Novice here how do you track distances and speed?

[Owletterocks]

Getting back on my bike and would like to join a club but not until I know I can cycle a decent distance at a decent speed. Happy to go out alone and build this up but how do you go about it? My Fitbit won't measure cycling distance. Any good apps out there?

I use cyclemeter and really like it, its basically Satnav for your bike although I use a proper speedometer attached to my bike to track speed.
I also added a free run short cut to my Fitbit which I only use when I ride my bike so I have some data on my Fitbit.

As a starter, you can used MapMyRide on your phone. After a bit, most people get a Garmin (or similar) of some description as the phone apps can lose you as you go in and out of signal.

Strava is good, and most clubs have Strava groups so you can see what sort of distances and speeds they are doing on club rides. I have a Garmin which sits on my bike so I can see exactly what speed I'm doing, and my average for the ride - very motivational and has really helped me get my speeds up!

Great, thanks. Maybe an app for now and put a garmin on my birthday list! Are they expensive?

Great, thanks. Maybe an app for now and put a garmin on my birthday list! Are they expensive?

Is strava an app?

Strava is an app - it's free! I got my Garmin on a special offer for about £80 - it's an Edge 200 which is the smallest most basic one there is I think. Does everything I need it to though!

Strava app on my phone. I also have a garmin edge that I can download to my laptop but I use my phone modtly as that's instant.

Strava is by far the best cycling app and is free for basics. You can track using an iPhone but if you use a phone holder and have the screen in front of you during the ride this can use up your battery quite quickly. For shorter distances you will most likely be fine with this but if you want to do longer rides then a garmin or other bike computer is really useful - not just for tracking speed and distance but also for navigation.