All things big and small.

Ok so the internet connection wasn’t up to par. So I’ll put Day 1 &2 together here.
Day 1 – Seattle, WA to Sultan, WA 83km
We started out the day early, around 7am we got all of our stuff loaded onto the gear truck and headed out to Golden Garden Beach; which had a beautiful and had a very nice view of the Olympic Mountains. We also had an amazing breakfast of muffins, danishes, fruits, yogurt, cereal, and an assortment of juices which was put together by the local churches. After breakfast we all headed down to the water for the tire dipping celebration which was incredibly unifying and kind of surreal. It was and still is a little hard to believe we are, a group of 149 right now, are biking across the continent!
The first day was a hot one, although nice and cold by the coast which we biked alongside for about 20km before leaving the city. The sun only grew stronger throughout the day, even against our best efforts of keeping cool by creating a strong breeze on the downhill, which wasn’t incredibly high just steep. I reached a top speed of 63.1km/h, which still stands as the fastest yet, despite today’s downhill. All in all, the first day went well. Despite two major falls, one by an older lady who suffered a minor concussion, and another by a fellow named Art who has a bit of a sprained ankle.
Flat tire count after one day: 9 (not my count, but the entire group’s)

Day 2 – Sultan, WA to Leavenworth, WA 127km
Today was very tough. Not just because of the distance, but the climbing we did. We started out the first 50 km in gentle terrain, slowly gaining altitude with a hill here and a downhill there. We passed through some small towns along the way: Gold Bar, Baring, Skykomish, and Index (which had a 10 foot Bigfoot statue). Very nice places. The landscape today was beautiful. Snow-capped mountains, snow melt streams, waterfalls, raging rapids, and gentle rivers. As the titlw says, "All things big and small" it surely applies to the wonder and beauty of the creation. Everything praises God in their own way. The huge mountains seem to leap into the heavens, and the dozens of icecold waterfalls alone the road sing with their splashes of joy. However the landscape was also gruelling. We climbed through the Cascade Mountains via Stevens Pass. About a 15km, all uphill, 6% grade climb to a maximum of 4061 ft in altitude at the top (keep in mind we started the day around 160 ft).The downhill was nice, although the wind was against on the other side of the mountain which made it tough. But we made it which no serious falls, yet tired. I’m off to bed now and waking up early tomorrow morning to head out for the next mountain pass.
Flat tire count: 20