Day 4

This was the most challenging, as well as rewarding day of biking, that we have ever experienced! We climbed and then descended our first full Cascade mountain today. After today, we're thinking of renaming our trip "Mark and Sarah's bike/ hike tour across America! Yes, we had to lay down our pride and actually PUSH our bikes up many miles of this mountain. Keep in mind that we're both carrying between 30 and 35 pounds of gear on back. To give you an idea of the steepness of this mountain...it took us 7 hours to ascend and only 1 hour to descend!!! I'm sure that cars passing by were wondering what in the heck we were doing! We had a good time though and took frequent breaks. We also had to ration our food and water because, beginning yesterday, there were no services of any kind for 76 miles! We made it though and were well prepared.
I have to say that , despite the grueling climb, I have never had so much fun being on my bike! The 18 mile descent made all of that grinding more than worth it. We never let ourselves speed up to more than 35 mph ( although we easily could've) because there were some pretty hefty drop-offs, seeing as how we were at 5,000 feet.
We had zero bike problems today!!! The electrical tape is doing it's job.
Now we're at a quaint little Inn in Mazama where we're eating dinner and treating ourselves to a night of pooling and hottubbing!
Thanks to everyone for praying for us. When you think of it please pray that we will continue to be thankful to Jesus no matter what our circumstances. We want all of the joy and peace that comes with living life with the Holy Spirit to constantly fill us. Living in His kingdom is so good!! Thanks again...we love and miss you all!!