Day 3 - Bothel WA to Stevens Pass WA 70 miles

OK, so it's true what they say about the great Northwest. It rains and rains and rains. But, there's a good reason for it. It's the mountains. Just about everywhere west of the mountains is a catcher's mitt for all the weather that comes in off the Pacific.

And today was no different. It was overast and cold as we ran our tour out of Seattle (Bothel) into the country in Monroe WA and finally up in to the Cascade Mountains and Stevens Pass, pictured above.

We were literally riding through the clouds at 4,000+ feet up. It was so peaceful up there and so close to God. I started thinking about Moses and how God appeared to him in a cloud. It was really quiet up there; just waterfalls and birds chirping, and of course the occassional dump truck or semi truck blowing by. But, really, I was just listening for God and asking Him to speak to me.

At the top of the pass, some five and a half hours after we started, the temperature was 38 degrees. I didn't really notice though, as the last seven miles of the day were pretty much straight up in the last gear I had. I was able to hold a whopping 5.7 to 6.8 mph and had to stop about every two miles or so.

Soaking wet, with all my water, Power Gels, Power Bars and a protein powder-Gatorade mix gone with just a mile left in the climb, I decided to postpone the 35-mile decent into Leavenworth for tomorrow morning.

We continu to pass out our crosses and T-shirts and to encourage folks and ministries as we travel.

Here are some pix from the ride:

[ Day 2 ] | [ Day 3 ] | [ Day 4 ]

Spokemotion