(photos: Rochester lemonade stand; church message; sign in the community of Eyota; a sweeping view of a cornfield; church spire in Winona)
While packing up this morning, we were treated to a wonderful pink and baby blue dawn sky. It made some of us stop in our tracks to watch the colors change. Camp breakfast was just a bit finer this morning due to the 24-hour grocery store across the street. There was yogurt, cheese sticks, and doughnut holes! Long live the Hy-Vee store! Tried out of the new press pot and it worked well.
More coffee for more Riders is always deemed a success.
Loaded the truck and left town by 7. A 90 mile day ahead. Just short of Rochester, we were feted at a special rest stop set up by Ane, Liz, Ben and Tom - Big Riders from 2007. They had quite a feast set out for us: fresh fruit galore, coffee, doughnuts, and best of all - homemade cookies! We took turns sitting in the shade under the canopy that they had set up - talking about their Ride experiences and comparing them to those that we were accumulating. Thanks Alums! I hope that some of us can do the same for the 2009 Big Riders.
After enjoying the treats at the Alum stop, I pedaled on in to Rochester. Met up with Jim, Ed and a few others. On our way through town, winding through a neighborhood, Ed spied a lemonade stand. Nearly all of us stopped to enjoy a refreshing drink. The kids were so pleased to have a crowd, and they called out to their mom to "make more"!
Though Rochester isn't an enormous city, I was more than glad to leave it (and the multitude of medical buildings and related lodging options) behind. Back to the farm for me.
Miles and miles of corn, soybeans, and more corn. Passed an ethanol plant, surrounded of course by corn fields. Some residents in Eyota had posted a sign in their yard stating their opinion about this use of corn.
At mile 55, or there abouts, I had been asked to write a message with chalk on the shoulder for upcoming Riders: Big Ride 2000 mile mark. Quite an accomplishment.
Continued on through Lewiston and Stockton and eventually reached the outskirts of Winona. Had to travel a few miles along a busy stretch of road that was peppered with fast food restaurants and the like. Per the cue sheet, took a left turn and crossed over to the island that is the core of Winona.
Had to take a somewhat circuitous route to the dorm on the West campus of Winona State. Got settled, showered and headed into town on foot in search of the library. This is almost always a good way to stretch my legs and get oriented to the town. And a chance to record the day's events.
Dinner at a dining hall adjacent to the dorm. Ate lots - chicken teriyaki and rice, more of that, salad, rice krispy bars, then a couple of bowls and cereal and glasses of milk. Mmmm.
The dorm had laundry facilities in the basement - oh joy! The one element of my past life that I have yet to shed: my role as a laundress.
Much of the road today was marred by road seams. The regularity of these ker-thump uneven junctions was quite the ker-thump annoyance. Such constant jarring ker-thump became tiresome - especially on ker-thump down-hill sections. You get to wondering how ker-thump long your wheels will put up with ker-thump such jolting. And your weary backside ker-thump feels that such treatment just adds ker-thump insult to injury. I stood up on my pedals for parts of these ker-thump segments of the route. (And I recalled the experience of posting on a trotting horse from when I took horseback riding lessons). My quads are now very strong and can put up with almost anything I ker-thump throw at them. But I could sure do without road seams.
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