Final Numbers and Awards

This might be the final entry of this blog.

When I first posted my spreadsheet, I was surprised at the responses I received. It seems a lot of people really liked it. So here is the final version of my spreadsheet. I added a couple more columns: Moving Time (as tracked by Strava) and Calories (again, a Strava data point). I'm not sure how much trust I put in the Calorie calculation. I did enter my starting weight and height in Strava, but part of the calorie calculation should include how much my bike weighs (including water bottles, BlueTooth speaker, cell phone, and all the other "stuff" attached to me or the bike), plus an estimation of the ride-time winds (i.e. headwind, tailwind, crosswind, no wind), road quailty (bumpy or rough pavements has more rolling resistance than new, very smooth blacktop...I can feel the difference), and other factors that I'm not even aware of. Still, I included it just for general interest; it's probably not totally inaccurate.


The grand totals are:
  • Cumulative Miles: 3737.8 miles
  • Elevation gain (Feet climbed): 131,924 feet...or about 25 vertical miles
  • Moving Time: 272.05 hours...or just shy of an average five-and-a-half hours in the saddle every ride day
  • Calories Expended: 92,969 
As I mentioned yesterday, Lailla drove 7415 miles from Anacortes, Washington, to Portland, Maine, which is very close to double my miles. So all the shuttling to and from starting and ending points for each day, and going to the grocery store, Walmart, a bike store, or a restaurant added up to another trip across the continent.

We can also document where we stayed along the way. There were 36 hotels or motels, six AirBnB's, and three private homes:
  • 8/5/2025 - The Hotel Pendleton, Trademark Collection by Wyndham (Pendleton, Oregon)
  • 8/6 - 8/7/2025 - The Kulshan Hotel (Sedro-Wooley, Washington)
  • 8/8/2025 - Omak Inn (Omak, Washington)
  • 8/9/2025 - Northern Inn (Republic, Washington)
  • 8/10/2025 - Comfort Inn (Colville, Washington)
  • 8/11 - 8/13/2025 - AirBnB in Spokane, Washington
  • 8/14/2025 - Amber Bear Inn (Heron, Montana)
  • 8/15/2025 - Evergreen Hotel (Libby, Montana)
  • 8/16/2025 - A friend's house in Kalispell, Montana
  • 8/17/2025 - Hotel Meadow Lake Resort (Columbia Falls, Montana)
  • 8/18 - 8/19/2025 - Lake Frances Inn (Valier, Montana)
  • 8/20 - 8/22/2025 - AirBnB in Great Falls, Montana
  • 8/23/2025 - B&B Motel (Lewiston, Montana)
  • 8/24/2025 - Sportsmen Motel (Jordan, Montana)
  • 8/25 - 8/26/2025 - La Quinta Inn (Glendive, Montana)
  • 8/27/2025 - La Quinta Inn (Dickinson, North Dakota)
  • 8/28 - 8/30/2025 - AirBnB in Bismarck, North Dakota
  • 8/31/2025 - AmericInn (Valley City, North Dakota)
  • 9/1/2025 - BrewHalla (Fargo, North Dakota)
  • 9/2/2025 - AmericInn (Alexandria, Minnesota)
  • 9/3/2025 - Baymont Inn (Albany, Minnesota)
  • 9/4 - 9/6/2025 - AirBnB in Minneapolis, Minnesota
  • 9/7/2025 - AmericInn (Rice Lake, Wisconsin)
  • 9/8/2025 - Riverside Motel (Hayward, Wisconsin)
  • 9/9/2025 - The Pointe Hotel & Condos (Minocqua, Wisconsin)
  • 9/10/2025 - Clarion Pointe (Rhinelander, Wisconsin)
  • 9/11/2025 - Best Western Wittenberg Inn (Shawano, Wisconsin)
  • 9/12 - 9/13/2025 - AirBnB in Green Bay, Wisconsin
  • 9/14/2025 - Ludington Beach House (Ludington, Michigan)
  • 9/15/2025 - Comfort Inn (Cadillac, Michigan)
  • 9/16/2025 - Hampton Inn & Suites (Bay City, Michigan)
  • 9/17/2025 - Postcard Cabins (Columbiaville, Michigan)
  • 9/18/2025 - Retro Suites Hotel (Chatham, Ontario)
  • 9/19/2025 - Comfort Inn (St. Thomas, Ontario)
  • 9/20/2025 - Comfort Inn (Simcoe, Ontario)
  • 9/21/2025 - Towne Place Suites (Niagara Falls, Ontario)
  • 9/22/2025 - (One of ) my brother's house in Hilton, New York
  • 9/23 - 9/26/2025 - My dad's house in Palmyra, New York
  • 9/27/2025 - Home2 Suites (Oswego, New York)
  • 9/28/2025 - Great Pines Resort (Old Forge, New York)
  • 9/29/2025 - Maple Leaf Motel (Schroon Lake, New York)
  • 9/30/2025 - My Place Suites (Randolph, Vermont)
  • 10/1/2025 - Mt. Liberty Lodging (Lincoln, New Hampshire)
  • 10/2/2025 - The Colonial Motel (North Conway, New Hampshire)
  • 10/3 - 10/5/2025 - AirBnB in Scarborough, Maine
And now on to the awards...
  • Best Meal: Skal Bar & Kitchen (Woodruff, Wisconsin).
  • Most Ridiculous interior decor: The peacock wall clock at The Colonial Motel:

