Big Finish, Big Wall, Big Cheers

What a finish! Of course it was raining, this is the Northwest after all when we left at 9;15 this morning. There was a trail on most of the ride which was alittle void of the fast traffic- GREAT! We were riding as a group more and that was fun to get to know some of the others on the ride but also alittle more dangerous riding as a group. Lots of railroad tracks and one of the last ones got Adam, he was trying to 4 wheel on his 3 wheel through gravel, rock and berry vines. Didn't work, we got him and his trike back on the trail, only his pride hurt. Glad we were all there to help him, wasn't sure if he could've gotten out of that by himself. Thent he next tracks caught Chris and it was a family wreck, Stephanie and I followed on top of him! We were all fine thankfully, no scratches on the bikes and we were back off to Outback for some warmth, dry conditions and another great meal to finish us up. Karen went out to the truck while we were eating and caught a burglar in our truck- jimmed the lock but he was just there so although he was foiled in getting my laptop, Chris' wallet, etc he did do a small amount of damage- dirty rotten you know what! After the police came, we started on the to big ass hill, this was NO HILL it was a mountain! After only 5 feet, this 21% grade had all but a few walking. we pushed the trikes up and then stationed a few blocks from the finish to ride in filling up one land to a cheering, crying, appreciative crowd. It was so touching to come into a sight of wheelchairs, walkers, and canes cheering and clapping us in. Really heartfelt and we felt back most couldn't join us on the ride or even on bike. The emotion is still with us all, we even felt sad this morning that we weren't getting back on a bike to ride this morning. I'll write more later about the convention, Kyle Bryant is definetly the ROCK STAR of this place and we're all following in his wake. What an accomplishment for us in forwarding the message and raising money! BTW- Stephanie's 29th birthday was yesterday, had a fun dinner at MAMA's in Seattle, great way to celebrater with friends and family.