Math? Math? I don't Need No Stinkin' Math!

Anyone who knows me is well aware that mathematics is my least favorite subject, ever. I never enjoyed it in school, and avoid it whenever possible, now.

Yet, statistics always intrigue me, and there's really no way to arrive at them without some applied mathematics. So, Dottie Hutchinson was right when she told me, as my 10th grade Algebra teacher, that I would, indeed, someday use it.

Today, I accidently ended up taking my Cafe Scorcher on a 20 mile ride. I bumped into friends at Kaladi Brothers Coffee, and tagged along on their Sunday-morning jaunt. Only problem was, I was on the Cafe Scorcher, which I have regeared for off-road use.

I have a 30x16 drivetrain, which yields about a 48.75 inch gear on the MTB wheels. There are 63,360 inches in a mile. Divide that by 48.75 and you get 1,299.69 pedal strokes per mile. Therefore, being on a fixed-gear and unable to coast, I turned my pedals approximately 25,994 times in the 20 mile ride.

Math, it's what's for dinner...