Four Weeks In

Hello Everyone,

Today marks four weeks that I’ve been on the road. So far, I’ve travelled 7584.5 km, burned 1490.4 L of gas, for a stunning average of 19.7 L/100 km. I don’t know how many trails I’ve ridden, but I’m in the process of writing that out. I’m guessing it’s getting close to 100 km by this point.

Packing for this trip was a challenge. What to bring, what to keep, what to get rid of. It was a lot of decisions. Here is a partial list of how well I did.

Things I have used a lot:

• The big portable charger I got for Christmas. It’s been great, a real lifeline.

• My GoPro and chest harness. Despite the fact I haven’t put up any videos yet, I’ve got a lot of them backed up.

• Music. I’m a podcast guy, and probably catch about 3 hours of NPR a day, but after a while, or after a fun ride, some tunes are nice.

• Various phones mounts. One in the truck for when I use Google Maps, and one I take with me on rides to capture some sweet jumps.

Things I haven’t used much at all, despite lugging them around the continent:

• Large frying pan

• Large cooking pot

• Portable propane 2 burner stove

• Magazines (I’ve been working through some books)

• About 80% of my plates, cups and cutlery

• About 50% of my clothes

Differences between how I thought I would be spending my time and how it has turned out so far.

• Logistics: on past bike trips, I always stayed in one place and in a house. Now that I move around a lot, I spend a lot of time figuring out where to go and where to stay.

• Reading: despite not having a TV or an internet connection where I could watch Netflix, I’m only doing a bit more reading than I was at home.

• Inner city driving: I knew I would be doing a lot of long haul trips, but I am doing a surprising amount of short haul stuff in the city. I have to get to dog parks, libraries, dealerships for repairs, trailheads, gas. It adds up.

• Meeting other people: I didn’t know how this one was going to go. I have only ridden with locals twice, but I’ve chatted with fellow bikers in every region I’ve been, so it's is a mixed bag.

Lowlight so far:

• Driving two days to Bentonville, only to be told not to ride because of the trail conditions, then having to stay at a state park because the RV park in town was closed, getting in late on a cold night, consoling myself that at least they have showers. Get to the showers, and there’s no hot water. But Arthur met that armadillo the next day, so that was fun.

Highlight so far:

• That night ride with the guys in Georgia. Super fun ride, really nice guys.

I've got another day in Albuquerque, then I get up early and drive to Sedona. I'm looking forward to it as it's a big biking destination, I'm just hoping that Arthur doesn't cause too many issues. Technically, he has to be on a leash when I'm on most of these trails, but it hasn't been an issue so far. With luck, that will continue.

wes