Day 1-Skykomish

Yesterday was our departure from Seattle and our first ride to Skykomish. The ride was a great and the scenery was amazing! The ride was the longest I've ever ridden (70 ish miles) and was certainly mentally and physically challenging for me.

The ride from Seattle to Skykomish
(click on the photo to make it bigger)

The day started by waking up early and taking the cars over to gas works park, which is where our first friendship visit was. Several Pi Alpha's and their families cooked up an amzaing feast including shrimp casserole, donuts, and fresh fruit. We had a big circle up with friends and family before we left and Jeremy our project manager said a prayer for the group before we left.

Gorgeous view from Gas Works Park

The ride began on a bike trail out of Seattle, however bike trails in Seattle are more like freeways since everyone uses them to commute. I was sweeper for the day, meaning the last cyclist wearing orange vests making sure no one fell behind. We stopped and ate lunch about 45 miles into our ride and then got back on the bikes to head to Skykomish. We arrived at the high school we were staying at around 5:30. It was a very very long day in the saddle, but everyone made it and that was the important part.

Skykomish High School

Push Vans

We didn't have any programming for the evening, but the high school had weekly volleyball in the gym where we were staying so some of the guys joined in and played with some of the locals. Skykomish was a very small town with a population of 240 people and an average graduating class of 4.5 people. We all went to bed early to get a good night sleep and recover from the long days ride.

The river we followed all day