Stevens Point, WI

Hello race fans. We are now in our hometown of Stevens Point, Wisconsin (or Plover for the Henneghans). We arrived yesterday (Thursday July 10) just before a major storm system hit. We have now cycled a total of 2278 miles over the past 32 days, an average of 71 miles a day. Today is a rest day in our hometown with a chance to see family and friends and get caught up on bills and paperwork. We planned this right, since today is the hottest day of the year here and big storms hit this AM and are due again tonight. This is a good day to not be riding. Tomorrow we leave for Manitowoc (135 miles east) to take the SS Badger across Lake Michigan, where we will continue our journey east toward Maine.

We had a wonderful time in North Branch, MN with Pat's St. Olaf friend Dan Mork and his family. They were very nice to let us stay with them and they fed us well. After we left North Branch on Tuesday July 8, we cycled 60 miles to Afton, MN (via Stillwater for a nice lunch) to stay with my cousin George Frost and his wife Kim. We had a delightful time there eating barbeque ribs and chicken, drinking quality beer, talking about chemistry, and playing cribbage. The next day (Wed July 9) was officially our second month on the road and was a tough one. We cycled 105 miles to Osseo, Wisconsin; the first 60 miles were over never-ending hills in the Coulee region of western Wisconsin/eastern Minnesota, along the Mississippi River. The reward at the end of that day was dinner at the world-famous Norske Nook restaurant. Thursday was an 82 mile ride to Rudolph, WI before we were interrupted by an intense thunderstorm just 15 miles from our hometown. We caught rides from family/friends into town. Earlier in the day my wife Teri and our 2 children Bill and Jill met us in Neillsville where we loaded our panniers/trailer in the van and rode unencumbered the last 50 miles of the day; what a feeling to fly along 2-3 miles faster. There is an advantage to planning a cross-country trek through one's hometown.

Tomorrow we leave bright and early, headed east. We have about 1400 more miles to Bar Harbor, Maine. We are in good spirits and good shape, so I expect we will have a nice month of riding ahead of us.

Bill Jenkins