Day 1: Getting started

71.3 km

After having slept 6 hours I woke up at 5 am. I immediately started putting together the last pieces of the bike before I headed out for the hotel breakfast. After I had packed all my stuff and checked out, I headed over to REI - a store selling all kinds of outdoor equipment - which was located just around the corner from the hotel. 

Me and another guy had gotten there 10 minutes before it opened. His name was Alec and was there to return a touring bike in exchange for another. He was planning a bike tour of his own this summer, only along the southern tier route. 

I found my way out of town after stocking up on some food and cruised into the town of Enumclaw. Here I stopped at a supermarket and grabbed another bite to eat. As I sat down just outside, two guys came over and asked where I was headed, and after telling them they replied with startled looks on their faces. I asked them for some information on the route ahead since I was headed into the Cascade mountain range where services might be scarce. They told me to prepare for long climbs and foul weather, but also that there were 80 degrees (fahrenheit) on the other side of the mountains. As I set off they wished me luck and not after long I felt that the cycling from here on was not going to be easy. 

After about 30 km I felt pretty tired and decided to not push it too far on the first day, so I was able to find a a spot just off the side of the road to pitch my tent. The terrain from Enumclaw had been very hilly with thick forest as far as I could see, with vegetation very similar to Norway. 

Just as I finished dragging my stuff into the woods, it started to pour down. Quickly I put up the tent and ate some fruit and bread before putting all my food toiletries and other things with a strong scent (except from myself) in the waterproof stuff-sack and hung it from a tree a couple of meters away so that animals wouldn't mistake the smell with me.