I forgot to post this picture of our celebration dinner with Tom and Mary on Monday evening.
We've spent this week readjusting to "normal" life. Going to the refrigerator for a drink, cooking real food on a stove, having more than two options for clothing, and driving a vehicle. We have enjoyed working outside and have the yard and garden under control. We so appreciate those who maintained them while were gone.
This is a map of our route, except that we ended in Billings rather than Bozeman.
As promised in the last post, here is some trivia from the ride.
Galveston to Billings - 2614 MILES
Average Miles Per Day - 67
Average Speed - 14.7 MPH
Saddle Time - 174 hours, 25 minutes
Longest Day - Saddle Time - 7 hours, 53 minutes
Longest Day - Mileage - 108.7 (Stillwater, OK to Arkansas City, KS
Fastest Speed - 39.7 mph (We could go faster but it's not real safe, plus the Stoker whines!)
Flats:
9 on the bike - 44 miles before the first ; 658 miles longest stretch; 10 miles shortest; 4 front, 5 rear.
2 on Bob - 2455 miles before the first; 38 until the second.
Repairs:
Day 7, June 3, Texarkana, TX - broken rear spoke
Day 29, June 25, Fargo, ND - new chains, new shift cable, new cable housings, front handle bar tape, new front tire
Day 47, July 13, Billings, MT - broken rear spoke, separated and warped rear wheel (not resolved yet)
Hardest and Longest Headwind - 70 (of 105 miles), Jamestown, ND to Bismarck, ND
Sweetest Tailwind - 92.9 miles, 20 mph avg, El Dorado, KS to Junction City, KS
Riding Days per State:
Texas - 6 (plus 1 day off)
Arkansas - 1/2
Oklahoma - 6 1/2 (plus 1 day off)
Kansas - 4 (plus 1 day off)
Nebraska - 4 (plus 1 day off)
South Dakota - 3 (plus 1 day off)
North Dakota - 11 (plus 3 days off)
Montana - 4 (plus 1 day off)
Highway Rating - Best to Worst: (road conditions-pavement-shoulders)
1-Arkansas
2-South Dakota
3-Kansas
4-Oklahoma
5-North Dakota
6-Montana
7-Nebraska
8-Texas
Driver Courteousness - Best to Worst:
1-Nebraska
2-Arkansas
3-Kansas
4-South Dakota
5-North Dakota
6-Montana
7-Oklahoma
8-Texas
Number of Different Beds Slept In: 38
Some of What We Ate:
Bagels - 66
Peanut Butter - 3 1/2 jars
Pasta Roni - 30 boxes
Instant Spuds - 23 boxes
Tuna - 17 cans
Canned chicken - 2
Oatmeal - 10 boxes
Granola Bars - 14 boxes
Chocolate Bars - 14
Large Sodas (Gerry) - 13
M&Ms - 7 bags
Trail Mix - 6 bags
Peanuts - 5 jars
Crackers - 14 boxes
Stax chips - 9
Milk - 12 half gallons
Crunch n Munch - 6 boxes
(Not exactly health food, is it? But this stuff has calories. We never eat this much boxed/prepared food at home.)
Things We Left Behind or Lost:
Steel water bottle in Witchita Falls, TX on the way down.
Washington and Montana pins from the front pack.
Sweatband in Texarkana, TX.
Camp chair in Atoka, OK (left on purpose).
Trunk pack rain cover near Stromsberg, NE.
Small American flag near Norfolk, NE.
Tent, mats, bedding, maps at Dickinson, ND (on purpose).
I don't know why, but business names would catch my eye, especially when they were names of our family members.
These are the ones I saw:
Wayne's Family Restaurant
Rogers Realty
Maggie's Specialized Grooming
Tom's Auto Shop
Tom, OK
Spencer Cattle, Sheep, Land Co.
Kelly Jewelry
Chuck's Auto Repair
Roger's Family Pharmacy
Kelly Inn
Cliff's Gunsmithing
Wayne's Auto Repair
Number of Miles on Tandem at the End: 29,696
Number of Credit Card Offers in our Mail at Home: 28
We are still mentally and spiritually processing through the trip: the highs and lows, the expected and unexpected, what we saw God do and what we think He wanted us to see and do and take away. By the end of next week, I will try to post some of our conclusions, so please check back.
Also, we will be having the blog printed into a book, hopefully some time this fall. If you're at all interested in purchasing one of these, please contact us personally or through the Heritage Christian School website.
Living Normally (kind of),
Pat
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