Statistics to End All Statistics!

2 April 2020

The following is one big amalgamation of the different kilometre-related statistics around our journey as well as a bit of information about what went wrong with us and our bikes.  It’s mainly for our own records, but if you would like to know how many bottom brackets we went through then read on….otherwise it’s a bit dull!

We were on the road for a total of 720 days

We pedalled for 496 days and covered a total of 35,459km (22,038 miles)

Our average distance on the days we pedalled was 71.5km (44.4 miles)

Our average distance over the whole time we were away was 49.2km (30.6 miles)

We climbed just over 159,000m (522,000 feet) overall.

We visited 28 countries and 20 capital cities.

We have published 235 blogs, including this one!

The following is an individual country tally of all the kilometres we cycled over 24 months and the capital cities we visited…

#1 – April 18 – England – 153km – London

#2 – April 18 – The Netherlands – 374km

#3 – April 18 – Germany – 603km

#4 – April 18 – Denmark – 493km

#5 – April – May 18 – Norway – 1,115km – Oslo

#6 May 18 – Sweden – 570km – Stockholm

#7 May – June 18 – Poland – 1,475km

#8 June – July 18 – Czech Republic- 651km

#9 July 18 – Austria – 425km – Vienna

#10 – July 18 – Slovakia – 694km – Bratislava

#11 – July – August 18 – Hungary – 924km – Budapest

#12 – August 18 – Croatia – 610km – Zagreb

#13 – August – September 18 – Serbia – 427km – Belgrade

#14 – September – October 18 – Romania – 1,019km – Bucharest

#15 – October 18 – Bulgaria – 1,106km – Sofia

#16 – October – November 18 – Greece – 1,145km

#17 – November 18 – Turkey – 268km

Scandinavia and Europe total = 12,052km over 177 cycling days (av 68km).

#18 – December 18 – March 19 – India (part 1) – 5773km – Delhi

#19 – March – April 19 – Bangladesh – 835km – Dhaka

#20 – April 19 – India (part 2) – 489km

Sub-continent total = 7,097km over 101 cycling days (av 70km).

#21 – May 19 – Myanmar – 1,385km – Naypyidaw

#22 – May – June 19 – Thailand (part 1) – 835km

#23 – June 19 – Laos – 646km – Vientiane

#24 – June – August 19 – Vietnam – 2,828km – Hanoi

#25 – August – September 19 – Cambodia – 702km – Phnom Penh

#26 – September 19 – Thailand (part 2) – 903km – Bangkok

#27 – September – October 19 – Malaysia – 996km – Kuala Lumpur

#28 – October 19 – Singapore – 56km – Singapore

South East Asia total = 8,351km over 118 cycling days (av 71km).

#29 – October – December 19 – Australia – 4,708km

#30 – January – April 20 – New Zealand – 3,251km – Wellington

Australasia total = 7,959km over 100 cycling days (80km).

Final Total = 35,459km

Human ailments…

Common cold/sore throat – Nigel (N) -3 (Greece, India and Vietnam) Martina (M) – 1 (Vietnam)

Sore knees – N-2 (Norway and New Zealand) M-2 (Norway and Laos) – seemed to happen when it was hilly

Delhi belly – N-4 (India, Bangladesh, Thailand and Vietnam) M-0 (though she did feel dodgy at times!)

Frozen shoulder – N-1 (6 months throughout Europe) M-0

Generally feeling yuck, but couldn’t put our finger on exactly what it was – N-2 (Pune and Vientiane) M-3 (Christmas day in India, Pune and Vietnam)

Sore hands/wrists – N and M on and off throughout

Inflamed intercostal muscles – N-1 (New Zealand) M-0

Pulled muscles – N-1 (back muscle, which typically came on the day before we started the Nullabor Desert crossing!) M-0

Arse sores – N and M on and off throughout – N 1 x bacterial infection in Mizoram

Sunburn – N and M – ears, nose and specifically lips – no amount of lippy would stop it – even zinc sun block applied all day didn’t work

Concussion – N-0 M-1 (Vietnam)

Stitches – N-0 M-2 (Vietnam)

Courses of antibiotics – N-5 M-1

Coronavirus – N-0 M-0

Shingles – N-0 M -1 since returning to London!

