Doug is going to ride his bicycle 3 , 000 miles across the United States, from coast to coast. He wants to choose the route that will give him the greatest chance of success. Here's what he finds in his research: There have been 2 attempts on the northern route from Maine to Washington. Both of those riders made it 2 , 000 miles and quit in Montana. There have been 19 attempts on the central route from Virginia to California; 9 of those riders didn't make it out of Virginia and the other 10 made it all the way to the Pacific. There have been 32 attempts on the southern route from Florida to San Diego. One of those riders made it the whole way. Another realized he was out of shape, and quit before he even started. The other 30 riders quit somewhere in Texas. They were evenly distributed between 1 , 300 and 1 , 700 miles. For the northern route, the median distance covered will be the mean. For the central route, the median distance covered will be the mean. For the southern route, the median distance covered will likely be the mean.