And just like that, May is gone. It treated me well, as in I probably got rained on a little at least 20 of the 31 days, but none of the rain was super heavy so I never had one of those cold and drenched miserable days, which is great! Also, I went swimming for the first time this year. Yay! Which is funny, as I have literally been waking up to temps around freezing most mornings recently. Here is a quick recap of the last month of travel, as well as the journey so far. All stats are up to and including May 31, 2024. *If you don't give a hoot about cycling, I have included some non-cycling stats at the bottom; feel free to go directly there!
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| Kananaskis Trail/Hwy 40 is closed to cars until June! |
Mileage Stats (overall):
Total Days on Road: 69 *PS last month I miscounted. Oops.
Total Days Ridden: 55
Total Miles: 2,690
Average Miles Per Day Ridden: 48.91 (vs 49.6 as of May 1; pretty steady!)
Total Hours (moving only): 329
Average (moving) Hours Per Day: 5:35 (vs. prior of 5:40)
*like last time, I would say there are about two additional hours of drinking, eating, bathroom stops, sheltering from the rain, looking at maps, warming up by stopping for coffee and/or looking at mountains.
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| I am so happy to be on a dirt road! |
Accommodation stats for May:
Established Camp: 7 (↑ 75% from last month)
Friend: 2 (↓ 85% from last month)
Motel: 11 (↓ 15% from last month)
Warm Showers: 0 (↓ 100% from last month)
Wild Camp: 9 (↑ 13% from last month)
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| I had to stay an extra day in Fernie to get my bike fixed. |
Budget stats for May:
Accommodation: $1,093 (↑ from last month)
Dining Out: $246 (↑ from last month)
Groceries: $271 (↑ from last month)
Health: $234 (same - insurance premium)
Transportation: $0 (↓ from last month)
Phone: $81 (same - cell phone)
Entertainment: $274 (↑ from last month - bike repairs/camping supplies/bear spray/satellite messenger)
Misc.: $78 (↑ from last month - VPN, credit card fees, gifts)
Shopping: $120 (unfortunately, a new category, 100% increase from last month)
Total Spent: $2,405 ( (↑ 35% from last month, which was $1,767)
Verdict: Uh oh. Although this is still not super high and is still less than half of what I was spending at home, as I mentioned last month, my thought was that I would shoot for about $2,000 per month. However, I did know that I might have to tweak it a little as I got more knowledge about what I was actually spending.
The main culprit is the cost of accommodation, which was about 35% higher than last month. I would say that I maybe stayed in more motels, but as we see from the accommodation stats, that was not true; they just cost more. I crossed the border into Canada at the end of April, so once again, I am going to blame Canada (so sorry)! Also dining out and groceries are both about 25% higher. I also had to buy a few things along the road: a new pillow, some new dry bags, camping fuel, memory cards and a new charger. This inflated my entertainment cost quite a bit and added a whole new category of Shopping. Some of these costs, although not necessarily recurring, will probably be replaced by something else, so maybe $2,500 is a more realistic goal. We will see.
Also, in the question form (P.S. You can still ask questions here), Nicole asked, "How long will you be biking for? How many kilometres do you bike a day on these adventures?" Well, as I mentioned above, my average is currently about 49 miles / 78 km, but my longest day so far for this trip was about 70 miles / 112 km. My shortest day was a day with my Dad, where we biked around Vancouver, and that was 20 miles / 32 km. I think for him it was his longest day ever, and he was very glad to get his butt off the bike, literally.
As for how long I will be biking for, I hope to get to the East Coast before the snow starts to fly. If I am tired by then, I will fly or take the train home; if not, who knows, maybe I will bike home. That is way too far in the future to decide at this point. So, to answer your question, somewhere between October and December most likely. After that, I think I will do some international (non-North American) travel, probably without the bike, but who knows. My friend Dr. G asked if I planned on doing any international cycling and I my answer to this question is yes, but I do not know if it will be right after this trip or if I will need a break from Bob for a while. Europe has a whole network of cycling routes called the EuroVelo and I would love to spend some time exploring that at some point, plus there are many, many other routes on all of the continents that have piqued my interest.
Speaking of international trips, one of my inspirations for this trip was from a woman named Lael Wilcox, who got the women's record for the Tour Divide race (Canada to Mexico) and won the TransAm (west coast to east coast of the US) race overall. She is currently (right now!) trying to set a world record for fastest round the world bike tour (18,000 miles). She is very inspiring and is so cheerful and she will even respond to your comments on Instagram. If you are interested, here is her Ted talk about the TransAm race and how she got her start, and here is her Instagram, where you can follow her RTW FKT attempt.
And now, some non-cycling related stats!
This month, instead of ice cream by the numbers, I am just going to show you my new favorite ice cream: Two Scoop Steve's in Yahk, BC. Since it was in the name, I got two scoops! Mint chip and butter pecan. It was delicious, and was even worth sitting in the spitting rain to order it and eat it.
Favorite new town: Fernie, BC. Although it rained the entire time I was there, this little town is nestled in the mountains, has a cute little downtown and has any action sport you may like, like skiing, hiking, mountain biking etc. Plus they have everything you need, including three bike shops, within about a five block radius! *Runner up: Nelson, BC, which sits on a lake and really kind of reminded me of Tahoe a little bit.
Favorite new lake: There have been so many, but I would probably have to say Kootenay Lake. Not only is it next to my runner up, Nelson, but it is huge, very beautiful, surrounded by mountains, and not even that cold! Also nearby there are hot springs, skiing, hiking, and beautiful vistas! PLUS, there is a free ferry, the longest free ferry in the world apparently! *Runner up: Okanagan, which has great vistas but not as many nice green trees.
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| Kootenay Lake at Nelson |
Favorite hamburger: Little did you know this would end up being a category, but if it's not an ice cream, it's a hamburger (or surprisingly, a GF pizza!). I think it is a toss up: the birthday wiener burger at Clyde's in Grand Forks was good, but the GF bun was a little odd and the fries were not super crisp. The Royale with Cheese at the Royal in Nelson was great, the GF bun was better and their poutine was also GF, but they really skimped on the fixings (the burger looked so sad, just meat and bun).
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| The Royale, a sad little burger |
Favorite book: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Facing The Mountain by Daniel James Brown. This one is near and dear to my heart, as it talks about the Nisei solders, the second generation Japanese Americans, who went to fight in WWII, even as their parents, the first generation, were imprisoned in internment camps in America. The reason it is so dear is that my good friend K's grandfather was one of them and I remember sitting with her grandma talking about being in the internment camps. Many of the Nisei died, as they were sent on suicide missions, but they were the unsung heroes (along with many others) of the war. However, we don't know much about them, and this book really can open people's eyes about some of the things they went through.
Okay it's your turn!! What unexpected thing did you have to spend money on last month? Who is your real life hero or inspiration? What was your favorite book last month and why?
