And just like that biking across America turns from something I'm trying to accomplish into something I've done. It feels so good to proclaim this, now and for the rest of my life: I did it! 2,780 miles and exactly two months later I've pedaled my way into the Atlantic Ocean. This final addition to my biking blog will consist of two parts; a quantitative analysis (the stats), and a qualitative one (the sentimental crap). So, to avoid writing the emotional part of this entry for a little while longer I'm going to begin with some statistics from the trip.
------------------------------------------------By the Numbers-------------------------------------------------
Total days................................................................62
Pedaling days...........................................................54
Days w/ a sore ass.....................................................62
Consecutive days wearing one pair of shorts.................62
Total Miles...........................................................2,780
Avg. Miles per day................................................51.48
Total time spent pedaling..................................258 hours
Avg. Miles per hour.................................................10.8
Flat Tires..................................................................16
Rest days....................................................................5
Rain/Snow days..........................................................3
Body weight lost..................................................18 lbs.
Calories burned...........................who knows (~150,000?)
Percentage of nights spent camping..........................52%
Percentage of nights spent in a motel........................32%
Percentage of nights spent at a friend's......................16%
-----------------------------------------------Closing Thoughts------------------------------------------------
This trip has been everything I'd hoped for and much, much more. At times I even got to enjoy far more than I ever bargained for, but it will always have a piece of my heart because for two straight months I gave it everything I had. Going into this, I figured biking across America was just a series of long bike rides. Purely a physical challenge, an endurance race. I quickly discovered that it's just as much a mental battle as anything else. The will to self-motivate yourself - to wake up, pack all your gear up, and climb back into that saddle every morning. It's tough, it really is. The legs tend to get with the program fairly early on, but the mental struggle continues throughout the entire adventure.
With this all being said, it has also been one of the most enjoyable and rewarding events of my life thus far. I've traveled the back roads of America at dismally slow speeds...I've seen some things that's for sure, and some stuff. I've met people from all across the Southern portion of America. From the swamp rats in Louisiana (sorry), to the cattle ranchers in west Texas. Through all the differences I took note of that separate my culture from theirs, the overarching realization is that people are pretty much the same regardless of their home state. I also enjoyed an incredible change of scenery across the country as I went from the mountainous west, to super dry desert, the swamp-lands, and finally to the tall pines of Florida. There is so much beauty in this section of the country that was all just there waiting for me to see.
I've doubtlessly learned much about myself along the trip, too. What better way is their towards self-discovery and growth than a two month solo vacation? Out of an extensive list of improvements I made I will name a few that are currently on the top my head. For one thing, I know I greatly improved my patience and level of self-reliance for unexpected incidents. Flat tires, wrong turns, and other such setbacks can be extremely aggravating, but eventually I got tired of hearing myself bitch and just started righting these things without protest. I also suspect I'm more outgoing, as I spoke with hundreds of people throughout the journey. It also became easier to ask others for a little bit of help when I needed it, and in fact got pretty good at doing so. Most importantly, that mental battle that I mentioned, well I figure fighting it for 2 months and coming out successful has to be a positive as well.
The friends I saw along the way, old and new, were all awesome. I met at least 20 other cyclists out on the road accomplishing the same thing I was. I spoke to nearly all of them and they were some unique and interesting people. I made new friends and opened up connections for myself all over country. The random acts of kindness I received from various strangers was a great reminder that most people have good hearts. A special thank you to all the people that helped me out on this tour. In addition, I'd also like to thank my friends and family members that kept in touch while I was on the road. Phone calls and Skype calls from home got me through many otherwise boring nights in the tent. You guys rock. Finally, thanks to all of you who took the time to read my blog and share my adventure with me!
As I slip back into "normal life", I'll always carry the memories of this trip with me and am looking forward to reliving them on some shorter weekend tours. Maybe I'll even wear my Yankees shorts that I wore every single day of this tour to make it more authentic. Like all great things this adventure has come to an end. Who knows, maybe one day down the road I'll do something crazy enough to be deserving of a blog again. Until then, I'll see you all around.
