This is a guest post by Climate Rider Casey Fagre.

The rain poured on our tent through the night and showed sign of relenting as we packed and prepared for another 60 mile day entirely within the cramped shelter from the elements. When there was no other excuse to delay our departure from camp, we set out on the soggy road and within minutes became quite soggy ourselves. Fortunately we had some big hills to get over, which kept us warm enough to keep riding. The descents were a different story, squinting our eyes against the raindrops and shivering our way to the bottom. On the way down the longest and steepest one, I felt the unmistakable squishiness of a flat tire. With no shoulder on the narrow single lane road, Matt and I hauled our bikes into the wet brambly vegetation to do our first roadside tire change. Except for numb fingers, we did it successfully and got back on the road just as a Climate Ride support vehicle rounded the corner, of course.

This day also included our first view of the ocean on the Climate Ride. The stormy weather made the crashing waves against the sea stacks that much more dramatic along the coastline north of Fort Bragg. We finally made it to shelter in a local community center and were never so appreciative of warmth and dryness after a full but rewarding day cycling in a consistent downpour.

The 5am wake-up for day three was pretty brutal, especially with the physically and mentally challenging conditions of the day before, but it was necessary. We needed to get an early start if we were going to attempt a “century ride” of 100 miles. Although the rain held off for the first part of the day, our progress was slow as it seemed that the previous week of riding at least 50 miles per day had finally caught up with us. We had to arrive  at checkpoints by a certain time throughout the day, which we did several times with only 10 minutes to spare.

The rain returned for the last quarter of our ride that added the another layer of challenge to finishing before dark. The last few miles along the Russian River seemed never-ending but eventually they did. We were proud of our accomplishment as riding 100 miles on a bicycle in a single day is something I never thought I was capable of doing. However, facing these challenges during the last couple of day runs parallel to making progress in addressing climate change. The road to sustainability certainly has its hills, potholes, and stormy weather but the experience of making progress toward the goal is just as rewarding as reaching the destination.