Join me as I bike Sea to Sea

Distance Biked Today: 60.05 miles

Time Spent Biking: 4:44

Average Speed: 12.6 mph

Max speed: 37.6 mph

Total Distance Biked: 199 miles

Today was another long day as we went through Blewett Pass, climbing over 3,000 feet, along with another 1,000 foot hill at the bottom. It was beautiful going through the mountains, however I missed the river and hearing the rushing water from the day before.

I struggled more today going up. It was difficult with the heat and steep climb. After reaching the bottom and starting to climb the second hill it was a drastic change in landscape. The lush huge pines on the steep mountains flattened out into rolling grassy hills with occasionally trees.

It felt good to be done with mountains. However I'll miss the long down hills though.

Along the way the Washington Department of Transportation posted "Bicycles Ahead / Share the Road" on the electronic boards as shown above.

Did I mention I got four stitches today? (See this post for more info)

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.

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.

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.

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.

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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Distance Biked Today: 51 miles

Time Spent Biking: 3:55

Total Distance Biked: 51 miles

Terrain: Flat with two small hills

Today started with leaving the University of Washington and biking to Golden Garden Park. We all woke up and loaded the gear truck for the first time. After we were packed and ready we rode a path in our safety groups to the park where local churches prepared a great breakfast for us right on the beach. Next we dipped our tires in the water for the official start of the tour. I was excited to get going. After the bikes were blessed we took some pictures and then headed towards Sultan in our safety groups. We were able to take the same path for most of the day. Since it was the first day we were supposed to take it easy in our groups.

starting the trip from Dave Teitsma on Vimeo.

Above is the video of my video starting the tour. It was awesome to start such an amazing trip with everyone cheering for you.

The day was exciting and not to far. I was excited to get started on a trip that I have been preparing and talking about for so long. We only had a couple small climbs up some of the foothills that we'll see in the next days. Towards the end half of our group did get separated from everyone else in the group because they took a wrong turn.

Oh, and did I mention that I got a flat? I went through a little gravel and there must have been a piece of glass or something that caused me to get a flat tire. Several people helped as I changed it. Do you think this will be the only one?

Once I arrived in camp in Sultan I was on the sweep team and had to help camp setup, and the kitchen volunteers. Since it was the first day things were a little confused so it was hard to help when the kitchen crew didn't know where items were.

It's hot here, and the locals have been saying that it is abnormally hot. So I have been drinking plenty of water and making sure I don't get dehydrated.