Biking Progress

The journey thus far has taken me from the ocean shores in Anacortes, WA through the Skagit River Valley, up and over the North Cascade Mountains (apparently through a short stint of desert...according to one of the locals), and finally into the foothills of the Rocky Mountains. I have ridden for 9 out of 10 days and crossed the state of Washington. I expected that this journey would start out much slower than I am accustomed to due to the mountains and my not-so-diligent training as the summer progressed. :) In the mountains, I will guesstimate that I averaged 50-55 miles per day and since leaving the mountains about 70-75 miles per day for the past 2 days. So far, my body is holding up very well (again a bit surprising, due to the lack of training). Most of the information I read about others crossing the country warned me of severe saddle pain for the first 1-3 weeks. Well, a week and a half has passed and I am doing much better than expected. Road surfaces are variable rainging from super smooth concrete/cement to less than optimal new blacktop with freshly oiled loose gravel. It is usually the road surfaces that determine how frequently I am getting off my bike for "pressure relief" of my hands, feet, and seat. Otherwise, we are off to a great start. Crossed the WA/ID state line today and should cross the ID/MT state line tomorrow. Happy trails!

A breakfast shout out to my girls in Tillamook--the land of cheese, trees, and ocean breeze

Welcome to Idaho!

Pend Oreille Lake (pronounced pond-a-ray)

Bike path along the Pend Oreille Lake