Day 4, July 26,
Rochester MN to LaCrosse WI, 86 miles, 14 mph, 6h 6min 43s.
Up at 5:00, 5:00 load luggage, 6:30 breakfast, cold cereal, scrambled eggs, pancakes, juice, coffee. on the road at 7:15.
Today is absolutely
beautiful, but at about 6 miles out we had a problem. ABB needs
to get a permit to travel limited access highways and last year
Rt 52 was not but the DOT changed it sometime in the past year.
So ABB could not let us ride on it ... HMM!! The problem was solved,
we waited for almost one hour until a state police officer came
to give us an escort for 2 miles. ABB could have been fined if
we didn't do it this way.
The countryside in southeast MN is incredible, very well kept
farms growing corn and soybeans, the beauty is difficult for me
to describe, rich colors of green and brown, the farms look like
something out of Home Beautiful Magazine. We rode a curvy road
through a 
beautiful valley
between the towns of Rushford and Houston.
We had a very challenging 1 mile climb with a 10% grade in order to get to a high bluff that that overlooks LaCrosse WI. This was the most difficult climb I've ever had and I kind of thought about walking up, but I didn't, so I still have never walked up a hill. The farms up here continue to be superbly kept. At the end of the bluff there was a 2 mile downhill descent to LaCrosse.
Just before the descent I came to
a TV broadcast station and two reporters were interviewing "Dave"
another cyclist who is raising money for college scholarship in
memory of his cousin who died in 9/11. The scholarship will be
given to a student attending the high school that his cousin attended.
I stopped and when they finished Dave's interview they did one
of me and my Alzheimer's effort. It is supposed to be on the air
tomorrow, July 27. They will send me a copy of what goes on the
air ( it cost me $20, oh well). Shortly after arriving at the
Excell Inn, I had a cell phone interview with a reporter Brad
Williams of WIZM radio. I hope these two interviews actually do
get on the air for local Alzheimer awareness. Over all, it was
a beautiful cycling day.
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