  • Gave us High Hopes: The Kulshan Hotel in Sedro-Wooley, Washington. The first hotel after the actual ride started; it was nice and clean and right on-route.
  • Worst Hotel: Omak Inn in Omak, Washington. This was our "reset" moment when we realized The Kulshan Hotel was not going to be our typical accommodations.
  • Best Hotel: Retro Suites Hotel in Chatham, Ontario. The room was good; the art & collectibles in public areas was fantastic! And it was affordable too. By the way, we had the "Library Room," which had a fireplace, and a large globe, and historic maps in addition to a couple bookcases full of books.
  • Filthiest Hotel: Clarion Pointe in Rhinelander, Wisconsin. After inspecting the first room we were checked into, we asked to switch rooms. The second room really wasn't any better. We were happy to move on down the road after one night.
  • Best Vibe: Brewhalla in Fargo, North Dakota. The brewery was good; the rooms were funky; and the independent cafes and eateries in the mall were yummy.
  • Most Welcoming Brewpub: Harvest Moon Brewing in Belt, Montana. The beer was good, but the local clientele and bartender were a hoot and we spent a very fun afternoon drinking and chatting.
  • Most Likely to Start “The Great Fire of 2025”: The Hotel Pendleton in Pendleton, Oregon. This was  the night before the actual ride started (i.e. en-route to Anacortes, Washington), but the bad wiring and blown circuit were such a unique situation that we had to mention it in our awards.
  • A special shout-out to the Lake Frances Inn in Valier, Montana. It certainly wasn't the fanciest place, but it was clean and serviceable. We spent two memorable nights there with Carrie and Sherri and I rode a couple of my hottest and longest days with the Lake Frances Inn as home base. To get dinner, we had to drive to neighboring towns (up to 40 minutes away) because there was nothing open in Valier.
That's it. If you have any topics you'd really like me to address, comment on this post and I'll see what I can do. Comments come to me first and then I have to decide whether to approve them or delete them. I have approved every comment that has been submitted during this ride. Tailwinds!

Comments

  1. LaillaOctober 5, 2025 at 6:45 PM

    I'd like to nominate Best Roadside Companions, Best Early Morning Chauffeurs, Best Camp Cot Setter Uppers, and Best Long Distance Stick-it-out-longer-than-I'd-ever-imagined-ers: Carrie and Sherri
    Also, to my Best FB IM Therapist Mette. Thank you.

    ReplyDelete

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