Here I am at the start of Day 2. I look kind of perky, don't I? Especially when you take into account the fact that I had pedaled over a hundred miles the day before.

Oh and look that's Pete at the end of day one. Nice tan lines, eh? Um, yeah, neither of us remembered sunblock again. Well actually, Pete thinks sunblock gives you cancer but that's a story for another time.

I had sort of dreaded day two. I was worried about how I would feel. Would my bottom be sore? Would my legs cramp up? Would I be so very tired I'd have to fight to stay awake? I am happy to report the my butt was fine, my legs were tight but loosened up fairly quickly and I had just enough sleep to be well rested.

We started day two with a brisk ride through Lynden. It's a quaint town with a Dutch theme. For those of you who aren't familiar with Washington State, we love to give out towns ethnic themes. Take Leavenworth, aka Little Bavaria or Toppenish, "Where the West Still Lives!" It's cheesy as hell but I sort of dig it. What do you expect from a gal who also feels that Graceland is tastefully furnished? Anyway, we made a brief pit stop to tiptoe among the tulips and then we were off to Canada!

As you approach the border you actually ride along a country road, one side of which is in the States and the other side is in Canada. The two sides greet other with a wall of flags as if to be extra sure that no one mistakes Canada for the US and vice versa. We reached customs and were waved through without so much as a single question. The agents clearly saw as as that wacky group who were biking for no apparent reason to Vancouver. I mean, didn't we know we could drive here is just over two hours?

Once we entered Canada, we cycled along more country roads. Cows surrounded us and I have to say I envied the ones that were laying down in the fields. It was another warm day by Northwest standards and I could tell I reeked of sweat. It wasn't too long into the ride that we saw "the Wall." As you may remember, this is the highest point in the trip. From a distance, I saw lines of bikers slowly climbing up the hill. No one seemed to have much speed in the ascent. But as I got closer, I saw that things weren't as bad as I had feared. I actually think some of the hills in Woodinville that we climbed in practice were steeper. Pete and I got down in our granny gears and muscled out way to the top. The worst was supposedly overwith.

To Be Continued......

P.S. I have my first day of graduate school tonight. Please think good thoughts for me.

2:34 p.m. - 2005-08-15

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