Sunday, July 6, 2008

Day 2 Sultan to Leavensworth

Distance Biked Today:  78.3 miles

Time Spent Biking:5:58

Avg Speed: 12.3

Max speed: about 49

Total Distance Biked: 133 miles

Today was day that I knew if I could make it I could do any day of the trip because it included 4,000 foot climb. I haven't climbed a mountain pass any where close to that before so I didn't know what to expect. However, not only did I have the climb to complete, but I had to finish my sweep duties.

This included packing up the breakfast and camp (so leaving last) and then helping any riders that are struggling on the ride. So with some people that struggled on the road it made a long day of waiting and going slow.

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The scenery was beautiful the whole day as go into the mountains the pines were bigger and bigger. The ice at the peaks was melting and created huge stream and falls. The area had a lot of late snowfall so the water was higher than usual. It was nice to ride along listening to the rapids alongside the road.

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Along the way I stopped at Deception Falls. With the high water, the falls were rushing violently past creating a wonderful cooling mist. It was a wonderful way to cool off.

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The climb ended up going great, however it was hard work. I just took my time as I didn't want to over exert myself. The hardest part is when you're going so slow, you don't have any wind to cool you off, so going up the pass I would get so hot.

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As we got closer to Leavensworth we started to hear thunder and clouds moving in. It was time to hunker down and speed home to beat the storm. It was a great descent down. Leavensworth is a Bavarian style town, however I didn't arrive until 6, so I didn't get a chance to take any photos. It felt like I was in a totally different place.

After today, I feel like its all downhill. Literally.

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