Today was the first day of riding. Since our starting location moved from Everett to Marysville we had seven extra miles for a total of 75 with 3,300 feet of climbing. We had a cool and rainy start in the morning as we travelled to the coast to dip our rear wheels in the Puget Sound. Today, I was riding with Terry from Michigan and Dawn from Minnesota. We are definitely kindred spirits! All from the Midwest, all 5’3” and had similar riding abilities. It was great to ride with them and hear about their adventures.
After, we left the sound we made our way to the quaint little town of Snohomish where we stopped for a latte and a delicious apple fritter. It was a perfect pick me up! The rest of the ride included beautiful scenery and farms, magical forests, a short but very tough 15% grade climb, Bigfoot, the beautiful rapids of the Skykomish River. Oh and some pretty scary riding along highway 2 which was extremely congested with traffic and narrow shoulders.
This was a tough ride for me. I ran out of gas around mile 50 and struggled until around mile 63. The last 12 miles went a bit better as we finally made it into Skykomish. Tonight we are staying at the Elementary school built in the 1930’s. So, my second night of sleeping with 30 other people in a gym. Some folks are pitching their tents but with rain in the forecast, I am opting for the indoor accommodations.
More to come this week on the Northwest Sampler: 610 miles & 27,000 feet of elevation in Washington, Idaho & Montana. There are 55 cyclists from the US, Canada, Europe, Australia & South Africa are making this journey.
 | Dipping my rear tire in the Pacific Puget Sound
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 | Terri dipping her rear tire! The adventure begins
 | | The Cascades - Bigfoot Country |
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View of the cascade Waterfall and clouds
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Skykomish River rapids
 | | Route this week |
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Go mommy go!
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