Day 31: Hurray for getting lost!

98.45 mi max 49.0 6:19.20 avg 15.6

Even with 30 miles of rather steeply rolling hills, I feel like I did really, really well today! It's probably good that those hills were at the beginning - after mile 30, things flattened out again (back onto Rt 14). Yeah, I hit 49.0 again...I'm hoping that at least once on this trip I hit 50.0 mph. Going that fast is almost like skydiving (not that I know from personal experience) but the wind just whips the scream right out of your throat.

Today was just short of a century because I was following Brian. Our paths crossed at Mark's checkpoint, and I started mindlessly trailing behind. Because I'd pedaled pretty hard in the morning, I had worn myself out a little more than on previous centuries, so it was good to draft. It turned out that we kind of got lost by missing a turn. We ended up back on Rt 14, and thereby avoided a 1/2 mile steep (& nasty) climb (FINE by me!!!).

Our midway checkpoint was at a petting zoo - lots of goats, which made me happy! (I grew up on a goat farm)

Day 30: Crossing Da Riva'

66.91 mi max 45.0 5:06.41 avg 13.0

Yeah!!! Laura's the best EVER! She's going to send me her violin through the mail :-) People in camp have told me that I should play something, but we haven't come across a school with an available instrument, and of course, I didn't pack my own violin. It's been a long time since I've been so excited to play - it's something that I definitely take for granted! Or maybe absence makes the heart grow fonder...

At mile 17, we had our first water stop. It was actually at the Myers family house...very warm people. They follow the Ride, and put out a huge spread for us. It felt like a backyard party, even though none of us had met any of them before. They took our pictures and had trading cards which they'd printed off the internet...they'd read our blogs and knew all about our adventures - some of us were even interviewed. Paula was right when she said that we'd feel like celebrities.

We passed into Wisconsin today, over the Mississippi River. It was definitely more humid, and the hills were suddenly more noticeable.

The excitement for the day consisted of watching a Viroqua county highway crew dig a new hole for a sign, replacing one that had been graffitied. Oh, yeah, and there was a bee which made the poor decision to sting the back of my knee. Alan, our most chivalrous mechanic, valiantly pulled the stinger out of my skin. Later, he said that he was kind of hoping for an allergic reaction because he wanted to heroically pull out the epi-pen and stick me with it. I wasn't quite sure how to take that.......

Tonight I went to Culver's for a Concrete Mixer. It's kind of like a Blizzard at Dairy Queen, only it's WAAAAAAAAY better. I've never been a big fan of DQ, although it will do in a pinch. Culver's definitely beats DQ, though, hands down!

This evening, home is the Viroqua County Fairgrounds, and dinner was a $10 night. Mark, Paul, Katie, college Lucas, Dave F and I all went to the Viroqua Food Co-op. It reminded me a LOT of the Greenfield Co-op. The food was probably the best I've had all trip, and absolutely the best for my body. Although...my body might not know how to react since it isn't getting its normal dose of grease...

And, yes, one of the pictures above is of the largest six-pack in the world, in La Crosse Wisconsin...I guess everywhere ought to be famous for something....

Day 29: Owatonna to Winona

96.29 mi max 40.0 5:42.27 Avg 16.8

Woohoo!!! Tailwind again today! I was SOOOO happy to be riding today!

Steve insists that there must be song in "Owatonna to Winona" but I am not sure where it is. It kind of sounds like the beginning of "Here we come a-wassailing"...if you can think of some additional alternate lyrics, maybe we can work it into something :-)

I left camp nearly last because I was on breakfast crew. I just decided to push hard today. I knew that it would be mostly flat, and mostly on Rt 14 (again). About 3 and a half hours in, I decided that my goal would be to complete a near-century in under 6 hours...a far cry from my Falmouth experience, when I spent around 8 hours (I think) on the bike with a similar distance.

Deb was at the first rest stop, so I stopped in to talk with her. She is doing much better than last night. I think her plan is going to be to head into Madison, to get ready for an MRI tomorrow.

For 3 miles, I jumped on Dave W's train, with Laura & Eric C....2 of those 3 are very frequently first into camp. I was pretty psyched - to be drafting at 25 mph for even those 3 miles was exhilarating. At some point, I ended up with Christy, Sean, Eric C (again), and mark, at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN. I don't understand yet the importance of the Mayo Clinic, although I'm sure that I'll pay attention to any references from now on. People seemed to make a pretty big deal about going past the Mayo Clinic...I thought the fountain was pretty cool. The five of us went to lunch at Subway. Then, we all went to a bike shop off route...Christy's rear wheel blew out again - she's on rear wheel #5 now! I realized that there wasn't anything I wanted or needed, and I didn't want to hold anyone back (this was a particularly fast group of riders) so I meandered back to the route on my own.

The group caught up to me at Anna's water stop...which surprised me, since I thought they would be further behind. That's when I really decided to haul it. My average in Rochester had dropped to 16.2...and in 40 miles, I brought it back up to 16.8. Coming into Winona, I even drafted behind Alice! (That's pretty amazing, because she's REALLY fast). There was quite a bit of construction coming into town, so it's good that we were a little bit behind, because that gave the staff time to chalk our route to the dorm...the first people into town were pretty much on their own. That meant that they also didn't get a cool detour through a shaded park - they all had to climb a hill.