Bicycle ailments…

Punctures – N-4 (2 x New Zealand and 2 x Vietnam) M-3 (2 x India and 1 x Singapore) – yes…we only had 7 punctures over our entire journey and  always in the rear tyres, which is where most of the weight on the bikes would be!

Tyres – N-3 and M-2 – only rear tyres.  Our front tyres are still the original tyres we had on the bikes when we bought them in Edinburgh in 2016!

Drive belt and rear sprocket – N-1 (Singapore, 29,000km) M-1 (Bangkok, 26,000km)

Rear rims – N-1 and M-1 (Hat Yai, southern Thailand)

Bottom brackets – N-1 (Hanoi) M-1 (Chumphon, southern Thailand)

Rolhoff hub oil changes – N and M – six each not including the one before we started

Brake pads – N and M – many throughout the journey! The first change took me about an hour and by the time we finished our cycling I could change both pads in less than 10 minutes.

Brake cables – N-0 M-1 (Slovakia)

Broken panniers – N-2 (India and Vietnam) M-1 (Bangladesh)

Broken mudguards – N and M many times – they are a stupid design and are now held on by zip ties.

Bar tape – N-1 (Bangkok) M-1.5 (0.5 in Vientiane and 1 in Bangkok)

Since we have returned to the U.K. I’ve had plenty of time to look over the bikes, put them back together and give them a good clean. And it’s pretty amazing how well they have coped with all the abuse that they have endured over the past two years…From pot holes, dusty and gravely roads, dirt tracks, multiple ferry journeys, 3 train rides, 5 international flights, two mini van rides (one when they were strapped onto the roof), temperature extremes from – 3 to +48 degrees, wind, rain, sleet, sun and hail, they have coped with it all. And now they are ready for the next 35,000km…

 

 

 

 

8 comments

  1. Comment by Deborah S Boyd

    Deborah S Boyd Reply 16 April 2020 at 8:42 pm

    Well I’m so glad to read that you are home safe and sound. And man those bikes were amazing how well they held up. You should contact the manufacturer and let them know. Way cool all those stats. You guys are amazing. I hope you are adjusting to being back in the UK. Stay safe and healthy. Debbie

    • Comment by Nigel

      Nigel Reply 17 April 2020 at 11:15 am

      Hi Debbie, Yes, it’s certainly a very different life we are now living but very grateful that we managed to get most of our travels done and get home safe and sound. Thank you for your lovely comments throughout our journey

  2. Comment by Will & Jenny

    Will & Jenny Reply 3 April 2020 at 10:54 pm

    Huge effort Nigel & Martina, it was great to be a small part of your epic journey.

    Time to plan for the next one, hopefully all this chaos won’t hold you up for to long.

    Will & Jenny.

    • Comment by Nigel

      Nigel Reply 14 April 2020 at 9:19 am

      Thanks Will and Jenny, we do indeed have plenty of time to plan the next ones – I already have a basic route for Ireland done!

  3. Comment by Margo

    Margo Reply 3 April 2020 at 5:29 pm

    Some staggering figures there! It must be strange now being so confined indoors when you spent two years on the open road. Take care!

    • Comment by Nigel

      Nigel Reply 14 April 2020 at 9:21 am

      Hi Margo (and family!), yes it has been quite a contrast from roaming where and when we want to being stuck in doors, but we feel lucky to have made it home safe and sound.

  4. Comment by Lani

    Lani Reply 3 April 2020 at 4:34 pm

    Oh my. And I can’t wait for your next 35,000.
    Wheee :). Loved being able to go along.

    • Comment by Nigel

      Nigel Reply 14 April 2020 at 9:22 am

      Hi Lani, keep your eyes peeled, as soon as the lockdown is lifted we hope to be off again!

Leave a reply

Your email address will not be published.

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Go top