Diary

Mileage: 90 miles (144 kms)

Elevation Change: 2159 feet (658 meters)

Weather:  sunny, mid 80’s, calm winds

Morale:  Very tired from yesterday

Incidents:  Crossed the Mississippi! Flat tire.

Daily Summary:

I wonder why Google Earth blocks out the Mississippi here.  Do we have some kind of super secret installation in the area?  Sorry about the fuzzy picture!

 

I woke up with a splitting headache this morning—the kind I get when I’m doing too much and am too run down.  So, the whole day was a bit of a struggle for me.  Fortunately, it was a gorgeous day with light winds—perfect cycling weather.  We also had a beautiful route through the scenic farm country in southeastern Minnesota.  Ray and I were cycling along early in the day when I hear a “passing on your left” warning and see Christopher zip by!  He was riding with one of the staff, and was having a great time.  He rode the 35 miles to the first SAG stop.  In the middle of the day we followed along a beautiful bike trail for many miles, which was a nice change of pace.  Just after that, one of the support vans passed us and a mysterious passenger blasted us with a squirt gun.  Christopher got us good!  As you can see on the elevation profile, we had to climb the Matterhorn at the end of the day.  Actually, the climb was only a mile long, but was at 11%!   That put the finishing touch on me—I was beat!  About a mile from the hotel we got a flat tire.  It was right in front of a sub sandwhich place, so a hearty lunch steeled our resolve to fix the tire and get to the hotel.  We have the best hotel pool yet here, so the boys were happy to use that to their full advantage. 

 

In the pix below, first you see some of the scenery today.  Rolling hills, well kept little farms, and lush country side.  We thought a lot about Teresa today, as her barn is on every one of these farms.  Then you see Ray at the Wisconsin state line, and me as we cross the Mississippi.  We must be getting close!