Tuesday, July 22, 2008 – Day 30

Start: Winona, Minnesota
End: Viroqua, Wisconsin
Miles: 71.27 Total Miles: 2,211.28 BRAA Total Miles: 2,079.80
Time: 4 hours 39 minutes (avg 15.0 MPH)
Flat tire count today: 0 Total flat tires for the ride: 8

When we heard that the ride today would only be 66 miles, we knew that there was a catch. The catch was we had to get out of the Mississippi Valley and that meant climbing hills. There was a lot of hill climbing. Up and down…up and down. The best part was that the scenery was beautiful. We rode through a stretch that had many Amish families in it. I even saw a horse drawn carriage going in the opposite direction. We were asked to not take pictures, so unfortunately, I don’t have any to share of the Amish, but I do have a couple of the scenery.

We had our first rest stop at the home of a family that has been providing the stop for several years. The mother and father were there along with seven girls – 5 daughters and 2 cousins. They are fans of the Big Ride and this is their way of supporting it. They had so many delicious treats and fruit to snack on. It was great. They fed us and had individual pictures of us from our blogs that we like trading cards that we signed. They keep information on all the riders from each of the years.

We reached our seventh state – Wisconsin. That is seven down and only five plus DC to go. We are getting closer to completion.

Just after we entered Wisconsin, we crossed the Mississippi River. What an enormous river. I guess this means that we are now officially on the eastern side of the United States. I saw a typical riverboat/paddleboat a little further back, but could not get a good picture. I hoped to see one as I crossed the bridge, but there were none in sight.

Then the climbing began. We had a ten mile stretch of up and down hills. It was topped off by a one and a half mile climb that was huge. It was great because once we reached the top, there was a nice cool breeze and the views were gorgeous. I saw these guys sleeping along the side of the road. When I went back to get a picture, they woke up and started to take off.

Tomorrow, we have a 100+ mile day. It will be a tough one, but we will then be that much closer to getting home.