Author Topic: Mileage - how do you measure yours?  (Read 5559 times)

Mel

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Re: Mileage - how do you measure yours?
« Reply #30 on: 20:59:00, 03/10/18 »

To be fair Mel, the original question was simply how do people measure and what is it they measure?  It sort of drifted from there.  I'm sorry i referred to it as a 1000 mile challenge thread in later posts - that was me seeing it as a rollover from previous years and getting carried away.
My point is that any mileage list invites comparison.  I was intrigued to know what the data represented in terms of quality of walking and how accurate it was. For example, anyone with a dog could easily rack up over 700 miles a year just exercising it whereas someone else could do a few LDWs to produce a similar mileage.  To me, one is a walk, the other is a Walk. Does it matter?  I don't know.  As I said, I only record Walks but that is self imposed rule to restrict my spreadsheet to the things that matter to me.  At the end of the year I know how many trips I did, how far I went, roughly how much ascent and total time spent walking. It allows me to see how i am going as I get longer in the tooth but it is no interest to anyone else..


Richardh, my view us that if you share it, it should be a good guesstimate.  If you don't you can SWAG it as much as you like.


True, and it's not like this forum to digress  :D


I generally measure my route out on Bing maps using their measuring tool to get an idea of the mileage (kilometre-age just doesn't have the same ring to it somehow!) before a walk but what I actually log on ViewRanger is what I class as the "actual" distance I actually walked. I'm pretty happy that VR is accurate enough for me as I calibrated it against a known one mile circuit (according to my car's odometer).  Comparing it against my pal's Garmin GPS when we walk together, VR is always 0.2 miles less. 


My mileage aim for 2018 is to walk a mile a day (hence my goal mileage of 365), mainly to get me off my backside and out in the fresh air as it's all too easy for me to flop onto my settee after work and stay there until bedtime  :-[   I record pretty much all my walks, including walks to the shops which can range from the shortest of 1 mile to the longest of 4 miles.  If I only logged my Walks (with a capital wubbleyou) then I'd probably only officially do about 20 miles a year  ;D   


Logging ascent/descent, for me, is pretty pointless seeing as where I live is flat.  In some places I'm even walking below sea level, but at best, a 25 foot hill over a quarter of a mile is about as challenging as it gets  :'(




vizzavona

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Re: Mileage - how do you measure yours?
« Reply #31 on: 07:37:16, 04/10/18 »

Reply to April....the knotted string user,
Ah!...now that I see that you use the 2.5" knots for measuring distance on the 1:25,000 maps I fully understand  now ....a much better way of getting accuracy for distance compared to e.g. adding up the grid squares.
I guess that I was assuming use with a 1:50,000 map but even then my calculations were incorrect...should be a bit more than 3 cms rather than the 2.6 cms that came to the fore in my old brain.
If my brain is in gear now? the knots in the string, if used with a 1:50,000 map, should have a gap of 1.25". :)
However I will stick to doing my measuring in with the metric system.  Much simpler to use even for a septuagenarian who was brought up using the imperial stuff for measuring, and has been said, that now that all the OS maps use metric for distance and altitude....also my GPS device is set for metric my old brain is less cluttered. :)

April

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Re: Mileage - how do you measure yours?
« Reply #32 on: 08:52:20, 04/10/18 »
@ vizzavona, this will do your head in but my brain is used to using miles for distance but my brain likes metres for counting the ascent/descent  ;D Was it 1972 when we went metric? I was 8 so it was a it confusing switching over and I use a bit of both. I do have my tablet set to metric so I always put the distance in km on my trip reports. I actually have a posh compass that has mileage/km markers on the strap, not sure why I continue to use my bit of string!
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Dyffryn Ardudwy

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Re: Mileage - how do you measure yours?
« Reply #33 on: 12:54:55, 04/10/18 »
I usually consult a good reference book or internet article about the walk i intend doing , and then carefully study their distance estimate and duration for the walk.
The majority of the most popular walks both in Snowdonia and the Lakes are a known quantity, so knowing exactly how far a walk is, is a bit pointless for me.

Can the walk be achieved in a day, that's all i want to know, and is the terrain particularly demanding or gentle.

I am more concerned about the type of terrain to be encountered, than how far a particular walk is in over all distance, but its fairly straightforward to measure a particular walk by using the relevant O/S map.

All i need to know, is a rough estimate of time and distance for my walk and then i check the weather forecast.



richardh1905

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Re: Mileage - how do you measure yours?
« Reply #34 on: 15:59:30, 04/10/18 »
Richardh, my view us that if you share it, it should be a good guesstimate.  If you don't you can SWAG it as much as you like.



