I survived the first day!

We have officially started the 2009 Journey of Hope! We woke up at 5:30 am this morning to depart for the kick-off breakfast. After months and months of training, I was anxious to get on my bike and start the trip! A few families and friends of my fellow teammates joined in to see the team off on our journey. We left Seattle at 8 am and rode 75 miles to Skykomish, WA. We were on the rode for approximately 8 hours; however, we were only cycling for about four hours or so. We spent time eating lunch and stopping at crew stops. The ride was amazing! It was so beautiful. I felt pretty good on the ride today. I struggled a bit going up a large hill after lunch because I was not stretched out enough for the intense climb.

We arrived in the small town of Skykomish this afternoon. When I say small, I mean about a population of 250 people! It is a beautiful place. The town sits in a valley between mountains. Our lodging is being provided by the local high school. It's not quite a hotel, but after the long ride anything will be nice, even my sleeping bag on the gym floor! Tonight is a community get together at the high school, so we are going to hang out with the townies and play some sand volleyball.

I am off to shower now and get ready to head to dinner at Buca di Beppo. This is the second night we have had the privilege of eating big pasta dinners and the carbs really come in handy for our long rides.

So I must share one last thing with you before I sign off for the night: Last night, I joined the rest of the team, and I shaved my legs. I know you are probably thinking that I am crazy, but it is highly recommended for cyclists. If a cyclist falls, they receive road rash. It is very painful to get road rash and have hair on your legs. Therefore, I took one for the team, lost a bit of my manhood, and now I have smooth legs.

On today's blog, I have posted a picture of my team. They are a great bunch of guys. I will try to post more pictures on my blog as the journey continues. The second picture is of myself and David Stinnette, my fraternity brother, training partner, and Journey of Hope teammate. It is nice to have a friend on the cross-country trek.