Another great day on the road for the Big Riders as we rode 64 miles from Winona to Viroqua. We cycled down the west bank of the Mississippi on Highway on rolling Highway 61. In Dakota, just before crossing the river, my email friend Megan and her extended family were waiting with a Big Ride welcome. They had fruit, cookies, snacks; lemonade and water to drink; pictures of former years of the Big Ride, and a guest book to sign. They also interviewed many of us on tape as a memory for themselves. What a wonderful, nice thing to do. The Big Riders send a big thank you to all of you for treating us so well.
Shortly after Dakota, we turned east again and crossed the Mississippi into La Cross, Wisconsin. After passing through massive construction, and the largest 6-pack in the world, we cycled down the east side of the river into Stoddard before turning up a pretty farming valley to climb out of the river valley. This route took us through countryside that I consider as pretty as anywhere we’ve ridden. At times, we saw deep woods as we made the steepest part of the climb. Then we rode through Amish country, passed two different horse drawn buggies, as we continued our journey east. The road went up and down following the contour of the land in this part of Wisconsin. So pretty and either unspoiled, or populated by family farms instead of the agribusiness we’ve been seeing across the country. This was a very nice day, now ending in Viroqua at the county fairgrounds.
My college friends, Steve and Cathy, are joining us here tonight, and I’m looking forward to seeing them again and sharing with them about the ride. Again today, whenever we stop, we talk with locals, and they are keenly interested in what we are doing. We’re experiencing the very friendly, and enthusiastic support of Americans as we ride across the country. That may be the best thing of all.

Megan would like to introduce our new jerseys. This is the first time we've worn them. They are from Speedy Reedy, the shop that built our Softride bikes for us. How many jerseys is that now?

Today's rider, Brian, rests in front of the bar in Chaseberg. He is not there to register his turkey. Brian works with computers and is a very steady and durable rider with a sly sense of humor.