This is a list of things that have struck us as interesting, strange, or amusing to date in our journey. Feel free to suggest a new category to tally.
(Last updated 7/25/09)
- Emails sent in preparation: over 500
- Pounds of Gear (bike & panniers/trailer): 89 (Lars, starting) & 84 (Jon, starting)
- Number of interviews: 12
- Presentations in Churches/Schools: 15
- Most Riders (at any point): 8
- Continents: 2
- Countries: 12 (USA, México, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panamá, Ecuador, Perú, Bolivia, Paraguay)
- States: US: 9 (VA, NC, SC, GA, AL, FL, MS, LA, TX) & Mexico: 11 (Tamaulipas, Nuevo Leon, Coahuila, San Luis Potosí, Guanajuato, Queretaro, Hidalgo, México, Puebla, Oaxaca, Chiapas) (departments and provinces of other countries)
- Miles biked: 7,750+ (12,400+ km)
- Average Daily Distance: 72.9 miles (116.6 km)
- Hours biked: many?
- Top Speed: 47 mph (Lars)
- Highest Daily Mileage: 155 miles (250 km)
- Flats: 30. Jon: 21; Lars:9
- Crashes: 2. Lars: 2
- Extreme Temperatures: 40C (104F), Choluteca, HN; -15C (6F), Japo, BO
- Biking Days: 105
- Rest Days: 79
- Rides Taken: 13 (together), +3 (Jon)
- Number of Hosts: 59
- Nights in tent: 2 (incredible!)
- Nights in a hotel/hostel: 11 (all given to us!)
- Things given to us: one gallon of Paraguayan ice cream… chipas… homemade cookies & whole-grain breads… red berry preserves… 2 grapefruit… many meals… water… a 2L of Viva Cola… 3 bags full of fresh bread, pizza, handed to us through the window of a moving truck… pizza, about to be thrown out at a convenience store… pizza, about to be thrown out from under a heat lamp at a pizzeria, a full entree made especially for us at a nice restaurant, 2 whoopie pies baked by conservative Mennonites in Cost Rica, fresh-from-the-tree grapefruits, mangos, and tangerines… four Ramen cup-o-noodles… flexall… cash… two packs of sqwinchers koolaid…1 L of goat’s milk, 1 kg of goat’s cheese, a screwdriver, and many things (brake cables, derailleur cables, water bottles and racks, biking gloves, dealer discounts, …) from East Coast Bicycle Academy, Mark’s Bike Shop, and Mole Hill Bikes (all in Harrisonburg, VA), and Shirk’s Bike Shop, The Cycle Works, and Martin’s Bike Shop near Lancaster, PA….
- Number of dog pursuits: 100+
- Unique Road Pancakes: turtle… horse carcass… coyote… frog… snake… lizards… numerous cats, birds, deer, skunk, & opossum… armadillo… a disembodied deer head… fur/USAs (unidentifiable squashed animals)…
- Unique Church Name Sightings: Revolutionary Change Church (Waynesboro, VA)… The Perfect Church (Atlanta, GA)… Full Power Holiness Church (Spanish Fort, AL)…
- Foods for the record: asado… guiso… potatoes in dirt sauce… alpaca… chicken foot… goat… black, green, red, & colored moles (sauces)… grasshoppers… sheep (stomach, intestine, spine, blood, mutton, you name it)… various unidentifiable pig parts… javelina… venison… cow stomach… crawfish…
- Types of places stayed: health centers… schools… with the Missionaries of Charity… parish homes… churches (Catholic, Mennonite, Assemblies of God, Baptist, Methodist)… spare apartments… homes… nursuries… preschools… guest houses… living rooms… open-air restaurant pavillions… hotels/hostels/resorts… deserts… airports… movie theaters… city municipal buildings… malacones… community buildings…
- Liberty Tax Service Lady Liberties seen in USA: 13
- Magna Bulls seen in México: 8
- Bicycle Tourists encountered: 34
- Inca Kola-shaped billboards in Perú: 5
14 Responses to “BMA09 by the numbers”
• On Jan 25, 2009 James Akerson wrote:
You made it to your second time zone in Alabama.
• On Jan 29, 2009 James wrote:
Jon: I see one of you finally got a flat tire. I stand amazed actually. Did I mention that I got a flat that first day we all rode with you out of Harrisonburg? After 23 miles and within a block of our house, my front tire went flat! I must have picked up a nail in the industrial area near Valley Blox nearby. … So you all did very well avoiding a flat until now. Blessings as you ride on.
James
• On Jan 30, 2009 Rick Bell wrote:
I also was watching for the first flat tire, so Jon was the winner! Here are a few more questions for stats. What was the longest dog pursuit, or greatest number of dogs in pursuit? What is the average number of USAs per day? Any USAs caused by bike tires? It’s a blessing to keep up with you this way. We praise God for his hand of protection and provision.
• On Feb 3, 2009 Rob Nofziger wrote:
You guys are making nice progress and it is great to hear how kind people are being to you. In OH the temp is forecasted to get down to 12 degrees tomorrow A.M. when I will be riding home from work so I am trying to decide whether to ride or drive to work this evening. My clothes turn into pumpkins @ 10 degrees! What temps are you riding in?
I’ve not heard anything about the tendonitis recently so I trust that the bike adjustment has helped along with the rest days. Your next rest days you may enjoy googling kenkifer and going to his bike pages. He was a great bike tourer from Alabama and a great writer. He was the impetus for Rebekah’s and my ride to EMU last summer. We stealth camped it every night. When are you going to breakout that tent anyway??
Here are the bike tech questions. Why the LHT and Yak instead of the Big Dummy? They were hard to get a hold of last summer and I have yet to ride one but I look forward to the experience. What tires are you running? You must’ve been judicious on your packing you’re running pretty light for unsupported touring. Any food or cooking capability?
