Salil and Rasmivan officially began the Peace Ride on Saturday, May 24 by the statue of the Peace Run founder, Sri Chinmoy, on the Burke Gilman Trail in Seattle, Washington.
Heading up to Magnuson Park they were able to witness a bit of the Sri Chinmoy Marathon Team Race, a combination of 3 hour, 7 hour and 13 hour running races.
The majestic Mt. Rainier stood out powerfully in the distance as Salil and Rasmivan headed north and west towards the scenic and hilly forests of Washington State.
Keeping track of their progress with their Garmin GPS, they were able to ride 55 miles on the first day.
Craig and Shelly Rixon shared the Peace Torch offering their goodwill and wishes for peace and friendship as they very generously and kindly hosted the Peace Riders.
Enjoying breakfast the next morning at Shelly and Craig's wonderful home.
Shelly even made some delicious scones which help to power the riders up the Snoqualmie Pass.
Some interesting scenery along the roads. Looks like this vehicle never made it up the Pass.
Salil and Rasmivan were delighted to have dinner with their good friend and Peace Run organizer, Moni. Thank you for the delicious meal.
Courtney and his friend kindly had them stay at his hotel and generously gave them a donation for the Peace Ride.
Enjoying a delicious lunch with dear friends and supporters, Daulot and Yuyudhan.
Two new friends, Craig and David with Yuyudhan, Daulot, Rasmivan and Salil.
At a local fruit stand two kind gentlemen, Craig and his cousin David, saved the day after Daulot locked his and Yuyudhan's bikes together and accidentally brought the wrong key, the key to his wife's bike lock.
Big appetites after a long and challenging day of cycling for peace.
The Significance of Cycling By Sri Chinmoy (Founder of the Peace Run)
"While we are cycling, we are reminding ourselves of evolution, of how the world is evolving in cycles. When we think of our planet, we think of a wheel turning; our life also is evolving like a wheel. So cycling reminds us of the process of evolution and of how everything goes in cycles.
Once upon a time, in the hoary past, we lived in an era of truth. Now we are living in an era of falsehood. There was a time when truth reigned supreme, but now we see that at every moment and in every place falsehood is reigning supreme. Our goal is to bring back again the golden age in which truth will be our inner guide and truth will reign supreme. So cycling reminds us of evolution, inner and outer.
In the process of evolution, our life-process, our life-energy — everything—is spinning so fast. The faster we can go, the sooner we will be able to have outer success and inner progress. And with our outer success and inner progress, we will be able to arrive at our goal infinitely faster than otherwise."
Sri Chinmoy, My Cycling Experiences. Agni Press, 2007
