by the numbers + awards

by the numbers

1 bike
1 rider
4 tires
27 states
29 days
512 photos
588 songs on shuffle
8467.4 miles

awards

best music: the black keys. always rocking, never disappointing and great to sing along to.
runners up: the strokes, jet. much the same reasons.

worst music: phoenix. sorry guys, i like some of your stuff, but all the songs sound the same, and you can't sing to any of it. you were the first album i took off my mix.
runners up: the hives, vampire weekend. the hives were just too loud (this was partially the mastering on the album), and vampire weekend was too disjointed to really get a rhythm going. the other two albums i switched out.

best ride: route 62, from twentynine palms to springerville CA. through the desert, 100 miles of nothing. not even other cars. hot as hell, but an awesome ride.
runners up: route 60 through salt river canyon AZ, highway 12 from missoula to lewiston ID. both great rides (except the stretch of bad roads on 12), just not quite up to the desert crossing. it should be noted that national parks were exempt from this award.

worst ride: highway 60 through northern texas. straight flat roads through feed lots. no thanks.
runners up: highway 17 through south carolina, pennsylvania turnpike.

best state: south dakota. a close race, but in the end SD had great roads, beautiful scenery and the badlands.
runners up: wyoming, california. wyoming has yellowstone, which is a huge plus, but it also had some boring straight sections. california just has a bit of everything: forests, coast, desert, everything.

worst state: texas. need i go into detail?
runners up: south carolina, indiana. both were nothing but windy and annoying, basically states i had to get through to get to other, more interesting states. plus, south carolina sported a lot of confederate flags, and some racist mexican themed truck stops. granted i didn't spend significant time in indiana, so don't hold that one against me.

best piece of gear: this was a close one, since my saddlebags were awesome but, for pure usage and flexibility, i'm going with my cargo net. need to throw something on the back? throw it under the net.
runners up: ortlieb saddlebags, and plain old industrial garbage bags. by far the most reliable waterproofing i had.

worst piece of gear: i didn't really have any bad pieces of gear. i guess i'll give this one to my old jacket, since it stopped being waterproof, but i still love the thing.
runner up: my cold weather gloves. for not being windproof. they also weren't bad, though, unless it was really cold.

best meal: at the davidsons in new mexico. everything was delicious, and i'm picking up some green chiles at the store today.
runners up: everyone else who cooked for me. seriously, it was all delicious. i'm not just saying that.

worst meal: gas station BBQ in south carolina. chalk up one more in the negative column for SC.
runner up: leftover pizza for breakfast in montana. not a good way to start the day.

that's all i can think of. if you have any other awards you want me to grant (best/worst whatever), let me know and i'll happily oblige.

rftc,

scott