Cycling workflow

andyeb

Curious to hear about the flow and different tools people use to plan, record and analyse their rides.

For example, I use Ride With GPS to plan my rides, upload the GPX file to CycleMeter on my iPhone to follow and record the ride (including heart rate, speed & cadence data). I then upload the recorded rides to Cycling Analytics and Strava to analyse and compete with other people respectively.

Seems to work, but often wondered if there is one tool that will do the whole thing.

What do you use to plan, record and analyse your rides?

englander

Pick a destination that I want to go to (Box Hill, Hampton Court Palace etc), then load up Google Maps and plot a route. I tweak it so that it goes on nice roads (e.g. go via Richmond Park) and then commit as much as I can to memory. I record my ride on Strava on my spare phone then use Strava for the analytics/comparisons.

For a particularly long ride or on roads that I'm really not familiar with, I'll screenshot the route from Google Maps so that I can refer to it if (read: when) I get lost.

john1967

I put my cycling gear on,go for a ride and when I get back I have a cup of tea.

Grill

I decide where I'm going to go based upon weather and what I want to ride. I never plot routes, I prefer to get lost and find my way back. I upload to Strava and Connect and usually just compare segments for reference (unless I've ridden with my PM).

lotus49

I'm a relative newcomer to cycling and I've never gone far enough to get lost so I plot a route in my head (I know the local roads very well) and then use Strava to record the ride.

Once I venture far enough afield so that I'm not familiar with the roads, I'll use Google Maps before I go and just memorise the route. I can't see myself relying on turn-by-turn directions. I love gadgets but when I'm riding, I prefer just to focus on the ride.

davep1

I plan routes with RidewithGPS, it seems the easiest to use. I have also used Opencyclemap.org (more for the MTB) and Garminconnect. I know the local roads well but it is always good to try different ones, and when you are riding 30 miles out from home you need to have some plan/idea where you want to go.
Actually on the road I try to memorise the route, but will print sections I am unsure of. I only look at the printouts as a last resort though, as someone above said, I don't like the faffing about of looking at them.

The rides are tracked with my Garmin Forerunner 410. I then upload to Garminconnect, Stava and Ridewith. Can't decide which ones I really need! :oops:

NeXXus

Garmin Connect and Edge800

andyeb

While I used to do a combination of "just go out there and ride thing" and memorising routes (including using Google Streetview to jog my memory at specific junctions), now that I'm getting up to the 60-70 mile route mark and venturing further afield, I prefer to have a planned route and one that I can follow while out there.

I don't rely on turn-by-turn directions - I just have the route plotted on top of the map on my iPhone. I'm actually finding I enjoy cycling more with this kit on my handlebars, as it's encouraging me to discover more of Surrey, Sussex and Hampshire, rather than sticking to the routes I already know.

W12_Lad

I use MapMyRide to plot a course on roads I don't know (normally nicking other people's rides in the rough area I want to cycle).
Then download to my Garmin 200.
Has worked faultlessly so far (about 10 rides of between 20 and 45 miles).
The only problem I've had is when a road was closed but I soon got back on track. (The 200 just has a breadcrumb trail so no map to help).

andyeb

Side thought: it's also safer if you are going out on your own to have a detailed planned route which you can send to your next-of-kin. I've taken to doing this as a just-in-case measure, since it's so easy.

meesterbond

john1967 wrote:

I put my cycling gear on,go for a ride and when I get back I have a cup of tea.

This, but I have an espresso because I'm more Euro.