either that or youre over exaggerating

i highly doubt that you rode 12,000 miles (aka three times this distance across the atlantic ocean) in rain, salt, grit, potholes, mud, snow, and two hurricanes without having even the slightest little click, grind, slip, or noise. the fact that you say your wheel "survived" makes me wonder. anyone can easily ride a broken freewheel and not service it or fix it and say it "survived without service". was it running completely silent and sqeaky clean the whole time? did you have some kind of bag around it? some kind of god-like degreaser?
oh and by the way, what was it like riding in a hurricane? i should try that sometime.