Best way to measure an exact mile on a straight road

Rent a measuring wheel? Take the average of 3 measurements or more.

google maps on pc, satellite view, right click, measure distance

try to find two landmarks on the road

Official road races are measured using a calibrated bicycle with a mechanical counter on a wheel

go to a gunshop and buy an Uzi submachine gun. then you hijack a police car at gunpoint, kick the two cops out and dress up in one of their uniforms (not the woman, obviously). then you drive to a drone shop and tell the owner you need a drone for official business. if he won't give it to you arrest him for failing to cooperate with a police officer in the execution of his duties. when he breaks down in tears and gives you the drone, tell him he's pardoned.

then you drive to where you want to measure out your mile and park the police car at the start. you fly the drone over the route and use the radar gun in the police car to see how fast the drone is flying. using the calculator you found in the glove box calculate (distance = speed x time) where the drone is when 1 mile is up. use traffic cones from trunk of car to mark out your mile.

I'm actually surprised you needed to ask.

When I wanted to measure an exact mile with quarter mile markers on a road in a nearby park, I took my bicycle to a nearby track and pushed it around the track for one mile. Then, checked the odometer. It was a little off so I recalibrated it. Then, I did it again.

My 2nd measurement was accurate to less than 2 meters. Then, I pushed the bike on the road to measure my quarter mile marks and the mile.

why the need to push the bicycle ?

could this be done by riding it ?

Paxman wrote:

Official road races are measured using a calibrated bicycle with a mechanical counter on a wheel

+1- Jones counter.

Warmup for 15 minutes. Run as fast as you can for 8 minutes. Where you end up will be your mile. If you want to get 1/4 mile marks, note where you were at 1:40, 3:32, and 5:43.

Jones counter ( http://www.jonescounter.com/faq-readme/) the best way to go, but coaches have used measuring wheels for years to measure courses (https://www.whitecap.com/shop/wc/measuring-wheels?gclid=Cj0KCQiA-JXiBRCpARIsAGqF8wWmwOwBzZuYFvGXm9ph73d25bnEqGWgCTwzS-gUeDrXaQ-ZL3R_tFYaAq-HEALw_wcB#facet:&productBeginIndex:0&orderBy:&pageView:grid&minPrice:&maxPrice:&pageSize:&).

Probably doesn't want to be a jerk by riding the bike on the track. Therefore, to get the same measurements out in the road you need to push it also. Sitting in the bike will change the diameter of the wheel/tire combo. If you rode it in the track then you would also have to ride it out on the road course.

Should be able to rent a measuring wheel. They're actually not that expensive to buy on Amazon either. Wheel your desired course in each direction; twice in each direction is better. Have a can of spray chalk with you to make your marks.

Thanks to everyone for the helpful replies! I'm going to try a measuring wheel. If that doesn't work I will look into a calibrated bicycle. Cheers

Melchizedek wrote:

why the need to push the bicycle ?

could this be done by riding it ?

Yes. You could ride the bike, but I didn't want to damage the track or get kicked out if anyone saw me riding around the track. I figured I could talk my way out of pushing it around the track, but not riding it around the track.

elviejo wrote:

Probably doesn't want to be a jerk by riding the bike on the track. Therefore, to get the same measurements out in the road you need to push it also. Sitting in the bike will change the diameter of the wheel/tire combo. If you rode it in the track then you would also have to ride it out on the road course.

And this is also correct.

What is your mile PB? Run exactly that again on the road you want measured, stopping when the stopwatch shows that you have run as long as your mile PB is. The point where you stop is where the mile ends.

fisky wrote:

elviejo wrote:

Probably doesn't want to be a jerk by riding the bike on the track. Therefore, to get the same measurements out in the road you need to push it also. Sitting in the bike will change the diameter of the wheel/tire combo. If you rode it in the track then you would also have to ride it out on the road course.

And this is also correct.

The higher the pressure tires you use and the thinner the amount of rubber, the less of a difference it should make. The larger tires will also have a larger contact patch, though, and so deform less for a given pressure.

My guess is that the best tradeoff would be something like a 700x25c tire with the thinnest rubber you can find, so minimal tread of any type. Inflated to 120 psi, which is about the max of most tire/tube combos, you should minimize the inaccuracy. I bet you could get to where the difference between walking and riding is only 1 or 2 meters per mile.

Run for 4 minutes.

Back in the 80's I measured a straight and flat mile on a country road so that I could train doing straight intervals while preparing for a one mile road race. Since I lived in the country near this road I figured it would save me driving into town to use the track.

First I measured a piece of rope 110 yards long and with the help from a friend we measured it 1/16 of a mile at a time. We marked every 220 yards with spray paint. It turned out pretty good.

One week later they redid the road with tar and pea gravel.

Google Earth or Google Maps, provided there are enough landmarks like utility poles, manholes, and paint lines this should get you within one or two meters. If there's no landmark right at one mile just measure back from the closest one with a tape.

I do surveying for a living, and when I work on my plans in CAD I always overlay them over the same aerial images that Google and others use. They are almost always spot on with my measurements.