Which numbers belong on the print

There are nineteen numbers to choose from, plus the date and the coordinates, and up to four go on the sheet. Three is enough for most prints.

The three that usually work

Distance. The size of the route. It is the number people read first and the only one that needs no context.

Elevation. What made it hard, if anything did. On a flat route it is worth leaving off rather than printing a small number.

Date. It is easy to skip and worth including.

A route without a date is only a shape. With a date it is tied to a specific day. The other numbers can be recalculated from the file, but a date you did not print is easy to forget.

The ones to think about

Elapsed time suits a long day where the stops were part of it. Moving time suits a race. You rarely need both.

Average speed or pace is the number most likely to date badly. It is the most comparative number on the sheet, so it invites a judgement from you and from anyone who looks at it, and how you feel about a pace can change over the years.

The exception is a race where the pace was the achievement. Then it belongs on the print.

Coordinates work as a design element more than as information. They look precise but say little, and on a route that starts near home they can reveal more than you want.

Why three

A wide sheet with two numbers under a title looks unfinished. With four it starts to look like a dashboard, which invites comparison more than recollection. Three fit under the headline as one line of type and not as a table.

You choose the labels, the file sets the values

You can call elevation whatever you want, but you cannot type the number. This is deliberate. If a distance could be typed, the print would only be a poster with a claim on it. The line and the numbers both come from a file that recorded the activity.