LA questions. Have you enjoyed any Etufé or Jambalya? Anything Cajun? I always enjoyed loads going to LA when I drove big truck. For the food, not because loads out of there paid well, ‘cause they never did. Floor dry and mulch just to get something on the deck and get home…
Take care and remember that armadillos are edible and easy to run down. Grab them by the tails and don’t let them get started digging before dispatching them cause once they’re dug half way in the ground you’ll never pull them out. Their little legs are powerful. The connective tissue between the joints of their shells is the delicacy when roasting them over a fire. It’s tough to get past their beady eyed stare though. It helps if you haven’t eaten meat in a while the first time you eat them. Those are facts that I learned in Bolivia. They taste kind of like chicken….:) Don’t eat the road killed ones though.
Keep filling us in. And tell us what the best question that you’ve been asked thus far has been. Ours came in Coshocton, OH when we were heading south on St Rt 83/60 about 90 mi N of the WV border and a lady pulled up beside us and asked us how to get to WV. We told her to keep going south with the sun on her right, she couldn’t miss it. It would be WV after she crossed the Ohio river and there would be signs….
May the good Lord bless you and keep you safe.
Yours,
Rob
• On Feb 14, 2009 Peter Wigginton wrote:
hey guys hope all is well
you should add number of u-turns to your stats
peter
God bless
• On Mar 5, 2009 rob nofziger wrote:
Dear Jon and Lars,
What would you think of some company from Lima to Asunción? You guys are having way too much fun for just two. Check your EMU and G-mail addresses for a couple letters I wrote to you there and get back to me. I worked a 7pm to 8am shift last night and bounced the idea of a LOA off of a colleague who’s been around and it sounded as if it may be a possibility. Let me know your thoughts. Enjoy the DF.It’s a dream of mine as of yet unrealized, to visit that city some day. Rivera is an amazing artist with a lot to say. He has some murals in the DIA in Detroit, MI. I especially envy you in the pre-colombian architecture that you will experience as you leave the DF and travel south. Traveling by bicycle in an unknown country is such a cool way to take in everything. Make sure to enjoy the bitter chocolate mole sauces that are typical of the crusine in Oaxaca.
Continued daily prayers for your safety and that the Spirit may show you all the wonders including other followers of Jesus of the places that you are traveling.
Yours,
Rob
What was the riding like coming into such a large city? I can’t imagine…..
• On Mar 8, 2009 Henry Janzen wrote:
How do u guys handle the boardercrossings?
Are the officals just stamping your passports ?
• On Mar 26, 2009 Marlin Yoder wrote:
I have been following your adventures while reminiscing by own trip from Panama to Canton, Oh on a BSA in 1971.
Your Chiapas journal entry illustrated your quick, sensitive understandings while being empathic to those suffering from civil and religious unrest. Thanks for mentioning MCC’s role. MCC, some Mennonite churches in Mexico city and CPT have had a presence in Chiapas since 1994, when NAFTA was signed.
Hope to meet you both in Asuncion. Watch for a cato de mote when entering Paraguay!
Marlin Yoder, former MCC worker in Mexico
• On Apr 20, 2009 Carol Spicher wrote:
almost one dog pursuit per biking day! thanks for keeping the stats up to date. loved the note about the fresh-baked whoopie pies in costa rica. Hear my mother’s concern. You look thinner to me in every country! Love you Mom
• On Apr 30, 2009 James wrote:
Now that you have crossed the equator, you are in the rarer ranks of people who have been on both northern and southern hemispheres. You have gone, at least among sailors, from being slimy to trusty sons of Neptune.
• On May 22, 2009 James wrote:
We pray that your ascent of the Andes Mountains goes without mishap. May you find the water you need as you peddle up those dry hills and mountain passes. Take lots of notes. Take your time to take it all in. And may God bless you with meaningful encounters.
• On Jun 16, 2009 Kenneth Brock wrote:
I was surfing the internet when I came across this site. I was reading the list of unique church names when I saw Full Power Holiness Church, I am delighted to tell you that I attend Full Power Holiness and that I’m tickled that you put this name as unique. But I must correct you that the church is located in Bay Minette,Al and not Spanish Fort, we’re located north of spanish fort. Come be with us sometime if your around! May God bless all of you!
• On Jun 20, 2009 Pastor Phillip Baugh wrote:
We are always praying for y’all. God is doing great things through you both.. Keep the faith.
Luke 15:11-24 NKJV
11 Then He said: “A certain man had two sons.
12 And the younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the portion of goods that falls to me.’ So he divided to them his livelihood.
13 And not many days after, the younger son gathered all together, journeyed to a far country, and there wasted his possessions with prodigal living.
14 But when he had spent all, there arose a severe famine in that land, and he began to be in want.
15 Then he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country, and he sent him into his fields to feed swine.
16 And he would gladly have filled his stomach with the pods that the swine ate, and no one gave him anything.
17 “But when he came to himself, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger!
18 I will arise and go to my father, and will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you,
19 and I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Make me like one of your hired servants.”’
20 “And he arose and came to his father. But when he was still a great way off, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him. 21 And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight, and am no longer worthy to be called your son.’
22 “But the father said to his servants, ‘Bring out the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet.
23 And bring the fatted calf here and kill it, and let us eat and be merry;
24 for this my son was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ And they began to be merry.
• On Jun 29, 2009 James wrote:
Loved your most recent photos of descending from the Bolivian Andes down to Santa Cruz. Thankful for your safety. Glad too that your moms weren’t nearby. Can you imagine the commentary? Very glad your bikes held up while going over the cobblestones. Those lovely desserts were quite a reward for a day. Blessings as you move along into Paraguay.