Day 35. Sunday, July 21

Day 35. Sunday, July 21. Fond du Lac to Manitowoc, WI.  57 miles

On paper, today's ride looked easy enough. One of the lowest mileage days on the whole trip; only 1350 feet of climb. Most of us were thinking this would be a riding rest day. But we learned - Never take any ride for granted.

Lake Winnebago lighthouse

The day started out easy enough. We didn't load until 8:30, so we all had a little more relaxed start. The hotel had a chef fixing each of us individual omelets, as opposed to the freeze-dried scrambled eggs from a bag - try eating those for 30 days in a row! We took a leisurely ride out to the lighthouse on Lake Winnebago before leaving town. And then the riding began. We knew there was a threat of rain, but it held off all day. The winds, though, were blowing from east to west at about 10 to 15 mph (the flags were straight out). After the last few days with a tailwind, the headwind reminded us that cycling is not always easy. Even though the climbing did not look that difficult on

paper, getting up some of the hills had us all working.  Fortunately, there were seven of us working a pace line that gave each of us a chance to "rest" as you worked through the line, but still a lot more work than what we originally thought. Finally at about mile 49, we could see the lake (Michigan) and turned north. We were in town by around 1:00, so before checking into the hotel, we decided to stop for a nice Sunday lunch. Ahhh!

A quick shower and then on to the laundromat to make sure we have clean biking clothes. Tis group has learned to party wherever they are. We had the shuttle service from the hotel stop first to get some needed supplies - wine, beer, pretzels.  Did anyone bring soap?

Don's roommate, Yuval

Tomorrow is a rest day, although we have to bike three whole miles to the lake to get onto the SS Badger, an old coal powered ferry that will take us across the Lake to start our travels in Michigan - then another three miles to the hotel in Ludington.

Be well. Do good.

Don