Trip Stats and Trivia

A few posts below I uploaded a rough map of our route. Thought I'd share some other stats and things... (Dad, this one was inspired by you.)

1) Mileage

• Current trip total: 1300 km (Prague - Ljubljana).
• Daily averages: 50 km at the beginning, 60 - 70 midway, 70 - 90 currently.
• Record day: 95 km in the foothills in Slovenia. World of pain.

2) Elevation: Allan's SuperWatch tracks our altitude and spits out the total number of metres climbed and dropped over the day.

• In Czech: between 600 and 1000 m climbed (and then descended) daily. The Aussies said the rolling hills of Czech were harder than the passes through the Alps. Weird.
• In Hungary: negligible.
• In Slovenia: less climbing overall than Czech, but steeper at times (anything over 12% grade, I walk).

3) Temperature: The SuperWatch also reads out the temperature. Handy when you want to curse the skies and feel justified.

• Czech: 25 - 32. Liveable.
• Austria: 28 - 32. Bearable.
• Hungary: 30+ every day. Alyssa melts.
• Slovenia: 18 - 32. Alyssa develops bipolar.

4) Campsites

• Good: Quiet fields. Clean bathrooms. Anything with swimming. Or ice cream. Hot springs. People who cook us goulash. Anything under $5 per person.
  
• Bad: Hot springs gone crazy. Sometimes, they take this thermal bath thing a little far and you can't find a campground WITHOUT hot springs attached. Then they go and turn the area into some twisted kind of amusement park with waterslides, brightly painted toot toot trains, and scary people walking around in white robes like some spa cult.
  
• Ugly: Campground/Motel outside Gyor, Hungary. Stale smoke pervaded everything, even open air field sites; mould and dirt filled every crack and broken tile of the bathroom; the 'kitchen' sink drained onto the floor of the men's bathroom; and the showers looked like the kind of place a killer would take their next victim in some cross between American Psycho and Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Tom and I got the heebie-jeebies just brushing our teeth.
  
• Stolen: Some of the best camping yet. Farmer's field in Czech; public forest in Austria; campground in Hungary with no way to pay on a Sunday; mountain river valley in Slovenia.
  

5) Local crops identified and sampled:

• Cherries
• Baby corn and corn
  
• Apples (unripe)
• Apricots
• Wheat (surprisingly tasty)
• Grapes (unripe and oh so tangy)

6) Roadkill

• Birds
• Snakes
• Frogs
• Rabbits
• Cats
• One hedgehog

7) Beer prices

• Austria: $4 - 5 served; $0.50 - 2 at the grocery store
  
• Slovenia: $3 - 4 served; less at the grocer's
  
• Hungary: bit cheaper still
  
• And the winner.... Czech: $0.30 - 1.50 served; less at a grocery store. Huzzah!

8) Bike shops

• Sedlcany, Czech - back rack, Tom
• Tabor, Czech - back rack and tire, Annie
  
• Znojmo, Czech - rear derailleur, Allan; headset tightening, Annie
• Bratislava, Slovakia - rear wheel, cassette and derailleur, Alyssa; drivetrain, Tom
  
• Szombathely, Hungary - bottom brackets, Alyssa and Allan
• Ljubljana, Slovenia - headset, Annie
• All = excellent
  

9) Weight

• Panniers: 40 - 50 lbs.
• Water: 3 - 4 L each.
• Food: Enough for 1 - 2 days at a time.
• Bread: 1.5 - 2 kg consumed per day as a group.

10) Sleep

• Average bed time: 10:00 - 10:30
• Average rise time: 7:30 - 8:00 (boys); 8:00 - 9:00 (ladies)
• That makes the average sleep... 9 - 11 hours. Mmm.

11) Overall Country Comparison:

• Czech: oldest feel, best towns, best castles.
• Austria: best windmills, most vineyards, best gelato.
• Slovakia (only spent one day, but): nice capita city, most expensive Coca Cola.
• Hungary: flattest, hottest, best tailwinds, best headwinds, best hot paprika.
• Slovenia: best scenery, most mountainous, most bike-friendly capital.