Proof..

It has come to my attention that a number of people have been wanting to know how I am going to prove that I indeed cycled all the way, rather than jumping on a train or getting a ride from someone. It's a very good question, and one I hope I can answer with the following details:



Firstly, I intend to take a photo every 30 miles or so, of a sign with either a place name, or distance to somewhere as well as having myself and bike in said photo. I suspect I will be stopping every hour and a half for a 10 minute rest so this is quite easy to do... I realise that this doesn't prove I hadn't just got a ride on the back of a pickup or similar, so combined with this..

I have a computer on my bike, which provides me with time, distance 1, average speed, max speed and total distance covered (or distance 2 or Odo) as per the pictures below. The details you see in the pics are of a training ride I did this morning, and the first on my Rocky Mountain Sherpa touring bike fully laiden with panniers and equipment.

There isn't really a way of faking this.. or not one I know about anyway, so this should provide a full assessment of my daily and overall distances, along with all the other little stats. I'll take photos of this at various points along the way to keep you updated (and make you realise quite how far I've cycled!!)

The other element of proof is the wonderful little application on my phone called Runkeeper. Anyone familiar with this superb gadget will know that it can track your ride, elevation and averages, along with a map of the ride as well. The following link should take you to the same ride as per the pictures of my bike computer (although please note it shows slightly different stats to my bike computer as I had to stop after 150 yards and readjust my panniers so my feet didn't hit them every peddle, and whilst I did reset my speedo I didn't restart Runkeeper, so this will account for the slight time, distance and average speed difference!)

http://runkeeper.com/user/Wezo/activity/17974981 (it takes a moment to load up the map and stats)
 
There are a couple of problems with Runkeeper as it stands. One is that I don't have a U.S sim card and the other is that it is quite a drain on the phone battery. The U.S sim card is an easy one to get around as I will be getting one when I reach the US. I am currently trying to figure out how I will get around the second problem of draining the phone battery as it's highly likely I won't be able to charge it everyday, especially if I am camping. I suppose a 3rd problem might arise in that I may be in areas of no service during the cycle, I must admit I have no idea what the phone coverage is like in the U.S so will have to see when I get there. 

So hopefully this will allay any fears that I will try and jump on a train or similar. Getting sponsorship for cancer research is a great way of raising awareness as it is something everyone of you will come into contact with during your lifetime, if not directly affecting yourself, but family and/or friends. If you haven't done so already, please visit my Justgiving page:

http://www.justgiving.com/wezoworld

And keep the messages coming - seeing as I'm not generally very good at self publicity it's great motivation for me to recieve them!!