Hi everyone! Today was Day 6 of our journey, and oh boy was it fun and exciting. It was yet another day filled with climbing (a whole 6,000 feet of it to be precise). But first, before rolling out of the stayover, we sang the Happy Birthday song to our birthday boy today - Max.

After this joyous moment of seeing Max with a balloon tied to his bike, we started our big first ascent of the day. The route went through a state park so while huffing and puffing on the way up, we got to enjoy a nice view and also get spooked by a snake who tried to take Veronica’s life apparently (it failed). After the climb, a nice lake with a beach awaited us at the bottom. We were very excited to jump right in, but the water turned out to be too cold for most of us (except Max who did submerge himself fully).

The next big event of the day was the next big climb. It was about 4 miles long and incredibly challenging for the majority of the team. There was a point in that ascent when the hill looked like an actual Stairway to Heaven and seemed to lead straight to the sky. Just a little taste of what awaits us once we hit the Rocky Mountains further in our journey.

The rest of the ride was a bit of a blur for me as all I could think about was a nice shower and some food, so here are just some nice pictures from the day :)

Our stayover in DuBois was St. Nicholas Orthodox Church who donated pizza and desserts for our dinner. They also brought a dog who the team of course couldn’t miss the chance to cuddle.

After dinner, most of the team simply passed out for the night to get the much needed rest before the next big day.

-Valerie