July 3

Day 26:

We were up early for breakfast and anxious to go pick up mom. The sun was shining as we left Baldwin and headed for the Twin cities. Following more county roads we logged our fastest 20 miles thus far – a great ride!. Having the slight tailwind was a nice change as well and we cruised through the remaining miles of Wisconsin. Around 10 o’clock, just before leaving the state, we stopped at a grocery store for snacks…even though the boys were ready for lunch. From there we got on a bike trail in Hudson that took us right alongside the rushing interstate traffic, and into Minnesota. We followed a bike route into the city, but it was slow going finding our way around the city streets. Finally we arrived at the Varsity Bike shop downtown. With our new wheels waiting, we unloaded the bikes and left them there for the night to be repaired/tuned – thanks Sam, we really appreciate the extra effort the get them done for tomorrow!! We headed next door for lunch at FOUR O’CLOCK…we were starving!! Getting to Mom’s hotel was a little bit tricky. We took a bus to the light rail station, and then the light rail to the airport. When we got the airport we found the hotel shuttle and finally arrived at the Hilton to see mom. It was great to see her, and we all make her look soo pale! The team is finally complete!!! After a quick soak in the hot tub we were ready for dinner. A nice dinner at the hotel got us all caught up and looking forward to an easy day tomorrow, and a great second half with the whole family!!

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July 2

Day 25:

Well the bike repairs/cleaning we said we were doing last night didn’t actually happen until this morning…so we were on the road a little later than we had planned. We left the motel and headed west on the deserted highways, knowing that we had a full day ahead of us if we wanted to stick to our plan and have a short ride to Minneapolis tomorrow. We didn’t make it far before Jake’s rear wheel started acting up…again. Hopefully this will all be fixed when we get to the shop tomorrow. Even with the multiple interruptions we managed to make decent time, arriving in Chippewa Falls for lunch after about 30 miles. From there we picked up county roads just as the sun began to shine and we followed the rolling hills throughout the afternoon. Passing by more farms we stopped and took our picture with the famous Wisconsin cows ” Dad “Moos” at the cows until they stare and start to run along the fence! Stopping for snacks after 60 plus miles we found a motel for the night…18 miles away. When asked where we were coming from at the gas station we replied “NH” and the guy thought we were lying..haha! By now it was getting late, and we cranked out the last 18 to our destination as the sun was beginning to go down. We arrived at the AmericInn in Baldwin, WI after 83 miles and headed right for the Hot Tub. Tomorrow we will be up early to ride 50 miles and meet up with Mom in Minneapolis!!