Training Diary
I keep forgetting to track when I modify equipment on my bike. This is annoying, because I would like to know if certain models of components (chains, particularly) last longer than others.
So I wanted to make a solution that made my life as simple as possible. The result is a command line tool where I can type
> ch2 kit change cotic chain pc1110
when I add a SRAM PC1110 chain to my Cotic bike, and everything else is done for me, automatically.
If I want statistics (how far I’ve ridden, how long it’s lasted) on chains, I can type:
> ch2 kit statistics chain
And if I want statistics on that particular model:
> ch2 kit statistics pc1110
I’m not so bothered about shoes, but I know many runners are, and supporting them was my second use case.
Unlike bike components, buying a second pair of shoes doesn’t necessarily replace the first pair. So you have to expire these automatically:
> ch2 kit start shoe ultraboost-19
> ch2 kit start shoe zoom-pegasus
> ch2 kit finish ultraboost-19
> ch2 kit statistics shoe
First, I will add my Cotic bike:
> ch2 kit start bike cotic --force
usage: ch2 [-h] [--dev] [--log FILE] [--log-dir DIR] [--color COLOR] [-v N]
[-V] [--db-bind ADDRESS] [--db-port PORT] [--user USER]
[--passwd PASS] [--admin-user USER] [--admin-passwd PASS]
[--uri URI] [--base DIR] [--data DIR] [--cprofile [DIR]]
{help,web,upload,process,search,constants,validate,kit,db,import,delete,fit,fix-fit,thumbnail,sparkline,package-fit-profile,show-schedule}
...
ch2: error: argument command: invalid choice: 'database.sql' (choose from 'help', 'web', 'upload', 'process', 'search', 'constants', 'validate', 'kit', 'db', 'import', 'delete', 'fit', 'fix-fit', 'thumbnail', 'sparkline', 'package-fit-profile', 'show-schedule')
We’re introducing a completely new group (bike) and so the --force
flag is needed for confirmation. Adding future bikes will not require
this, because bike will already be known by the system..
Now I have a bike I am going to add some inner tubes at various dates.
> ch2 kit change cotic front-tube michelin 2019-01-01 --force
usage: ch2 [-h] [--dev] [--log FILE] [--log-dir DIR] [--color COLOR] [-v N]
[-V] [--db-bind ADDRESS] [--db-port PORT] [--user USER]
[--passwd PASS] [--admin-user USER] [--admin-passwd PASS]
[--uri URI] [--base DIR] [--data DIR] [--cprofile [DIR]]
{help,web,upload,process,search,constants,validate,kit,db,import,delete,fit,fix-fit,thumbnail,sparkline,package-fit-profile,show-schedule}
...
ch2: error: argument command: invalid choice: 'database.sql' (choose from 'help', 'web', 'upload', 'process', 'search', 'constants', 'validate', 'kit', 'db', 'import', 'delete', 'fit', 'fix-fit', 'thumbnail', 'sparkline', 'package-fit-profile', 'show-schedule')
Again the system catches the first use of front-tube so we flag that
it is OK with --force.
> ch2 kit change cotic front-tube michelin 2019-03-01
usage: ch2 [-h] [--dev] [--log FILE] [--log-dir DIR] [--color COLOR] [-v N]
[-V] [--db-bind ADDRESS] [--db-port PORT] [--user USER]
[--passwd PASS] [--admin-user USER] [--admin-passwd PASS]
[--uri URI] [--base DIR] [--data DIR] [--cprofile [DIR]]
{help,web,upload,process,search,constants,validate,kit,db,import,delete,fit,fix-fit,thumbnail,sparkline,package-fit-profile,show-schedule}
...
ch2: error: argument command: invalid choice: 'database.sql' (choose from 'help', 'web', 'upload', 'process', 'search', 'constants', 'validate', 'kit', 'db', 'import', 'delete', 'fit', 'fix-fit', 'thumbnail', 'sparkline', 'package-fit-profile', 'show-schedule')
Previous tubes are retired as new ones are added. You don’t need to add the tubes in order - however they’re added, the start and end times should align correctly.
> ch2 kit change cotic front-tube vittoria
usage: ch2 [-h] [--dev] [--log FILE] [--log-dir DIR] [--color COLOR] [-v N]
[-V] [--db-bind ADDRESS] [--db-port PORT] [--user USER]
[--passwd PASS] [--admin-user USER] [--admin-passwd PASS]
[--uri URI] [--base DIR] [--data DIR] [--cprofile [DIR]]
{help,web,upload,process,search,constants,validate,kit,db,import,delete,fit,fix-fit,thumbnail,sparkline,package-fit-profile,show-schedule}
...
ch2: error: argument command: invalid choice: 'database.sql' (choose from 'help', 'web', 'upload', 'process', 'search', 'constants', 'validate', 'kit', 'db', 'import', 'delete', 'fit', 'fix-fit', 'thumbnail', 'sparkline', 'package-fit-profile', 'show-schedule')
That’s three different inner tubes on the front. The last uses today’s date as a default - that makes it easy to note changes at the command line as you do the work.
