The Ride by the Numbers

-4: Feet of elevation gain from the beginning to the end of this ride

0: Falls

1: Flat tire (On Day 6, between Parker and Salome AZ, during the headwind)

1: Nail in tire of support vehicle

1: Day I was sick and could not ride (Osage Beach MO)

1: Evening my brother Chris West, wife Laura West, and son John West flew in for a surprise visit (in Yates Center KS)

3: Support and gear (SAG) drivers – Susie Schmitt, Sandra West, and Mike West

3: SAGS in training – Connie Whaley, Harriet Haber, Judy Federline

4: Days with average temperature of 90 during the time I was cycling

4: Days Mike West drove SAG

4: Days my brother Dave West drove nearby us (including Wolf Creek Pass)

5: Stops in bike shops for maintenance and/or repairs

6: Days I did not ride during trip – “rest days” – (Flagstaff AZ, Durango CO, Wichita KS, Osage Beach MO, St Charles MO, Cumberland MD)

6: Overnight accommodations offered free by fellow cyclists through WarmShowers (5) or by hotel owner, Jim Hook, who wanted to support the adventure  (Recapture Lodge in Bluff UT)

7: Friends and family who put us up and put up with us

12: Years – Age of my bike (a Trek Madone)

12: Days my sister-in-law Sandra West drove SAG (including two rest days)

13: States I cycled in (CA, AZ, UT, CO, KS, MO, IL, IN, OH, WV, MD, PA, DE)

14: Days after the ride was over to prepare and send evidence to Guinness World Records

19: State lines I crossed (Back and forth in UT and CO, back and forth twice in MD and PA)

23: Miles of headwind I cycled into during the entire trip of 3163 miles (an astoundingly low number for a cross-country cycling trip)

43: Degrees – Lowest average temperature while cycling (Grafton WV to McHenry MD)

44: Days Susie Schmitt drove SAG, including four rest days (Now that’s a friend for you!)

50: Postcards written by Susie Schmitt (while patiently waiting for me to cycle by)

50: Cycling days with no precipitation out of 53 cycling days

53: Cycling days

56: Days without precipitation out of a total of 59 days

59: Total days of the trip

60: Average miles per day for the 53 cycling days

67: Years – My age for more than half of the trip

90: Degrees – Highest average temperature while cycling (2 days in CA and one each in AZ and KS)

106: Witness forms collected and submitted to Guinness World Records

116: Miles – Longest single day of cycling (with Brenda Mueller from Ulysses to Greensburg KS)

120: Degrees – Hottest temperature while cycling (on Day 4 between Glamis and Blythe CA) – a temperature spike recorded on the Garmin bike computer

2689: Miles ridden between Jan 1 and March 19, 2016, in rain, cold, snow, but not ice (during Freezing Saddles game)

3163: Total miles I cycled from Oceanside CA to Bethany Beach DE

6927: Training miles I cycled in 2016 prior to August 26 when I started this adventure in Oceanside CA 

10,857: Feet above sea level – Highest elevation to which I cycled (the Continental Divide at Wolf Creek Pass in Colorado)

116,440: Feet cycled uphill during this ride (22 vertical miles)

2,000,000: Estimated number of pedal strokes

Many: Bridges I crossed

Very many: People who helped in various ways

 

Please send suggestions for additional numbers!