El Malpais National Monument, NM
Mileage To Date:
Total Days on the Road: 191Total Days Ridden: 143Total Miles Ridden: 8,089Average Miles Per Day Ridden: 56.57 (vs 48.91 as of June 1)Average Miles Per Day ridden during the Tour Divide: 72.7Max miles per day: 101
Accommodation To Date:
AirBnB: 10Established Camp: 34Friend: 31Housesitting: 5Motel: 62Warm Showers: 9Wild Camp: 40
Total Days: 191Total average cost per day: $40
Verdict: June and July were rough months for accommodation budget-wise, because they included a stay in Canmore with friends and then the Tour Divide, where you kind of have to take what you can get. However, I also did wild camp a lot, as you can see from the fact that it is the 2nd most used option. Luckily in September, much of my accomodation has been with friends or housesitting, as there were not as many affordable options in the Midwest and Ontario.
Budget Average June - Sept:
You ask, I provide! In May, you all thought it was silly that I put cycling costs under Entertainment. So, I have edited my categories, so that cycling and running costs are under Shopping. I have also added a Utilities category, which includes a monthly breakdown for the following, even though some of them are charged only once per year: phone, Garmin charges, subscriptions, credit card fees and internet security (NordVPN).
Accommodation: $1,041 (↓ from May, highest month August --> $1,412)Dining Out: $348 (↑ from May, highest month July --> $518)Groceries: $329 (↑ from May, highest month July --> $400)Health: $234 (same - insurance premium)Misc.: $122 (↑ from May - includes CFA membership, shipping, gifts)Shopping: $287 (↑ from May, highest month July --> $669)Transportation: $267 (↑ from May, highest month Sept --> $652)Utilities: $226 (new category)
Average Total Spent: $2,854 ( (↑ 21% from May numbers)
Verdict: Many of these costs, as you can see from the highest month (July) were incurred during the Tour Divide, where I ate more, ate out more, shopped at higher cost food stores, fixed the bike a lot (hence the $669 shopping amount in July), and stayed in whatever room was near the course. This was not really a budget portion of my trip (total spending in July was $3,637). However, if you take out July, my average spending goes down by about 36%. Although I may not have months like this very often, I like to keep it in, as it gives me a good idea of the ebbs and flows of spending that will happen when traveling. For example, although my lodging in September was half the amount of August, in September I paid for a flight that I will not take until December, so my monthly total was not a lot lower. I look forward to doing a recap at the end of the year where the spending flattens out a bit, as month by month is a little harder to see the actual costs.
Fun side note, in finance we call this smoothing, and it is often a lot easier to look back on several months or years worth of data rather than look at it day by day or week by week. For example if you look at your investment account every day, you could easily get anxious for four days out of every five, but if you look at the last ten years, you will probably note a general upward trajectory.
Overall Spending To Date:
Currently, for the six months of full time bike travel, my average spending per month is $2,564. The breakdown per month is:
April: $1,881 (75% California/Oregon/Washington USA, 25% BC, Canada)May: $1,845 (100% BC, Canada)
June: $2,410 (50% MT/ID/WY, USA, 50% BC/Alberta, Canada)July: $3,637 (100% CO/NM/IL/WI, USA) <-- HighestAugust: $2,862 (67% MN/WI/MI, USA, 33% ON, Canada)September: $2,749 (35% OR/NY, USA, 65% ON/QC, Canada)
Verdict: The west has cheaper accomodation and more available wild camping (ie free) options due to there being a lot more national forest, BLM and Crown land. Also, most likely even the motels in the west were a lot cheaper in April than they were in July. I am also getting more tired or more lazy as time goes by, and am not as diligent about always camping or getting food from the grocery store as I was in the beginning.
To end this number heavy post, here are a few non-cycling related stats!
Favorite Ice Cream: The mint chip at The Clark Store outside of Steamboat Springs, CO. It was cash only, but a double scoop only cost me $5 and the kids serving it were top notch!
Double scoop of mint!
Favorite New Town: Marquette, MI. The entire UP was nice, but the town of Marquette checks a lot of boxes. It is right on Lake Superior, it has a sweet bakery (Huron Mountain), is laid back, has good coffee, is walkable, has old buildings, has a Saturday farmers market, and has excellent bike paths! Win, win!
Marquette Bay
Favorite New Water Related Venue: Although all of the Great Lakes were beautiful, I have a special spot in my heart for Lake Huron. I put my feet into all five of them, but was able to swim a few times in Lake Huron, and it was fabulous. Actually my first week or so in Ontario was all along Lake Huron and other waterways and every morning I got to see the sun rise over the water and it was very special.
Lake Huron at Blind River
Favorite Food Item: I am back in the land of pate, of which I am a big fan. When I was in France, it was not uncommon for me to sometimes eat bread and pate a few times a day. Currently, I am not doing that, but it is nice to have the option! Bring me the liver!
Foie!
Favorite Book: I know I have mentioned this before, but I really enjoyed The Indifferent Stars Above. Another one that was thought provoking was The Anxious Generation, which I've also already mentioned. My largest category for star ratings is four stars, so there are a ton more I could add, but you can look at them on my Goodreads page here instead!
Okay it's your turn!! Do you like pate? What is your favorite water related venue that you have been to? What was your favorite book last month and why?