To wrap things up, below are the stats and map for the final route from Paris, France to Baku, Azerbaijan.

Total days: 149

Riding days: 105

Rainy days: 29

Total distance: 4346 miles

Average pace: 41 miles/day

Languages butchered: 12

# of flat tires: 1 (in Turkey)

# of people who stopped to check on us while fixing said tire: 8

# of times Kat stopped to pet a stray cat: definitely over 100

# of times Kyle contracted Giardia: 1

# of shots of raki/rakia/moonshine taken: too many

Gear broken/replaced:

• 1 pairs of cranks
• 3 saddles
• 1 handlebar bag
• 2 chains
• 1 flat tire
• 2 sets of brake pads
• 3 bike bells (don’t ask me how)
• 6 water bottles (we keep forgetting to grab them in the morning)
• 1 wallet (Kyle dropped it somewhere before the Bulgarian border)

Books read: 10

Most consumed food: Haribo Gold Bears (Kyle ate these almost daily)

Favorite city: Budapest (Kyle), Munich (Kat)

Favorite country: Georgia (Kyle), Serbia (Kat)

Things I learned:

• The world is a very safe place
• Most everyone is incredibly kind
• You can push your body much harder than you think
• You can mime your way through any conversation
• Never take directions from a local without a second opinion
• Any food tastes good after riding 50 miles
• Good roads make for easier days Bad roads make better memories
• Playing dumb gets you out of a lot of sticky situations
• Not everyday is packed with adventure. Some days were straight up boring. Podcasts and music helped immensely
• The best day in the office is never as good as the worst day cycling
• If you forgo the rain fly on your tent, it will rain

Thank you to everyone who followed along to our adventure. And a big thank you to my friend Craig who wrote us letters throughout the trip, which were always the highlight of our day.

Until next time,
Kyle & Kat

*Bonus Pics* Our favorite photos from the trip

I’m heading home! Long story short, getting ill and missing Kat really dampened my spirits. Also, the other cyclists I crossed paths with who’d come from China described the journey from that point forwards as grueling. I like my type B fun, but frankly didn’t feel up to going solo the rest of the journey.

With my mind made up, I booked a flight from Baku, Azerbaijan to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. My flight out didn’t depart until late so I waited in the Baku airport entrance area for about eight hours with my luggage until the flight crew arrived to start checking folks in at the counter.

Similar to my bizarre grocery store encounter earlier in Azerbaijan, it’s illegal to take photographs in the airport. This meant that every few hours, some poor tourist would snap a pic with his family, causing a gruff security guard to come up and snatch the phone, going through all their photos and deleting things as they saw fit.

Qatar Airways didn’t charge for the bicycle which was dope and I got through Azerbaijani immigration without issue. The flight was 3 legs with a duration of 30 hours. I had an overnight layover in Qatar which seemed like a common occurrence for travelers as the Doha airport was filled with sleepy people trying to get some shuteye on the many benches in the terminal. I got some jealous stares as I unpacked my camping gear and set up my inflatable bed…

The next morning, I boarded my last flight and headed home after 5 months of travelling East.

Now I’m back home, happy to be with friends and family again. I’m thrilled Kat and I got to go on this trip, even if it was cut short. Before this trip, I’d never fixed a flat tire; never biked more than a week straight, and never experienced such kindness and generosity from so many people across the world. Overall, it’s difficult to describe the impact this tour had on us. To put it simply, we got to see some cool places and meet some cool people and for that, we’re thankful.

*Bonus Pic* Kat was excited for me to come home but not as much as Cooper