Team 2 Day 7

 Day 7 started out with a bittersweet goodbye as we parted ways with our amazing host, Patty. We the. Took off from Republic and started pedaling towards our last pass of Washington, which would prove to be our most challenging pass yet. Getting up wasn't too much trouble, with a little bit of rain, a lot of overcast, and a good amount of heat generated by our muscles as we climbed up to the 5,575 ft "peak". Normally reaching the top of a pass signifies that most of the hard work is over with, as all that is left to do is zoom downhill and try not to crash. This descent however was met with some ice cold rain, strong winds, and some very numb extremities. Getting down that mountain was the hardest thing I've had to do this trip. I saw blue skies ahead of me, and had to keep reminding myself of how much closer I was getting to that and to warmth, in order to get through it. At the end of it, all I could feel was pride. I was so proud of my team members for getting through it. It was hard as hell, it was painful as hell, but we persevered. One might think that the challenges of the day were over, though they most certainly were not. After a unanimous decision to hit up a diner after our challenging descent, Google maps decided to take us two miles out of the way on "back roads" which turned out to be private property, which ultimately had to be backtracked right to where we first veered off the main road. However, delicious veggie burgers, shakes, and the cutest puppy in the world made our diner experience worth every last wrong turn. Yet again, we perhaps foolishly assumed the rest of the day might be breezy. However, after trekking 12 more miles to Colville, where our bike hostel was located, we were met with 5 miles of seemingly endless uphill leading to the hostel. We nicknamed this "Bacon pass", after the name of the hostel. However challenging it was, especially after a long and hard day, the views up to and at the hostel were simply magnificent. Now it is time to shower, eat and lay on the ground.

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