A Fibonacci Series...

Last night, I presented a slide show of my summer tour and served a dinner (my Mum's lasagna recipe) for my cycling buddies, and their wives. 

I started by laying out the 10 Provincial highway maps on the floor, more or less "spliced" together with the entire route high-lighted. There were actually 11 maps (since Ontario is so big, and took three weeks to cross, their highway map is two-sided, one for roads west and north of Tobermory, and one for roads east and south), I could have added in the map for Minnesota since I ride about 5 miles into International Falls and back, but opted not to.

It is amazing how much floor space it took up, and gives an excellent perspective of both the enormity of the event, and the amount of North/South zig-zagging we did as we rode across the country:

• northeast from Vancouver to Calgary and across the prairies,
• southeast to Regina
• northeast to Manitoba
• southeast to the Ontario/Minnesota border,
• northeast over the top of Lake Superior,
• southeast into the heartland of Ontario,
• northeast to follow the St. Lawrence River,
• southeast to Nova Scotia, and then
• north and south up and around Cape Breton. 

That helped explain to my friends how I got to ride over 5,000 miles along the way, when the distance from LA to NYC is only 2,795 miles.... 

NOTE to 2011 prospective Trans-Continental Riders: At this time last year, the whole trip seemed daunting and difficult to comprehend - riding 85+ miles day after day, after day...  I am sure you are now, as we were at this time last year, all filled with self-doubt "What have I got myself in to?", ...  "Can I do this?", ... Looking back on things, now having completed the journey,  it seems like a normal do-able thing - no big deal... As Nike puts it "Just Do It!"

The slide show culled a little over 600 of the best photos and video clips from the roughly 4,000* I took en route. I compiled the show to provide a daily perspective, leading with a map of each day's route and miles ridden, followed by the best photos of the day. 
* That translates to approximately one photo or video for every 1.3 miles of touring.

OK so what's with the title of this Post???

The Fibonacci series is a mathematical sequence in which the next number in the sequence is equal to the sum of the previous two numbers  0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5 ,8, ... 

So, "Why on earth is Bill writing about this?" you are probably asking yourselves.

Well, the last 5 years of my annual cycling mileage have inadvertently turned out to resemble the approximation of a Fibonacci Series, and I can safely predict that unless I am drafted by a Pro Cycling team, the sequence ends on December 31st.  I didn't plan for this but it is funny how things work out.

OK so I slacked off a bit in 2009, but more than made up for it in 2010. I can safely predict the end of the series as I cannot imagine how I could ride 12,600 miles in 2011, although I am sure that Pierre-Alain, who ride from Paris to Beijing in 2008 could suggest a few ways...


As you have probably guessed by now I like measuring stuff - be it my heart rate, feet climbed, or mileage ridden.   In 2010, I rode a total of 161 days, or more than one in three.  In terms of daily mileage, here is the summary:

I am still in awe at the amazing weather I had for the year.  All in all I think we rode less than 10 days in the rain... 

In summary:

• 8,502 miles
• 2 Countries (Canada, US),
• 10 Provinces (BC, AB, SK, MB, ON, QC, NB, PEI, NS, NL),
• 3 States (MN, NY, NJ),
• 2 Oceans (Pacific, Atlantic),
• 4 Mountain Ranges (Coastal, Monashee, Rocky, Appalachian), 
• 10 Major Rivers (Fraser, Thompson, Saskatchewan, Red, Ottawa, St. Lawrence, Richelieu, Matapedia, Mirimachi, Hudson),  
• 7 Major Bodies of Water (Juan de Fuca Strait, Lake of the Woods, Lake Superior, Lake Huron, Lake Ontario, Gulf of St. Lawrence, Northumberland Strait),
• 5 Major Islands (Vancouver Island, Manitoulin Island, Prince Edward Island, Cape Breton Island, Long Island)

All in all a very memorable year.

Happy New Year to all.