Day 1, Redmond to Easton Washington Approximately 62.489 miles

Best: Shorter distance than 2 years ago.

Worst: My first flat already, in the rain, in the cold,on the freeway

Most Unexpected: Doing this ride again.

The day began as any other day, except waking up at 5:00 a.m.  We all assembled and listened to Charlton tell us where to go, but not in the way you think.  We haven't been around him enough to tell us what he really thinks. For some reason all of the riders are also wearing the same jersey.

We left en masse and rode out on wet and icky roads, icky being a technical term.  The group of 12 separated out and enjoyed the flat start until we were no longer flat.  There was a climb before Snoqualmie falls and that gave us the excuse we needed to stop and see them through the mistiness of the semi rain.  Of course there was also a bathroom there which meant I could multitask.

After the falls, we had a rest stop where we enjoyed some kind of energy bar that was made for kids, and I thought it appropriate that I partake of several.  Next stop was the I90 freeway which was just waiting to make a mockery of our inner tubes.  I don't think they have swept the highway this millenium and I could swear I saw a couple of used horseshoes when the road was a horse path.  The traffic was incredibly noisy, and the truckers wanted to help us by honking their horns.  The mist turned into a rain which meant that every truck that passed us gave us a bonus shower.  

Then the joy, I got a piece of wire stuck through my tire from somebodies cast off steel belted radial which meant tube change.  It was pretty cold at this point with a constant drizzle, and because the riders I was with wanted to get back on the road, there were at least four people all trying to shove in the tube at the same time.  Unfortunately the new tube was defective, so now we had 47 people trying to put in the new tube.  Finally back on the road, we travelled about 100 yards and hit another rider with a flat, stopped and with the assistance of a google of us, we fixed the flat.  By now we were absolutely freezing from not moving so on the bikes to try and warm up.  This was an epic fail because by the time we just started to thaw, we hit the lunch stop and refroze.  Back on the bikes after about 8.33 minutes, we traveled the prettiest section of the ride, got caravanned around construction on the freeway, and rode into the campground at Easton. 

Showered, charged all of my electronics, ate spaghetti dinner, and now blogging.  So far nobody hates me, but there are 47 days to go.  Pictures below;