Tracking Mileage

Miss_Meliss86 · April 2013

Hi everyone,

This season will be my first official full season of biking with my road bike (started late last season) and I am wondering if anyone has opinions on how to track mileage. I am not ready to invest in anything too expensive right now as I am focusing on saving to buy a new road bike by the end of this season. If anyone has any suggestions on what to use (even iPhone apps), please let me know

lisapr123 · April 2013

I don't have an iphone but I understand there are tons of apps on there for fitness mileage tracking. My runner friends use runkeeper, there is probably a biking option too. And really, it doesn't matter if you're running or riding, a mile is a mile.

Or you can pick up a basic cycling computer for like $15 at a bike shop or even a mass retailer (wal mart, target). I had one for years and it worked out wonderfully. The battery lasted forever and I only replaced the unit because I got a Garmin. I gave it to a friend along with my old bike.

After each ride I log all my miles in both an excel spreadsheet and a little notebook.

Miss_Meliss86 · April 2013

Thank-you

I'm going to check out Endomondo and also use your idea for the excel spreadsheet, it sounds like a good idea!

bwnorton · April 2013

I also used Endomondo to track my rides when I first started out as well. Plus the free version has almost all the features you could want. I like to track my weekly progress. The only complaint I had of it was battery drainage.

I recently switched to a Garmin 200. It is inexpensive and tracks your rides. Plus the battery lasts a long time!

narak_lol · April 2013

Strava is quite popular among the cycling freaks here - you can get this free app for iphone.

Hope this helps...

Strangelyinsane · April 2013

I use runtastic which links directly with MFP. I'm not a racer and don't need a lot of bells and whistles but runtastic does everything I need it to do. They have a free version which meets all of my needs.

ClearNotCloudyMind · April 2013

I can get pretty geeky about this. I've a basic bike computer for instant speed and mileage info. I also have map my ride running on my phone for training rides. Beyond this I also have an ap continuously on called moves which tracks everything! Moves is my favourite ap but it underestimates and doesn't give elevation data...

Hope you find something which works for you? Xb

ssflbelle2012 · April 2013

I just started riding a tricycle Thursday. First time riding in over 40 years and I am over 300 pounds. Anyhow I found Mapmyfitness online and have been using that to tell me how far I have gone. First ride .44 of a mile. Second ride around noon today .88 of a mile. I hope the ride around 6 tonight will be 1.22 miles. I feel so silly being so proud of such short amounts but since having lost 148 I am thrilled to be doing any bike riding. Still have another 150+ to go but with being able to bike ride and track how far I go I am sure to make my goal some day. Try Mapmyfitness you might like it and it is free.

beatpig · April 2013

After a few teething problems - I use Strava for cycling! I tried Endo, but struggled with that...

harksy · April 2013

Strava and join the MFP Club
http://app.strava.com/clubs/gs-myfitnesspal

Miss_Meliss86 · April 2013

Strava's website definitely looks easy to navigate. I am going to try both Endomondo and Strava and see which one I prefer

Thanks everyone!

Hi_Im_Jess · April 2013

I recently started using "moves" on my iphone (free app) and it tracks mileage for walking, running and cycling (even transportation) I like it the best because I dont have to remember to turn it on, it always runs in the background.

Miss_Meliss86 · April 2013

How is it on battery life? I'm afraid of it draining my phone too much...but let me know and I might look into it as well!

Thanks!

willwhite78 · April 2013

I use SportyPal. Here's an example of a ride I did yesterday to go to the bank the long way:

http://sportypal.com/Workouts/Details/3035533

I've tried other apps, but with all my data on SportyPal and the fact that I bought Pro, I haven't really put much time into the other ones, so not sure how it measures up.

Spatialized · April 2013

How is it on battery life? I'm afraid of it draining my phone too much...but let me know and I might look into it as well! Thanks!

I use Strava on my Galaxy S3 and battery drain doesn't seem to be too big of an issue. 3.5 hour ride on Sunday, Strava on, music on, phone down to around 60% at the end for the ride - I do far worse ona normal work day.

I've used Strava, Endomondo, Map my Ride/Map my Run, gMaps pedometer (post ride, doesn't work for off-road riding), Sport Tracker and straight guestimates. I like Strava the best of the bunch, especially as I've made "friends" through it (the MFP club is awesome!) and I like how simple it can be but it also has plenty of depth (to an extent) should you want to drill for data. Used both the Android and iPhone versions and the experience is almost exactly the same. I also export the data to an Excel spreadsheet to keep track, nice to see how far you've grown.

And while it's nice to track miles, every now and then it is very free-ing to just ride and not worry about cadence, miles, speed, elevation etc.

cloggsy71 · April 2013

I use Cyclemeter on the iPhone and upload the .tcx files after a ride to Strava

katozdad · April 2013

I was out for 7 1/2 hours yesterday with Strava open on my S3. Had about 35% battery life remaining at the end of the ride.

TheBigYin · April 2013

If you already have the iPhone, i'd say that Strava is probably the way to go. The fact however that we've had pretty much every app thats available recommended and quite a few people have admitted trying a few until they found the one that suits them should give you a clue that frankly, pretty much all the apps and online sites are flawed one way or another. The secret is to find one where the flaws are in an area you're not interested in. For what it's worth, the only app/service that I've found worthwhile upgrading to the "paid for" version is Strava, and believe me, I've tried all the ones mentioned above... If only Strava linked direct to MFP in the way that Endomondo does I think it'd be as near perfect as a general purpose app is likely to get.

Miss_Meliss86 · April 2013

The fact that Endomondo does link directly to MFP is probably one of its biggest selling points for me. Once I get over this cold I am intending to try out both Strava and Endomondo and see which one I like more. It's definitely been narrowed down to these 2 though

Thanks for all of your input everyone!

Cyclink · April 2013

It depends on what you are tracking for.

If you just want to say "I rode this many miles", pretty much anything you can find can count miles.

If you want to be a little competitive against other people who live in your area, Strava is really the way to go.

If you want to track data like heart rate and speed along with it and use that to compare rides against each other and track progress over time, then something more advanced like TrainingPeaks or GoldenCheetah would be better.

BusyRaeNOTBusty · April 2013

I use Strava. Doesn't seem to drain batteries too much. I've done rides with very little battery remaining and made it through. I don't pay much attention to the whole competition thing though. I like to compete against my own best times and be able to see what rides my husband is doing, but I'm usually dead last on my segments and that's okay (I know I'm not the slowest out there, just the slowest to use Strava apparently).

fp64 · April 2013

Catyeye micro + Google Docs. Wait, I think it's now Google Drive

swmm28_71 · April 2013

I personally like Endomondo. It does all sorts of fitness activities and synchs well with myfitnesspal. You can create your own routes, workout routines, etc.