Day 35 journal Fond du Lac, WI to Manitowoc, WI

I rode 58 miles today. Another beautiful day for a bike ride. I felt rested and refreshed after taking it easy yesterday when I arrived at our destination. We ate at the hotel last night which was great – saves time not having to get out and go somewhere for the dinner. The hotel served a good pasta and chicken dinner and plenty of it. A couple of the riders reported missing a turn yesterday and ended up with 108 miles instead of the 83 on the route sheet. Today was so comfortable, just the perfect temperature for riding (about 75 degrees), the skies were clear and the breeze was not too strong so we clipped along at a good pace the whole way. The terrain was almost constant gentle rolling. It is amazing how strong everyone has become over these weeks of riding. I left a little past 7:00 AM and arrived here at 11:00 AM. Chuck kept us at a steady pace, and I drafted most all the way as he is strong going into a headwind. Upon arriving in Manitowoc went to Applebee’s for a lunch and then over to Wal-Mart for a look around. Our rooms are not ready until 3:00 PM. People have been sitting around in the lovely lounge of this Holiday Inn. Quite a few are on their computers and we are looking for the OLN station on TV to run a re-cap of Landis coming in for the win at the Tour de France. Hooray for the American! Some have gone for a ride to the downtown area of Manitowoc and checked out where we will gather at Lake Michigan for the boat ride across the lake tomorrow. We have to be there at the docking area by 12:00 noon and be ready to board the ship USS Badger that will leave at 1:00 PM. Tomorrow we lose another hour and enter Eastern Time Zone. The boat trip will be 4 hours, and then a 7 mile ride to the motel. We’ll be resting as much as possible because we have 115 miles to ride the next day. I didn’t take my camera again today – but will have to get some photos tomorrow during our cruise on the ship. God is great, and he has blessed all of us with a wonderful day.