Hello From Republic, WA

[The top of Rainy Pass - Almost there]
[A great view...?]
[Tunnel!]
[Dam - Ben]

We finally made it to a town where the library was open past 3:00 and we were in before 6:00.
The last few days have been grueling to say the least. On Saturday we climbed over 4000 ft. to Rainy Pass and then on to Washington pass (5477 ft) before stopping in Winthrop, WA. It was a breathtaking view during the hours of excruciating pain. I guess I should have trained more than 150 miles for this trip. While the climb was tough we had a stretch of 18 miles of coasting that followed it where it was all we could do to keep the speed under 35 mph. Almost worth it. At the end of the day we had 12.5 hours on the bikes, 88 miles of mountain climbing and then descending under our belts and a dinner of pizza. Not a horrible day.

Sunday found the three of us climbing another mountain over Loup Loup Pass. While this pass was not as high (4020 ft), it did not have any breaks during the ascent. Once again though we had a nice downhill drop to our camping spot for the night in Riverside, WA. During our first rest stop of the day at a grocery store in Twisp, I bought a Bavarian cream filled donut with chocolate frosting. It was a little taste of heaven! We also made our first wrong turn (or no turn as it were) which cost us two miles, one up a really big hill and then one back down. We were done earlier and feeling better. 58 miles and in bed by 8:30. Good day.

Today we had a pleasant ride over Wauconda Pass (4310 ft). It was not as steep for most of the day and the weather was perfect. This will be one of our largest elevation change days left - thank goodness. I'll miss the 7 miles of coasting down a 6% grade, but not the and 27 mile climbs and 5 hours of pain that it takes to get to that point. We are all in good spirits and I will be updating you as soon as I get to another library.