Monday August 11—Day 43
Madison WI to
Woodstock, IL 
Today was my first day of riding, leaving Madison early this morning at 6:45. We rode off into the rising sun and started out a good pace. I rode with Paul and Teresa today and they took me under their wing to show me the ropes. My odometer started out with 334.8 miles on it. We had good riding, not a lot of wind early in the day and temps were in the 50’s to start. There were a few scheduled stops with SAG (Support and Gear) for water and snacks. At approximately mile 35 or so (didn’t look at my odometer at the time) there was a construction project which involved tearing up a stretch of asphalt and regurgitating it back onto it’s surface. This led to a very soft fluffy surface. Paul decided to have a go at it and rode it out all the way. Teresa and I decided to instead walk our bikes along the side of the road in the grass to try to get there a bit safer/with less exertion. It was not to be my day when shortly after that a flat was seen on my rear tire. I was a slow leak, but we decided to change it at the next driveway/intersection. I had my own private pit crew with me today as Paul changed the tire for me (THANK YOU). I was using the experience as a one on one tutorial.
After that we had continued great riding, until mile 50, the town of Delevan WI. The Christian Reformed Church there provided us with an amazing lunch: beef on a bun and sloppy joes, salads, more salads and of course the best for dessert-brownies and ice cream!
The rest of the day continued uneventfully and during the course of the day we stopped at various places to try to locate some pins as souvenirs…Teresa’s idea to collect a pin for each state/province we visit as a pin takes up much less room than a trinket when we have a 60 # wt. limit.
On our way from Wisconsin into Illinois, there wasn't a "Welcome" sign, so we created our own!
We arrived in Woodstock, IL, set up our tents, prepared for Tuesday, showered, ate dinner and got ready to do it all over again.
(Time is short as this is being posted, will try to add pictures later for your viewing pleasure!)
Today was my first day of riding, leaving 
2 comments:
Great to hear from you, Melissa.
I was on the Huron River road yesterday and noticed happily that the one horrible stretch was paved over in beautiful asphalt! Some things do get better.
Keep pedaling!
Harvey
You were ready to go. Sounds like a good start with a few interruptions! Sorry about the flat and on your first day. That lunch sounds like it made up for it. Hope your getting settled into life on the bike and at camp well.
We're praying, Theresa
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