It's kind of weird to be in a dorm tonight, knowing that we won't be staying here tomorrow. I'd almost rather set up my tent...but I've got the room to myself, so I won't complain too much!

Day 28: New Ulm to Owatonna

71.75 mi max 32.0 5:10.57 avg 13.8

Today's ride was perfect - just the right length, about 75-80 F, with a tailwind. Not, perhaps, the most interesting scenery, since we spend virtually the whole day following Rt. 14. We went through Eagle Lake, the big city of Mankato, and Janesville. Those are the only ones that I remember. And there was a really big climb before the Minnesota River, and I did it! I've probably been getting stronger all along, but now it's finally enough of a difference that I notice.

Dave F, Larry S, Jim & I stopped at an old fashioned Dairy Queen - like the three in New England. All they serve is ice cream. In the west, it's standard for DQ to carry typical fast food fare: burgers, fries & all the rest, in addition to soft serve. The woman who owned the shop was really cool. She said that she saw a bunch of us riders going through, so she opened her shop almost an hour and a half early. She let us use her bathroom, and she had cold, filtered water for us...and of course, ice cream!

Deb's having such a hard time - not just because of her knee. It's as much psychological because she doesn't know the extent of her damage. I am very strongly reminded of my own time on crutches, with my sprained ankle. Getting around on crutches is so different, from getting in and out of a car to going shopping to even using a public restroom. Deb's going to a motel for the evening.

Tonight, we are at the Owatonna fairgrounds. I got in fairly early, and played a game of Cosmic Wimpout with Deb & Eric C. It's kind of nice to work hard early in the morning, and then spend the afternoon relaxing!

Day 27: Rest day in New Ulm

This was certainly not how I'd planned my day. Last night, Deb & I decided to be roommates, so that Carol & Ellen could room together. When I got in for the night, Deb was on the floor, on her mattress, and crying. I found out that some of the guys had played a stupid prank involving a dead chipmunk...and Deb ended up falling on the floor, off the top bunk. Anna had come in to take a look at Deb's injured knee, and we ended up talking for a long time about spirituality & faith, etc.

This morning, Deb woke up very scared because her knee wasn't working right at all. Every time she tried to stand on it, it buckled under her. I went to Paula, who drove Deb & me to the New Ulm emergency room. Basically, the X-ray shows no broken bone, and things are fairly stable - there are no bone fragments which would indicate the tendon pulled bone fragments when it snapped. I hope so much that Deb can ride again with us!

After a trip to the pharmacy & store, we went back to the dorms. I headed straight back out so that I could accomplish some of my errands, including a trip to a bank so that I could get rolls of quarters. I'm attempting to collect the entire set of states quarters, and it is MUCH easier to find quarters made in Denver out here in the west. The best part of the day was finding the library, where I holed up to work on my blog. It was quiet, and I was anonymous. It was the quiet time that I'd needed.

On the way back to the dorm, I had to reconquer the gigantic hill from yesterday...which I did without stopping! Yeah for standing!

I'm sending lots more junk home, including my sleeping bag. Despite having more room in my bag, it took a REALLY long time to pack everything. I guess I just had no idea how to put it all away, and how to deal with having so much extra space.

Day 26: Tyler to New Ulm

89.48 mi max 29.5 5:46.07 avg 15.5

My ride today was grand and fabulous. For the first sixty miles, I averaged around 17 miles per hour! It rained for a large portion of the day, but that didn't bother me at all (remember, I can change myself into a duck). The next time that you walk over a bridge, notice that there are separations in the road. You can barely notice them in a car - more than likely, you'll hear the sound, if you are paying careful attention, rather than feel the bump. However, on a bike, you have to be VERY careful - as one goes over the break in the road, one must lift one's rump...or one will certainly risk a pinch flat...which this one girl got (bringing my total number of flats to 5).

Because of the rain, I didn't take many pictures. Also, because of the rain, Debby R. fell off her bike. Although she cracked her helmet in two, she only slightly scratched her elbow and her knee. Yeah for helmets!!

We're staying at the Martin Luther College. Air conditioning is two fans that are about 5 feet in diameter, one pointed down the men's hallway and the other pointed down the women's hallway. They are ridiculously loud...but to their credit, they do a good job of moving air in the dorm. For the record, MLC sits at the top of a hill that made me want to cry. After riding 88 miles, I was looking at a hill that rivals Rt. 62 coming in Barre in both steepness and length. Or maybe it can be compared with the Auto Road on Mount Washington, but without all those wonderful switchbacks. Either one would give you an accurate mental image :-) Needless to say, I stopped a couple of times on the way up.

We passed through Sleepy Eye. There was a huge statue of Linus, from the Peanuts, but I didn't stop for a picture. Hopefully someone else did!

Dinner was in exciting downtown New Ulm. This is another one of those really small, sleepy towns where the biggest thing is tourism...but all the shops close at 5 or 6 pm. It was challenging to even find an open restaurant. This is also BeerFest weekend. Eric C, Brian & I headed down after dinner to find out what was going on, but they started packing everything away when they saw us show up (Actually, they shut everything down at 8:00).

I think that I need to spend tomorrow on my own. I'm ready for some alone time!