July 19th: push push push

What a great start this morning! As we were packed and having breakfast at the camp store, a guy saw my sign of the ride "SHARE THE ROAD OF HAPPINESS" on my bicycle. We talked a bit and in the end he donated 20 dollars for the postcards! Awesome!
There wasn't too much traffic on the road yet and the temperature was still pleasant - even for a 10 mile climb.
Yes, this was Sofie's first long climb and it wasn't an easy one. I remember when I had done this ride for the first time, I had said to myself "never again"... but you know how it works with the word NEVER! Now, I can enjoy this climb, since I know every curve that's coming. I love the view when one gradually gets higher, overlooking the lake. I had fun this year on the climb! Almost on top there is a visitor center with information about the region and with excellent views of the mountains we had climbed in the far distance. It amazes us to see how far we get in a couple of days bicycling.
And after going over the top, comes the downhill. This one is a long and in some places dangerous one: the road gets narrow, the traffic picks up during the day and sometimes we had to get off the road to let the RV's and cars with boats go by. Sofie is carrying some bright yellow colors on her bicycle now - making her more visible. The ride down is almost 20 miles long with lots of curves. Going down means getting warmer and by midday we needed a rest along the small Logan River, where we snacked on nuts. Before getting into the town of Logan there is this BUMP to climb... It feels odd arriving in a big town again, with big stores (books!!!)> We now have the habit of parking our bicycle inside the store - noone has ever told us we couldn't do this!
We moteled that evening - and watched the Tour de France on TV... with commercials in between.