I'm really not caring; it's just a bit of fun to me.


If I did SWAG it, as you put it, the only person I would be cheating would be myself.
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ninthace

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Re: Mileage - how do you measure yours?
« Reply #35 on: 18:00:15, 04/10/18 »

I'm really not caring; it's just a bit of fun to me.


If I did SWAG it, as you put it, the only person I would be cheating would be myself.


Depends how consistent your S.W.A.G.s are.  If it's just a bit of fun - why publish?


(You do know that a SWAG and a guesstimate are synonyms?)
« Last Edit: 18:20:09, 04/10/18 by ninthace »
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peapod21

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Re: Mileage - how do you measure yours?
« Reply #36 on: 18:39:06, 04/10/18 »
I use my trusty Garmin Foreunner or the Strava app on my phone. Will only record any walk over a mile in distance.  :)
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Stube

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Re: Mileage - how do you measure yours?
« Reply #37 on: 20:03:01, 04/10/18 »
I'm old school - and use a wheeled map measurer for measuring distances if I'm recording something.

Out in the field I'll just count squares to estimate journey times to where I intend to camp.

Usually I don't bother to record any walk of less than two days duration - hence I have no idea of my annual total!

Mel

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Re: Mileage - how do you measure yours?
« Reply #38 on: 21:08:53, 04/10/18 »

....just a bit of fun to me.



Same here.  It's interesting to see the targets other people set themselves too. 


Similarly, looking at the Wainwrights Bagged thread.  The daft banter from members long gone.  Tis a pity everyone's too serious on here nowadays  :(


ninthace

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Re: Mileage - how do you measure yours?
« Reply #39 on: 21:41:22, 04/10/18 »
Just worked out my distance walked for 2018 is 38700 lady Blue Whales laid end to end. That's 40313 gentleman Blue Whales. Tried to do it in football pitches but there appears to be no fixed length so I couldn't.
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richardh1905

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Re: Mileage - how do you measure yours?
« Reply #40 on: 07:52:03, 05/10/18 »

Depends how consistent your S.W.A.G.s are.  If it's just a bit of fun - why publish?




Why on earth shouldn't I, ninthace?
If I'm a few miles out in a month, does it really matter?
Who cares - I certainly don't.


I don't understand why you have such a bee in your bonnet about it.
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richardh1905

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Re: Mileage - how do you measure yours?
« Reply #41 on: 07:55:35, 05/10/18 »

Same here.  It's interesting to see the targets other people set themselves too. 


Similarly, looking at the Wainwrights Bagged thread.  The daft banter from members long gone.  Tis a pity everyone's too serious on here nowadays  :(



Agreed Mel. I'm no fan of Wainwright ticking (as you may recall), but each to their own.  :) 


To me, lists and targets are an entirely personal thing, and if it motivates people to get out into the hills, or to get a few miles under their belt every day, then that is what is important.
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richardh1905

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Re: Mileage - how do you measure yours?
« Reply #42 on: 07:57:22, 05/10/18 »
I'm old school - and use a wheeled map measurer for measuring distances if I'm recording something.


I've got one of those! It was my father's, and I've taught my youngest son how to use it.


Bing Maps is easier though.
« Last Edit: 08:05:41, 05/10/18 by richardh1905 »
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adalard

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Re: Mileage - how do you measure yours?
« Reply #43 on: 09:30:05, 05/10/18 »
I plot my walks in advance on OS Maps and if I vary the route while I'm out, I'll revise it on there when I get home. I just use the total distance and ascent figures it gives me when I save the route.


As I have a tendency to wander around or climb up a bit higher to take photos as I go, it's probably very slightly under what I actually do but it's close enough. I only started recording these figures on an Excel sheet this year, just out of curiosity really. I'm not super fit or sporty so it's a nice boost to my morale to see what I've achieved, and a bit of fun.


Doddy

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Re: Mileage - how do you measure yours?
« Reply #44 on: 11:34:35, 05/10/18 »

On my week, or multi week, trips I measure my route on maps with a map measuring wheel based on 24k (15 miles) a day. I use this to produce a menu plan on where I can resupply, get meals and obtain water. At home during the week I have several measured walks/runs/bike routes and add up the miles done at the end of the week.[/color]  
Although I could measure miles on my phone as I wild camp most of the time I need to preserve my battery.[/color]  
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