Day 6 Yakima, Washington

When learning about the TransAmerica route of Journey of Hope, there is one day that sticks out to everyone as being the hardest.  Today is that day.  Today we travel from Enumclaw to Yakima, and the route we take is 125 miles and over two mountain passes: Cayuse Pass and White Pass.  White Pass is at 4,500 feet in elevation, and Cayuse Pass is what people use to get to Mt. Rainier – one of the dormant volcanoes of Washington.  The conditions this morning were terrible.  It was probably the coldest it has been since arriving on the west coast and it was raining as well.  Once we got started, the cyclists had about twenty miles until their first steep climb.  These two mountain passes is where my music really started to shine like I talked about in my previous blog. My crew stop was about fifteen miles into the climb, and I greeted each of the cyclists with the best music of which I could think.  Some of the songs included “All I do is Win,” “Send Me on My Way,” “The Climb,” (which was a crowd favorite because, yes, it is Miley Cyrus) and “Survivor” by Destiny’s Child.  I love playing really fun and fitting songs because I want the cyclists to have fun while they are at my crew stop, and it also helps me have fun too and not be bored. It took them about four hours to make it to the top of Cayuse Pass which was capped by snow.  Lunch was served at the top on the side of the road next to many banks of snow.  Although there was several feet of snow on the ground, it was not as cold as one would think, granted it was still very cold.  After lunch, they started their first downhill of about twelve miles.  Some pace lines reached around 35 mph down this hill and described it as one of the scariest yet most fun rides they have ever done.  Once they got to the bottom of that mountain, it was an immediate uphill again of ten miles, only this one was much steeper than the last. 4,500 feet in elevation later, we stopped as a team and took many photos, for it was truly a tremendous feat to say you climbed both of these mountain passes on a bike.  After another downhill that was even longer, the cyclist’s day still was not done.  At the bottom of the hill, they learned they had around seventy more miles to go to reach their destination of TACO TOWN! (we were being served a taco buffet at lodging). This is where I will brag about Dean Peterson.  This man is a freak.  While our cyclists are struggling with their life to go up these hills, this guy was riding up and down them like it was nothing helping each pace line get to the top.  Although he claimed he was drained at the end of the day, he did not show it at all.  My guess is that he rode over 150 miles total with most of the extra miles being up a mountain.  The trip took a little over thirteen hours to complete, and because it was such a long and rigorous day, there was no friendship visit.  The most amazing thing about today’s trip was the change of climate.  We started out in relatively cold temperatures and rain, once we got into the mountains it was freezing with snow, and then the last stretch was in desert like conditions and in the high 70s.  I could not believe how drastic the changes were. The cyclists immediately went to bed after an amazing taco buffet and the best shower of their lives.  Needless to say, they will be extremely sore tomorrow. Now to bed. I’m pooped.