Romans 12:12

"Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer."

Today was a long but beautiful day. We rode through what felt like a cloud, saw the ocean glittering in the sun, and got beautiful rolling hills riding along the coast.

I started the day riding with Emily and Sarah. As per Ms. Sawtelle's request:

My friend Emily:

I shared with Sarah about my family and my memories from years 1-5. Being an 80 mile ride, we had budgeted the first 20 miles to share about 1-5 years, next twenty--6-10 years old, etc all the way to present day. However, plans changed, and I ended up only riding with Sarah for the first twenty.

The weather here is a lot more chilly than our team is used to. Our hosts mentioned that it's so cold even in the summer because most of the heat gets sucked into the valley area, leaving the coast cool. After the first rest stop, I rolled out with Lance, Richard, David, & Colin. We rode through some beautiful landscapes, including a fog which just covered the sunlight so it was as though we were riding through a cloud or what seemed like heaven--everything was illuminated, just shrouded with a layer of fog. My pictures don't do the scene justice.

Rich braving the fog:

On the left you can see some rises in the ocean covered by fog:

Once the fog subsided, we ended up biking along the beach up 101. I confess that today had some of the most beautiful beaches I've seen all ride long. The sands looked untainted and the ocean breaking against the rocks created a dynamic contrast to the gentle rolls ashore. I joked with Sarah that I found the beach I'd propose to my wife at.

See the guy standing by the side? That's how big the rock was!

Before we knew it, 80 miles had passed and we were rolling in to Faith Baptist in Bandon, Oregon. Pastor Don welcomed us with a fully prepared meal of BBQ and pasta. We also got hot showers! Tonight I will definitely sleep comfortably.