FIXED BIKE

We had excellent luck with Mike's broken bike.  Monday morning we were waiting on the doorstep of Momentum Bikes in Platteville, WI a half hour before they opened, just as the owner, Tim, was pulling up.  He let us in early and immediately went to work on the bike, luckily having everything we needed for a fast repair.  We were back on the road in no time and got to enjoy a full day of riding in southwestern Wisconsin and northwestern Illinois - a spectacularly forested and "mountainous" area of the Mississippi River valley.

View of the Mississippi just outside of Savanna, IL.

Over the course of this trip  we have met hundreds of people who have given us their contact info saying that if we're ever in their area to call and we'll have a place to stay for a night.  Last night was the first time one of those offers actually matched up with our route, which was fun.  I called Keith and Anne when we realized we'd be coming through and I think they were more than a little surprised when they got my call saying, "Hey...remember us?  We met a month ago and you gave us your number a..."  We met way back when we were waiting out a storm in Scenic, SD during the Sturgis Bike Rally and it was great seeing them again and meeting their family....just another awesome aspect of traveling the country on bikes.


We are now in the heart of Illinois enjoying cornfields and more cornfields.  That's pretty much all that's out here so there's not much to stop and look at which means we're putting in big miles every day.  It makes us feel like we're really making some progress and it looks like we should be arriving on the east coast within the next month...definitely before the snow!

Mike riding through corn fields.