Perspective on 29 of #30DaysofBiking

Crest of the final hill at the end of today's ride. Gamin still showed "time to sunset".



180 miles in two days on the bike. All systems were still go at the end of the ride today. This bodes well for the back to back centuries that are my goal for Tour Divide. Some different perspectives on 180 miles and ~ 18 hours in the saddle in two days:

• Almost 2.5 work days.
• iPod playlist is 25 songs. At 4 minutes per song that's 100 minutes. That's almost 11 genius playlists.
• I consume one 200 calorie bar of some sort every hour while riding. 18 bars. 3x boxes of 6 or 2x boxes of 8. I've learned to carry about 4 varieties.
• Over 10,300 calories burned while riding. 6700 calorie deficit after bars.
• 10,300 is 5 days worth of the "average recommended daily caloric intake"
• I would almost finish (18/21) the unabridged Dune audiobook
• I would be almost 30% (18/62) through the unabridged Atlas Shrugged audiobook
• I could commute to and from work 9 times. Biking to work adds up!
• 180 miles is 3 full round trips of the complete American Tobacco Trail(61 miles)

Today I made another new friend who is planning to ride some of the Great Divide route. "Great Divide" refers to the route within the United States border. "Tour Divide" adds the Canadian section. Gunter and I traded bikes as he was curious about the Moots platform. We each had quite an experience with several inches of height difference between us. We traded plans and fears, approaches and gear reviews. It was great to have a bit of human connection during the ride.

Speaking of human connection, riding is also a great time to catch up on phone calls so long as wireless headset battery holds up. To those who have endured wind noise and occasional vehicle traffic on the phone - Thank you!

Biking doesn't have to be this much time in the saddle. Ride what works for you. The world takes on a significantly different perspective from two wheels.