USA Coast to Coast – August Update

August 2022

When we set off at the start of our adventure on 30th April, our plan was to ride an average of 5 days in every 7 & to average 50 miles a ride.

I find it hard to believe that we reached the end of our adventure on 30th August, after only 4 months. We actually rode 5.40 days in every 7 & averaged 61.17 miles a ride. So we were close in terms of ride days per week, but we significantly underestimated how many miles we would travel on each ride.

The outcome of the additional miles & ride days was that it only took 93 ride days to complete our adventure – I had anticipated us taking 114 days of riding to complete our planned route. Once you add in the rest days, we finished almost a month earlier than we’d expected!

A few people have been in touch, asking what States we visited – if you’re interested, check out the table below. Just 3 states (Washington, Montana & South Dakota) accounted for half of our cycling days;

State	Time Spent (In Days)	Days Ridden	Miles Ridden	Feet Climbed
Washington	19	16	913	44,318
Idaho	5	4	157	6,775
Montana	28	20	1,238	46,512
Wyoming	11	9	581	25,397
South Dakota	15	11	653	23,654
Minnesota	6	4	240	5,328
Wisconsin	7	5	335	5,419
Michigan	3	3	222	5,046
Indiana	4	3	235	2,641
Ohio	7	5	328	4,275
Pennsylvania	2	1	58	1,421
New York	11	8	505	21,934
Vermont	2	2	94	6,066
New Hampshire	2	1	70	4,308
Maine	1	1	62	4,049
Totals	123	93	5,689	207,143

There were 30 possible riding days in August (we finished our adventure on 30th August), so we were expecting to have ridden just over 21 days in the month.

August totals were;

13.5 – average speed in mph.

22 – number of days ridden.

46.1 – highest speed achieved in mph.

64.8– average mileage per ride.

84.64 – longest single ride.

106 – number of hours ridden.

1,426 – total miles ridden.

46,752 – feet climbed.

The totals since 30th April are;

12.9 – average speed in mph (up from 12.7 at the end of July).

93 – number of days ridden (up from 71 at the end of July).

53.3 – highest speed achieved in mph.

61.2 – average mileage per ride (up from 60.0 at the end of July).

104.08 – longest single ride.

440 – number of hours ridden (up from 334 at the end of July).

5,689 – total miles ridden (up from 4,262 at the end of July).

207,143 – feet climbed (up from 160,396 at the end of July).

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 at the end of August – I certainly didn’t expect to be in Maine!! There were 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.

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 was one of my favourite places on the adventure, yet we only visited it because Yellowstone was closed.

I’ve been amazed by the kindness & generosity of the people we’ve met on our journey across the USA. Without fail someone has stepped up & helped us when we needed assistance or support. Doug, Tom & Dan at Black Hills Bicycles saved the day when I was stuck with bike troubles in Philip, South Dakota. Also Dave, Ruth & Sienna got me out of a pickle when my chain broke less than a week from the end of our adventure.

The Wagon Wheel stands out as my favourite evening of the adventure – Joel, Don, Vicki, Sharon, Karie, Charly & Allen made it a night to remember, especially the sunset cruise on Oakwood Lake.