to import,
the extras could be worth the 50 bucks.
This is stand-alone software
that does a really slick job of tracking your equipment.
It has both manual and import from your gps device features.
I'd been using Map My Ride for several months. I liked
it because it did allow me to track. Gear. But I found entering
data cubersome. Sportstracks is much simpler though there
is a learning curve to get started and no manual. This is
my log of choice now. It is free but you can donate $20.00
if you use the program.
Cost:This is a free website
with a premium feature. The letter I got says "Membership
is only $20/year, non-reoccuring". I don't know what
that means. It sounds like you only have to pay once. I
doubt that. There is a reduced fee for clubs. The cheapest
is $100 for 1-19 members.
How does it work as a log?
Lots of configuration options
on your first use all of which you can change later.
Here you are selecting which of 31 fields you would
like to track so if you don't usually track elevation
but start doing so you can reconfigure so that the elevation
blank will appear in all your records.
You can create a route
map but when I did this, it didn't generate mileage.
Instead it just plugged in the mileage I had already
entered. You can pick this route the next time you enter
a ride but it doesn't seem to automatically complete
any fields. You can make the route public or keep it
private. A public route allows others to see and comment.
I didn't like the fact that this map doesn't use the
popular new feature of many cycle mapping sites sometimes
called snap-to. This prevents your having to enter so
many points to round the corners.
This is a social-networking
site for cyclists. It encourages you to share your rides
and mileage and goals and to form clubs based on real-world
organizations or just a virtual club. You can search
for members in your area and invite them to join a buddy
list.
You can look for events
in your area or where you might wish to travel or create
your own events so cyclists visitng your area can find
a ride.
The more cyclists creating
public routes and entering bike shop data, the more
useful the site can become. If you are into social networking,
this is a good way to challenge yourself and your buddies.
Premiusm features: You get
a month of free premium access on registration.
Import electronic journals.
You send your spreadsheet to the developer and he massages
the data and uploads it to your account. With 7 years
of dat, this might be worth $20 bucks. Sadly the service
has been suspended even for premium members. It is too
much work. If the site really takes off, don't look
for that service to be restored.
You also get enhanced stats
and graphics and filters so that you can look for example
for all the rides in the last 6 mos on just one bike.
I'll likely use this for a
couple of weeks just to see how it feels, but I'm still
looking for something that's better than what I could do
with a spreadsheet for my own needs.
These three mapping sites also
have a journal feature. Unlike the map feature in Bikejournal,
these all have the new auto-route or snap-to-road tool which
makes mapping much easier than when I did it using Bikely
for the favorites page.
I can't see any way to import my 7 years of logs but you can
copy and paste 25 rides from the web into Excel.
Map My Ride: Allows you to leave fields
blank such as start and finish time.
Allows you to enter a predefined route or use a new name
without creating a map for it.
Routeslip:
Must have entered route separately with mapping tool in
order to enter distance
Cyclistsnexus: No
auto cacluators for average pace. This is a simple site
but it might have gone this one more step.
