Southern Tier: Final Stats

I reached Ocean Beach in San Diego the afternoon of Wednesday May 25th. My route map played one last evil trick on me the last day of the trip. The map showed a delightful decent from the mountains to San Diego on the last day. Although this was true and I thoroughly enjoyed the easy ride to the city limits of San Diego the map neglected to note that the 25-30 miles through San Diego to reach the Pacific was a long route of roller coaster hills that tested every last bit of endurance that I had remaining in my tired sun-soaked body. Up and down, Up and down, next to bumper to bumper traffic I pedaled my way further into the city until I finally reached the Ocean Beach bike path. Before I could relax...my tour was over.



FINAL STATS:



Total miles pedaled: 2966.95. The original route was just shy of 3100 miles. I took several short-cuts in New Mexico and Arizona. Most of these deviations from the route involved pedaling on Interstate 10 and bypassing several mountain climbs and tourist areas. Traveling on Interstate 10 wasn't very interesting but the wide smooth shoulder provided some of the safest riding of the trip.

Average miles pedaled per day: 76.07. I completed the trip in 39 days. My goal was to finish in 40 days. If not for the short-cuts...achieving the 40 day goal would have been difficult. Of the 39 days, I traveled 36 (3 days of rest). Average miles pedaled on travel days: 82.41.

Break-down of miles per day:

More than 100 miles: 5 days. My longest day was 140. 07 miles. These 5 days accounted for 604.09 miles of the entire trip.

90-99.99 miles: 9 days. Two of these days were 99. something mile days. I guess I should have pedaled a few circles in a parking lot to reach a century for these days.

80-89.99 miles: 8 days.

70-79.99 miles: 4 days.

60-69.99 miles: 3 days.

50-59.99 miles: 4 days.

Less than 49.99 miles: 3 days.

Saddle Time: This refers to time spent sitting on the saddle of BIG RED while in motion...218 hours, 17 minutes, 52 seconds...OR..9 days, 2 hours, 17 minutes, 52 seconds...OR...1 week, 2 days, 2 hours, 17 minutes, 52 seconds.

Flat Tires: One. After completing half the trip all of the cross country bicyclists that I met couldn't believe how few flat tires I had. Most of the cross country cyclists had over 10 flats! Most of these cyclists were using the wrong tires...very narrow with not much road tread. This is an error most touring cyclists make. They sacrifice durability for speed. Many of the cross country cyclists that I met were basically using a racing tire...almost a "slick" tire. After this trip I have just under 9000 touring miles complete. Of all of those miles I've endured one (1) flat tire! I purchased a new set of tires in Del Rio, TX.

Below are photos taken between Phoenix AZ and Boulevard, CA. It's taken me a while to digest these 5 travel days as they were not easy and difficult to explain in words the trials I went through pedaling through desert that was more hostile than Texas or New Mexico. It didn't help matters much that I was sick. After explaining my symptoms to 2 nurses and doing some research on webmd.com I'm convinced that I had food poisoning...or, I consumed some bad water. It may have been both as I was very sick and close to going to an emergency room in Brawley, CA. Instead, I cowboyed up and continued on.

Just when I thought I was out of the desert...I pedaled into an oven. Locals told me that this portion between Blythe and Brawley, CA is used by NASA for simulated moon landings. The landscape was rocky and desolate.

Below, The Imperial Sand Dunes. After pedaling through moon-like landscapes I came upon these giant dunes. I just about lost it.
After the dunes came the green fruit and vegetable orchards of Brawley, CA. I assume these were coconut trees standing in front of pineapple plants,

baby spinach