A Ride in the Country: 06/26/16

Sunday, June 26, 2016

First Week in photos

Some highlights...

Back wheel in the Pacific....

On the way to Skokomish

Lake behind Grand Coulee Dam

Awesome "Bikes Only" bridge

A wet morning before the climb to Thompson Pass

Along the road in Washington

Reflections on the first week

My body is more capable than I thought brought home by the climb to Thompson Pass in rain and sub 50 degree temps.

Cyclists are very cool people.

Riders range from a 40 yr old Aussie from Darwin to a 19 year old student from the UK. We have a 72 plus guy from Holland. A couple from Denmark and two from Canada. Several others from UK.

A diverse crew for sure A father and son on a tandem. The father, blind, is an Economics Prof. at Duke.

The organizers of this ride are awesome

Food has been great. Very tasty and lots of it.

The USA is beautiful

Animals spotted so far. The killer rabbit, a moose, white tail deer, eagles.

Looking forward to the next segment.

Some pictures from the week past...

About the Ride

For many years one of the items on my “bucket list” has been a cross country bike ride. It looks like this summer it will happen. Bright and early on Sunday, June 19, I will join up with my brother-in-law and several other riders in Seattle, to begin an adventure that will take us through 7 states and across the Cascade and Rocky Mountains. We plan to join our RAGBRAI team near Council Bluffs and will end the ride with Team Animals at the Mississippi River near Davenport, Iowa, on July 30.

The 3000 +/- mile ride will take us through some extraordinary country. Devil’s Tower, West Yellowstone and Jackson Hole are only few of the cool places we will see. Over the 37 days we will climb a total of 113,000 feet.

I have been training since the fall and still have a way to go but am looking forward to the challenge and adventure.

Depending on my access to the internet along the route, I plan to use this blog to chronicle the trip for anyone who might find my trek of some interest.