PROBLEM: You can’t remember all those rides you thought you’d never forget. Sure, it might be on Strava, but can you remember much else about it?
SOLUTION: Resolve to keep a daily cycling diary on paper or as a text file. It’ll become the best book you own.
Want to get an idea of how valuable they can be over time? Way back in 2002, RBR founder Ed Pavelka celebrated his 21st year of recording every ride. But Fred had him beat. It was already his 27th year. Their well-thumbed volumes take up a whole shelf in their respective bookcases.
Fred and Ed can tell you the route, mileage, dogs evaded, intervals suffered through and the weather for decades of rides.
Here’s why we encourage you to keep an actual diary, too:
—It reveals what works. When you ride a PR, look back in your diary to see what training got you to peak fitness.
—It reveals what doesn’t work. Tired and dragged out? Your diary entries will divulge, in graphic detail, your training mistakes.
—It’s the key to yearly progress. You can’t improve your annual training plan if you don’t remember what you did before and after events last year. The diary never forgets.
—It’s a record of your life. For example, Fred knows how long it took to drive to a 1978 race in Boulder, what he ate at the bakery stop in Cedaredge during a 103-mile ride on March 10, 1984, and his weeks of preparation for the 1993 transcontinental PAC Tour. It’s in the book.
Your training diary can be as simple or elaborate at you like. Here are some things you might want to record each day:
—Morning body weight and heart rate.
—Type of workout, weather, route, distance, total time, average speed.
—A subjective rating of how you felt: “F” is terrible and “A” means Peter Sagan couldn’t have even kept up.
—Equipment or position changes so you can trace the source of physical improvement or problems.
—A short narrative. Sample: “Big ring on Menoken hill, time-trial pace across Franklin Mesa. Legs were strong, but left knee is twinging a bit.”
I started one of these back in 1989. It’s enjoying to look back and reminisce about good rides and good friends. And you can also see how you’ve changed, how your friends have changed and the ups and downs of your cycling through the years, read about old injuries and even races and rides. I used to keep a diary for MTB racing that was much more detailed so I could look for weaknesses and try to fix or compensate to improve. Back before Apps and programs like strava we had to use pen and paper, print a spread sheet and modify it with spaces and lines for avg speed, ride time, distance etc. I basically just put my cyclometer funtions on paper. Make sure to be very detailed about times, places and people. As your cycling years pass so does your memory and it’s easy to forget last names and site locations. Have fun.
I started one about 20 years ago and you are correct about it being fun to reminisce and compare today to back then. I have always used the old Wilson-Jones spread sheets that come in a pad and have enough room for date, distance, ride route, ride time, max speed and average speed as well as comments on weather, which bike I rode, friends on the ride etc. Several sheets are devoted to rides that exceeded 100 miles and others are for the many charity rides I have participated in through the years I rode steel-frame bikes for years (and still do quite often) and when buying my first in carbon fiber bike I figures my average speed would increase, especially in the mountains. Much to my surprise my records revealed that I was no faster on climbs than on my old bikes that were three to four pounds heavier. But then, I’m not very fast on any bike..
Nice to hear others also enjoy keeping a diary. My first “spreadsheet” was hand written on a blank piece of paper and just made copies, very comical compared to today. My first MTB”s were steel and rigid, but ohh so much fun they were. Just goest show that it”s not so much the bike but the engine that drives it. I have lower average speeds but my rides are 3-4 times as longer now. I believe experience beats youth.
Yes I too was detailed about new bikes and injuries. And I feel so old when I look at average speeds from 20 years ago. I was stationed in Germany and it’s quite hilly there and I was still averaging 19-21mph. Oh to be young again. But i’m very happy with where I am now considering all my injuries, and even a stroke. Cycling is low impact and had I not been a cyclist I most likely would be a fat, lazy couch potato complaining and feeling sorry for myself. One of the best benefits for me is cycling keeps my nasty depression at bay. It”s better than any antidepressant drug or doctor.
Many more happy miles to you and may the wind be at your back. And keep up the diary.
I started a log about 20 years ago on an Excel spread sheet I use to this day with some modifications. It was very simple: ride date, ride description, miles ridden, and bike ridden. Since then I have added miles per year, component usage, flats, and a mileage progress tracker. Since most of my rides felt the same, I only noted the extraordinary. The component usage is especially handy in that it tells me I need to oil the chain, replace the tires or cables, and so forth. I also see which components are most reliable.
I’ve been writing for close to 3 years and have experienced the same benefits. Especially writing about how the training went, what I did well, did poorly, and what I learned aside from just noting the straight power, distance, elevation, etc. numbers. It’s also been really helpful with tracking nagging injuries as well to make sure I never over-pushed on my way back from recovery that’s so common. I recently created and released an app that has all the features and prompts needed to write about your training, racing, life, and goals to make it easier to start a journaling habit and to share the benefits with as many other cyclists as possible. To start your own journal, you can take a look here for Android and iOS https://endurancejournal.space/