West of the Mississippi

A lot can happen in a week and a half... including 700+ miles of riding! Best way to see the country is by bike! After a thorough examination of roads east of the Mississippi, I have to say, hands down, Wisconsin is the nicest place to ride. The roads are smooth and the landscape is beautiful. Wisconsin provided us with miles and miles and miles (and miles) of biker friendly roads, for which we are very grateful. They were so nice, that we decided to ride a little bit extra! And by decided to ride a little extra, I mean, took a few wrong turns. But today we all made it to Minnesota.
From Michigan we made our way to the windy city of Chicago. We were supposed to have a build day in Chicago. Unfortunately, we arrived, at the end of 112 miles, on a Saturday night, and no building occurs on Sunday. Fortunately, that meant we had our first day off, and we got to explore Chicago! In the morning, a small group of us gave a presentation and bike clinic at our host church, then we set out for a day of exploring. The highlights: seeing the Vietnam Memorial (and taking a nice nap by it), getting deep dish pizza, taking a ride up the supersonic elevator in the Hancock Building to get an amazing view from the 96th floor, and finishing it off with Sundaes at Ghiradelli. All in all, a very productive day. The ride out of Chicago on Monday was only 40 miles, which meant we got to do a little bit of exploring in the morning as well. I took a detour to Wrigley's Field so I could take a picture and prove I really had been to Chicago. My second viewing of the home of the Cubs was much nicer than the one I had on Saturday night. On Saturday, we rode through that area just as a game was getting out, so instead of dodging cars, we got to dodge 100s of Cubs fans, which proved much more challenging than cars.
On Tuesday we arrived in Wisconsin, and it was smooth roads from there to here! Wisconsin has a wide variety of terrain, and a lot more hills than I anticipated! We rode into Madison, Wisconsin on Wednesday, and had our first "official" day off on Thursday. The Capitol Building in Madison is quite daunting. While in Madison we got to try some real Wisconsin cheese and icecream. Both key points to the visit!
Leaving Madison proved a little more difficult than anticipated. We were heading southwest to Gays Mills, and we knew it was going to be a long day... 102 miles. What we didn't anticipate was wrong turns, confusion, and getting to ride up the hills we had just come down. At the end of the day, most of the group had been on their bikes for 120 miles or more, and the last people didn't make it into town until 8:30, as dusk was turning into night. Thankfully, it was a beautiful day and a beautiful ride, so spirits were still high when we arrived. Our hosts were amazing, making sure we all got showers, cold drinks, and a warm dinner when we arrived. Leaving Gays Mills, we were all happy to see that we would be riding half the distance, only 60 miles that day! But we packed a lot into that 60 miles, crossing the Mississippi twice so we could hit three states: Wisconsin, Iowa, and Minnesota. We stayed the night in LaCrosse and were well refreshed to spend another 75 miles along the Mississippi the next day, to arrive in Pepin, Wisconsin - population:878.
On the ride to Pepin I did something I said I would never do, and I did it twice. I went swimming in the Mississippi. It is a beautiful river this far north, and I could hardly believe it is the muddy river that I lived next to for two years. The water was mostly clear (a little bit of algae) and quite refreshing both during the ride and after. I think it goes without saying, that the church that hosted us last night was fabulous and the food delicious. If you want an amazing meal prepared for you every evening, I strongly recommend biking across the country. Few people eat as well as we do!
Today we made it out of Wisconsin, and so far, the roads are still smooth. We had an 80 mile day into Minnesota, and to spice things up, we had a scavenger hunt! Some highlights from the list: a unicorn, a picture with a baby cow, a bike and builder 10 feet off the ground, and a bike and builder trading rides with a motorcyclists. The list included much more and provided great entertainment for the 44 miles on the highway 35. Tonight we are being hosted by another great church and have a rare treat... host families! That means going to a real home and sleeping in a real bed! Something I intend to go enjoy at this time!

To Joy's mom: Nemo is loving the ride!