Now we can see the statistics:
> ch2 kit statistics front-tube
usage: ch2 [-h] [--dev] [--log FILE] [--log-dir DIR] [--color COLOR] [-v N]
[-V] [--db-bind ADDRESS] [--db-port PORT] [--user USER]
[--passwd PASS] [--admin-user USER] [--admin-passwd PASS]
[--uri URI] [--base DIR] [--data DIR] [--cprofile [DIR]]
{help,web,upload,process,search,constants,validate,kit,db,import,delete,fit,fix-fit,thumbnail,sparkline,package-fit-profile,show-schedule}
...
ch2: error: argument command: invalid choice: 'database.sql' (choose from 'help', 'web', 'upload', 'process', 'search', 'constants', 'validate', 'kit', 'db', 'import', 'delete', 'fit', 'fix-fit', 'thumbnail', 'sparkline', 'package-fit-profile', 'show-schedule')
In this example (which is auto-generated from the commands) there were no activities loaded (and because this code is new I don’t have any ‘real’ data to share either), but you can see that of activities were available there would be statistics on active distance and time. For more details on how this works see Loading Activities.
Choochoo can track anything that fits into this schema:
Groups These are the kinds of things you track: shoes, bikes, etc.
Items These are the particular things: the name you give to a particular bike, or a particular pair of shoes. At this level, items need to be retired explicitly.
Components These (optionally) make up the things you are tracking. So “chain”, for a bike, or “shoelaces” (maybe!) for shoes.
Models These describe a particular component. So the chain might be “PC1110”. At this level, components are retired automatically (when they are replaced).
Note that all these names can contain spaces, but if you use spaces you need to take care with quotes on the command line. I find it’s simpler to use dashes.
Also, names must be unique. You cannot re-use the same name for different things.
You are not restricted to tracking physical items. I also use the
system to track service intervals for my suspension fork. I do this
by adding two “items” called fork-service-lowers and
fork-service-oil (the “model” doesn’t matter much - I use it to
track the make of seals / oil used).
Doing this lets me see how much time / distance the forks have between service intervals:
> dev/ch2 kit statistics fork-service-oil
INFO: Version 0.28.beta
INFO: Using database at /home/andrew/.ch2/database-0-28.sql
Item fork-service-oil
`-Model liquimoly
+-Lifetime 457d 7h35m16s
+-Active Time 4d 9h32m54s
`-Active Distance 2089.5km
The software has to ‘know’ what kit is used in what activity. This
is done by defining the variable kit when you load the activity.
So, for example, if all the fit files in directory mtb-rides are
from rides on my Cotic bike (defined with ch2 kit start cotic), then
I can load them all with:
> ch2 activities ./mtb-rides/*.fit -Dkit=cotic
This will populate the appropriate statistics using the kit defined
before the data were loaded. If you modify the kit (eg by using kit
change) then you can rebuild the statistics with the
rebuild command.
Don’t forget you can do
> ch2 kit *command* -h
for more information.
Define a new item.
Use this to define a new bike, pair of shoes, etc. You can provide a date if necessary; if not, it is assumed that you are starting to use this item from “now”.
Retire an item.
Indicate that you are no longer using the bike, shoes etc. For example, you’ve crashed the bike or thrown the shoes away. Again, you can provide a date if you stopped using the item some time ago (the default is “now”).
Remove all information about an item.
You might do this if you made a spelling mistake when starting a new item, for example.
Indicate that you have changed a component by giving the new model.
For example if you change the chain on your bike that you care calling “trek”, and the new chain is SRAM PC110, you might type
> ch2 kit change trek chain sram-pc1110
The chain is the component and sram-pc110 is the model.
You can give a date, or you can use --start to indicate that this
describes how the item was initially.
When you change a component the previous model is automatically retired.
Removes information added by change.
The optional date (default “now”) helps identify which model to remove. The previous model will be “unretired” as appropriate.
Show the structure (groups, items, components and models) defined.
A date can be given; the default is “now”.
Show the statistics for the named kit. The name can be a group, item, component or model.
Rebuild the statistics associated with activities.
Generate a script that, when run, will delete the existing kit and then re-add it. This can be useful to move kit from one database to another, or to edit the information (by editing information in the script)