Week 1 Recap

Today's day off in Missoula, Montana has finally given me an opportunity to update my blog and tell about my experiences thus far. I'll give short day by day summaries for the past week but I promise to provide longer stories in the days to come. Let's get started.

Day 1 of riding took us 75 miles to Skykomish, WA. Honestly the most memorable part of this day were how bone chillingly cold the showers were. I swear the school we stayed in pumped their water directly from the river next to it. Guys, we're talkin a shrinkage factor of 12. On a 10 scale. Other than that, it was cool to see some geography other than Indiana's rolling cornfields. Beautiful foothills and pine forests as far as I can see. We're officially at the base of the Cascade Mountains and the climbing will really begin tomorrow.

Day 2 took us through Steven's Pass (elev. 4,100 ft.) through the Cascades to Wenatchee, WA. This day was very challenging but my paceline rocked it up the mountain and we were all too busy taking in the gorgeous mountain scenery around us to get tired. I also enjoyed the chance to see my cousin Rachel, her husband Andy, and their 7 month old baby boy, Caleb. I'll definitely have to visit them again soon. While visiting, they took me to a bakery a quarter mile from their house where I had the best cupcake ever made. Ever.

Two days later we arrived in Spokane, WA and had a much needed day off. We had a friendship visit with the Muscalar Distrophy suppport group of greater Spokane and it was a great time. While talking with the kids and their families, we played games ranging from pie eating contests to frozen t-shirt thaw races. Me and a guy from Virginia Tech faced off in the t-shirt thaw and we looked like cavemen as we slammed our frozen t-shirts against rocks trying to break the ice around them. My readers may be surprised to know I lost. Big time. I think the competition was rigged...

Washington's landscape has blown me away. I thought the whole state consisted of mountains and pine forests. The ride up to Steven's Pass was a rain forest. Wenatchee was on the other side of the Cascades and a much more arid climate. The ride to Coulee City from Wenatchee took us through a desert with steep canyon walls and hot sandy roads. Between Coulee City and Spokane we rode through rolling farm land. Finally in Spokane we saw more mountains and pine forests. Each day was distinctly different from the rest and kept the rides interesting.

The next day we had a short ride into Coeur d'Alene, ID where we stayed at a camp across a lake that I cannot quite describe. Let's just say it's something that me and my teammates will never forget. Some of the days seem to run together throughout the course of the journey but this one will definitely stand out for years to come. Anyway, the camp was situated on a beautiful lake and my team had fun relaxing on the beach as we took the afternoon off. We slept in "cabins" on the top of the hill which were more like treehouses. A guy remarked they looked like Eewok huts from the Star Wars films. Nerd. But really, they did. The night ended with a good round of ghost stories told by the unique staff.

Finally our Journey took us to Kellogg, ID. We were able to take a bike trail 80 miles all the way from Coeur d'Alene so the ride was quick and smooth. We didn't have any scheduled events for the evening so we hit the town in search of food. About 15 of us bombarded a local chinese place and I was able to satisfy my craving for some General Tso's chicken. Not as good as Rice Cafe of course. We all then went for ice cream afterwards as tomorrow's trip would be our first century ride. Eating whenever possible has become a theme with these guys.