Why do most cycling trackers miss out on the story behind the ride?

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about how my cycling trips are recorded and remembered. I usually ride long distances over the weekends, sometimes solo and sometimes with friends, and I love exploring rural routes or unexpected backroads that show up on tools like cycle.travel. But something keeps bugging me. The trackers and GPS tools I’ve tried usually just give me a string of stats—distance, speed, elevation gain—and a route map. But they don’t really capture the essence of the ride. I can see where I went, but I can't feel it again just by looking at a line on a map.

Take last Saturday, for example. I did a ride out through two villages I had never visited before, and I discovered this old railway path that isn’t even marked on many standard maps. The weather was shifting all day, I got a flat near a farm gate, and I even helped an elderly couple fix their e-bike chain. These are the things that made the ride memorable. But when I went back and looked at the tracker data, none of that came through. Just lines and numbers. It felt too mechanical, like it missed everything that made the day feel alive.

Just to clarify what I mean by cycling tracker: it’s typically a digital tool that logs key performance and route data during a bike ride. A bicycle mileage tracker, for example, focuses on recording the total distance you've cycled over time—sometimes broken down by ride, week, or terrain type. Many trackers also include details like average speed, time, and elevation. While this data is helpful for fitness goals or progress tracking, it doesn’t really help me remember the real ride—the people I met, the views I saw, or the thoughts that went through my head on a long uphill climb.

I recently came across the concept of combining tracking with route planning in one place. I was exploring cycle.travel, and I noticed how easy and personal the route building feels—it inspired me positively. It made me wonder if something similar could be done for logging rides. Like, what if there were a way to not only track mileage and speed, but also add quick personal notes, drop a photo at a location, or even tag something that happened along the way? Nothing complicated—just simple touches that help build a fuller memory.

So now I’m wondering how others approach this. Do you do anything special to capture the story behind your rides? I’ve seen people post ride summaries online or upload photos, but I’m curious if there’s a better way to bring it all together in one spot. Do you use a tool that allows you to combine route data with your personal impressions? Do you rely on journaling after the ride? Or maybe there's something on the web (not an app) that already allows for this kind of expressive ride logging?

I’d really like to hear what others here do to remember more than just the stats. If you have any ideas, tools, or even habits that help you reflect on the full ride experience, I’d be glad to hear about them.