Diary

Mileage:  83.5 miles (135 kms)

Elevation Change:  1950 feet (594 meters)

Weather:  sunny and warm, light tailwind

Morale:  very tired but happy

Incidents:  first in but room not ready so hung out on Main Street in Fond du Lac

Daily Summary:

Up and out before 7am again.  It was a cool, clear morning and the day warmed up to the low ‘80s with a slight tailwind—perfect cycling weather.  I was very tired today.  I have the old two-days-before-rest-day exhaustion.  But we rode in the very front all day again today, so everyone else must be feeling the pain as well.  Today was a simply beautiful ride.  Slightly rolling terrain, curvy roads going from cute resort town to cute farming town, past pretty lakes, through nice forests.  I have never been in Wisconsin, and I really enjoyed today’s ride.   We pulled in just at noon, but our room wasn’t ready, so we went to have lunch.  It still wasn’t ready, so we walked up and down Main Street.  Not much happening on a Saturday afternoon in Fond du Lac.  The military recruiting station takes up all the expensive real estate.  We did find a Laundromat in the back of a pool hall a block away so I went there later to catch up on laundry.  We did get to the room in time to watch Stage 19 of the Tour de France.  What a tour this has been!  We will miss it when it’s over tomorrow.  It’s been fun to watch the cyclists winding across France as we are winding across the US.  We are amazed at how far and fast they go, especially since we know how we feel when we go not as far and not as fast.  Christopher rode the first 35 miles of the ride today, then helped to run the second SAG stop, and then helped to take someone to the airport to leave the tour—a busy day. 

 

In the photo below, you can see your Army recruiting station in Font du Lac, with an interested prospect