"There is a good deal of comfort, now, in remembering this."
          -  Margaret Atwood  -

"I had to go on two diets at once because one wasn't giving me enough food."
         -  Barry Marter  -

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[I have some pictures that Klaus sent but I’ve been out of the country so I don’t have access to them. I’ll add them to this post when I return.]

People have been asking some follow up questions, and I thought I'd go ahead and answer them.

Klaus is doing well. He rode through New Orleans instead of taking the ACA route and, other than the roads, loved the city with its variety of interesting people. He was able to stay with the Rowes in Ocean Springs, who graciously put him up for the night. He arrived in St. Augustine on the 11/22/08, then flew out of Jacksonville on 11/25/08. On 11/27/08 he began traveling east from the coast of France. From there, he pedaled all the way to his home in Frankfurt, Germany, completing his circumnavigation of the globe.

[picture of klaus]

I received an email from Akira on the 5th of February. He said he had "only one windy day and heavy snow day," and that he arrived in Los Angeles after 50 days of riding. He wrote that most of the Americans he met were very kind to him, and that he was able to complete his trip because of those kindnesses.

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Interestingly, although this tour was in the Deep South, I didn't have a single issue with a dog....  not one the entire trip.

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One of the Usual Questions I get asked is how much weight I lose on a trip like this. My answer is always the same: I GAIN weight because of the amount I eat.

However, on this trip, I really did lose a few pounds. When I started I weighed 168.2 pounds. Now I weigh 161.8 pounds, a 6.4 pound weight loss. 

It's not a bad way to drop a few pounds. Considering the totals, that's a mere 428 miles per lost pound. Or, if you'd prefer, a trifling 33 hours and 15 minutes of riding for each pound of ugly fat shed. 

What a great diet.... and you can eat as much of anything you want!!

Here are the total of the totals, and average of the averages:

2737 miles
212 hours on the bike
60.8 miles a day
12.3 mph average (excluding rest days)