July 2022
You may remember that the original plan when we set off on 30th April was to ride an average of 5 days in every 7 & to average 50 miles a ride. In short, we’re quite close on the number of days we ride each month, but are cycling 20% further per ride than planned (60 miles instead of 50).
There were 31 possible riding days in July, so we were expecting to have ridden just over 22 days in the month.
July totals were;
13.1 – average speed in mph.
23 – number of days ridden.
45.0 – highest speed achieved in mph.
62.6– average mileage per ride.
78.32 – longest single ride.
109 – number of hours ridden.
1,440 – total miles ridden.
40,525 – feet climbed.
The totals since 30th April are;
12.7 – average speed in mph (up from 12.5 at the end of June).
71 – number of days ridden (up from 48 at the end of June).
53.3 – highest speed achieved in mph.
60.0 – average mileage per ride (up from 58.8 at the end of June).
104.08 – longest single ride.
334 – number of hours ridden (up from 225 at the end of June).
4,262 – total miles ridden (up from 2,834 at the end of June).
160,396 – feet climbed (up from 119,871 at the end of June).
While I had a detailed plan of the route we would try to follow, I hadn’t spent too much time planning where we might be 3 months in. However there have been some significant changes to the original route
April & May’s unseasonably cold weather, which has resulted in road closures due to snow in the mountains.
Late snow in Washington required us to navigate The Cascades via Stevens Pass, rather than Rainy & Washington Passes.
More snow in The Rockies meant we couldn’t explore as much of Glacier National Park as planned & the Going To The Sun Road was closed. As a result of increased Covid outbreaks, paperwork requirements & late snows, we didn’t visit the Canadian Rockies at all.
Our extended tour of Montana delayed our arrival in West Yellowstone – by then there had been flooding which caused Yellowstone National Park to be closed. We detoured via Jackson & Grand Teton National Park, so we could enter via the South Entrance on the day the National Park re-opened.
I’ve been amazed by the kindness & generosity of people in the mid-West. Without fail someone has stepped up & helped us when we needed help or assistance, none more so than Doug, Tom & Dan at Black Hills Bicycles when I was stuck with bike troubles in Philip, South Dakota.
We made a late decision to explore Wisconsin when we left Minneapolis, rather than Ohio & Illinois as previously planned. Thank you to everyone we met on the way who encouraged us to cycle in Wisconsin, we’ve had a great experience riding deserted roads, meeting some wonderful people & watching a world class Water Ski exhibition. We also got to take a ferry across Lake Michigan!
The changes to itinerary have all added to our experience & have taken us to some amazing places – Grand Teton is one of my favourite places on the adventure to date.
We will be back to our original route by 6th August, but I fully expect the plan to remain fluid & will embrace changes as they occur.
Gav's Cycling Adventures 