Although we expected temperatures down in the thirties in the morning, we awoke to temperatures that had already risen to sixty. It clearly was going to be a beautiful day, and it was just that.

I had serious doubts about my ability to do this tour during the first four days and those doubts will surely come back to haunt me in the future. But not today!

I started out at 9:00 a.m. and was pleasantly surprised that I got to Carson Pass in only about an hour. More importantly, I did the five and a half mile up hill climb without walking my bike for part of some up hill stretch. Carson Pass was almost anti-climatic once I realized I was actually there. But still it was a great accomplishment - I had ridden my bike (and walked some) up from sea level to 8,573 feet.

Then it was time to go "down hill." Normally, when someone says things are going "down hill" they mean things are going bad. Not so for a cyclist - or for me today. Down hill was awesome. Speeds over 37 miles an hour, no need to peddle, no need to keep looking at the road five feet ahead of me just to get up the hill. And time to look around - to take in this awesome country that God has stretched out before us.

Although the first four days were incredibly hard, I could not help but thank God for this experience as I looked out over the mountains, lakes and valleys that stretched out for miles. I won't even try to describe them for I would never come near to doing them justice.

Today I almost cried because of this experience. Not tears of frustration as I had cried on the third day, but tears of joy at the sights before me. It was just awesome!

It was definitely a day to do as the song says, "Sing to the mountains. Sing to the sea. Raise your voices, lift you hearts. This is the day the Lord has made. Let all the earth rejoice!"