Trip Stats!

Dean and I have been back home a few weeks now, and we apologize for the delay in getting our promised stats post published! Here we go!

Total miles biked on trip: 2298.0

Total bike days: 48

Total rest days: 21

Average miles biked on bike days (excluding rest days): 47.9 miles

Average miles biked per day, overall (including rest days): 33.3 miles

Max speed of entire trip: 38.5 mph (I distinctly remember cresting the hill that day and saying to Dean, "This is going to be fun!")

Longest ride: 87.3 miles (Lolo Hot Springs, MT to Lowell, ID -- the day we climbed our first Rocky Mountain)

Shortest ride on a non-rest day: 14.1 miles (Augusta, MO to Washington, MO -- the day of the tornado, and when Dean hurt his wrist)

# of falls: 7 (4 for Dean, 3 for Meredith, but one of Meredith's resulted from Dean inciting panic by telling her she had a bug on her [no fair!])

# of flat tires: 5 (4 for Dean, 1 for Meredith) Our kevlar belted tires performed really well. Only one of our flats was the result of a puncture.

# of broken spokes: 3 (2 for Dean, 1 for Meredith) All of these were on the drive side of the rear tire -- the hardest place to replace a broken spoke. What a pain!

# of times we seriously considered packing it in and going home: 1 (Meredith)

Max temp on hottest day riding: 104 (on the way to Lynxville, WI)

Min temp on coldest day: 48 (on the way to Troy, MO -- my feet went numb it was so cold!)

# of mountains climbed (I'm counting buttes over 2,000 ft, too): 4 (Cawtaba, Lolo, Alpowa, Big Butte)

# of bike shops visited on trip: 9 (Bike Beat in Williamsburg, VA; Katy Bike Rental in Defiance, MO; Bickel's Cycling and Fitness in Burlington, IA; Smith's Cycling and Fitness in La Crosse, WI; Jake's Bikes in Alexandria, MN; The Bikery in Stillwater, MN; Great Northern Bicycle Co. in Fargo, ND; Ride On Bikes in Lewiston, ID; and Allegro Cyclery in Walla Walla, WA)

# of bike chains used on trip: 5 (3 for Dean, 2 for Meredith)

# of nights camped: 8

# of nights with free lodging: 10 (Many thanks to Sapna, Teri, Alex , Joy, and Donn! Also thanks to the Mineral, VA fire department, and the cities of Troutville, Bowlus, Hope, and (shudder) Oxford Junction)

# of gas station hamburgers consumed: 5 (YUM!)

# of times we had to "go" in the woods: 5 (but thankfully, we never had to use the spade we brought!)

# of Man v. Food episodes watched in motel rooms across this great nation: 31 (it's a good show, okay?)

# of time zones crossed: 3

# of road closures encountered: 6 (3 of which we bravely faced, ignoring the ROAD CLOSED DO NOT ENTER sign)

Any other stats you'd like to know about? Mention them in comments, and we'll add 'em in, if we can!

Answering Hyla's comment about # of animal species: There were 13 new animal species we noted seeing in the blog (from bison to camels to loons to pelicans and more!), but I couldn't begin to hazard a guess to the total number of animal species we saw. Easily hundreds, if not thousands!

Answering RG's comment about # of hours spent blogging: I'd hazard a guess at 110 hours total -- more than an hour per night, but not quite 2 hours per night