Today was one of those idyllic days. The weather was cool and comfortable all day. We had beautiful scenery, rolling hills, beautiful farms, lots of corn, small towns, white country churches, a wonderful bike path, one good climb, one great descent, and great company. It was one of those days where everything was going our way.

&Mac183; We stopped at mile 25 at a gas station convenience store to get a Sobe and a bite to eat and discovered they had cinnamon rolls and they were still warm. What a treat!

&Mac183; The first SAG was on a beautiful stream with rushing water and lots of shade. We rode on a wonderful bike path for about 12 miles. Its pavement was in perfect condition. We were more like kids playing than adults on a cross country bike ride.

&Mac183; There was one challenging climb for about a mile. This confirmed our sweat glands still worked, followed by a two mile descent which was really sweet.

&Mac183; Dan was particularly strong today and did some major pulling. This really helped the rest of us out big time.

&Mac183; At the end of the day we entered Wisconsin. That means we successfully crossed Minnesota.

We crossed the Mississippi River on the sidewalk of the bridge. This allowed us to stop and take our time with pictures. Right after we came off the bridge we were all waiting at a red light. Dan was first, followed by Steve and Mary, and I was bringing up the rear. All of us had kicked out of our pedals but Mary, who had decided to hang on to a lamp post. All of a sudden Mary’s front wheel turned and wrapped around the post and caused Mary to begin falling over. She grabbed the post for support. All three of us jumped to help her and all this time she kept yelling, “I am OK, I am OK!” We had to literally lift her up so she could get out of her pedals and place her feet on the ground. We are still laughing about her evaluation of her predicament.

Oh, as I indicated yesterday, Mike, our tour leader rode most of the day with Team Stops A Lot. We did not see Mike ride today. Some of the riders were speculating that Team Stops A Lot just wore Mike out. I don’t really hold this opinion myself but the fact remains, we did not see Mike on the road. Yesterday having Mike join the team was wonderful and we hope he does it again before the ride is over.

Well, I have to have the mechanic make an adjustment on my bike so I need to close. Thanks for joining me. By calculations I have ridden 2,368 miles and climbed 81,059 feet to date. Tomorrow we ride to the Wisconsin Dells.

Click here to see more pictures from today!