In the beginning, there was rain.

Our endeavor has begun!! We spent Saturday night camping out with Carrie's brother Stephen and his girlfriend Cedar at Honeyman State Park in Florence, OR. Sunday morning we drove about 5 miles north and dipped our tires in the Pacific Ocean. As anticipated our first day did not come without its hiccups. It would have been nice to say that we biked in glorious conditions, sunny skies and mid 70s. Unfortunately, we were not so lucky. Max temp was about low 50s with a steady, dampening rain. About 16 miles in Carrie hit a pothole and her tire began to rub against her rear brake... a problem easily solved if she had realized it right away. Instead, she continued to bike for about an hour with a tremendous about of effort going about 7 mph when she could have been cruising along at 14 mph if the problem had been fixed. That first minor hiccup was met with frustration but also with a lot of relief knowing that it was a mechanical glitch versus physical inadequacy. While Carrie was struggling, having many conversations out loud with herself, Jonathan took a digger over some railroad tracks... no worries, there were no injuries, in all honesty it actually heightened the senses. We ended our first day with a steady climb up to Triangle Lake where Autumn was awaiting our arrival at a wonderful campsite, pavilion included. We were fortunate enough to be the only ones occupying the site and were able to sleep with a roof over our heads and have access to not only running water but also electricity. All in all day 1 was 46 miles from Florence to Triangle Lake, OR.
We awoke to glorious sunshine on day 2 with temps in the 70s. We biked 36 miles on beautiful country roads, up a 1022 ft climb, and around breath-taking lakes, arriving safely in Eugene, OR yesterday afternoon. Family members of Jenny, opened their home and more importantly their showers to us. We were able to spend some quality time with Jenny's family to help celebrate the defending of a thesis as well as a 21st birthday. Such a blessing to have a roof over our heads, a soft place to sleep and wonderful conversation.
It is going to make it hard to get back on a bike today, as in typical Oregon fashion the rain and gray skies have found us again. Today entails a 50 mile ride with Blue River being our destination. Autumn is a god-send. She has already advocated for the group by negotiating with a hardware store owner and getting him to sell us a top of the line hatchet at half price. We all are so proud to have such an awesome individual to motivate the cyclists, all the while being the best den mother and driver we could have ever asked for. Thank you again to everyone for your encouraging thoughts and prayers, they are helping us all.