Leaving Wenatchee Day 2

After a nice breakfast in the parking lot at the Super 8 motel in Wenatchee, we left in a group of about 25 riders. Herd mentality prevailed and we made a wrong turn that added an additional five miles to our ride. Our 93 mile day ultimately became a 106 mile day.

On the initial climb out from Wenatchee we saw a lot of smoke from wild fires in the hills across the river. The picture shows the smoke and some of the damage done by numerous fires in the hills. We could smell the smoke, but it wasn't a problem. We climbed 2,100 feet over 7 miles through some beautiful terrain. The air was dry and the temperature pleasant.

The bottom picture is the view from the top of the climb looking back down to the road below after the switchback at the top. We felt the full brunt of the 20 - 25 mph wind as we reached the top. Crosswinds eventually turned to tailwinds as we headed east.