Day 32 Rochester to La Crosse, Wisconsin 89 miles with 3340' of climbing

Today  we woke up to a downpour.  They had been forecasting 80% of rain this morning and it happened.  We ate breakfast at 0630 and they announced that we would load at 0700, that it was raining and there wasn't any severe weather warnings up so we loaded put on our rain coats, shower caps and departed in the downpour.  The wind was in our face at 20MPH for the 1st 22 miles.  We had to keep pedaling and with my glasses, I could not see much of the time and I had to keep wiping off my lenses with my finger so I could see.  The wind was really a challenge and it took 2 hours and 50 minutes to get to the 1st sag stop which was at mile 34.  By the time we got into the sag it had stopped raining and everyone was taking off their rain gear.  I put my rain coat in my camel back in case it was needed again.  After we filled up the bottles and ate some snacks we were on the road again.  We had come down a big hill to get to the sag stop and had to go up a big one on the other side after we left the stop.  I was riding by myself after the sag and then after 4 or 5 miles Michael and Matt on the tandem caught me and I rode with them until Michael spotted a steep downhill sign up ahead and I did not see them again until the 2nd sag.  I continued to ride by myself and then stopped to take a few pictures and Teresa and John caught me and we rode together to the town of Houston, MN.  Here we were going to get on a bike path for 10 miles.  We stopped at a grocery store and got another snack and then we hit the bike path.  This was really the high spot of the day, the path followed the river and was very smooth and tree lined the whole way.  It was nice to get off the roads as they have been very rough with many pot holes.  About 4 miles to the 2nd stop of the day it began to rain again, but it was warm and I did not put my rain coat back on.  We got to the second rest stop and Karen signed us all in as it was still raining and there was a coffee shop right by the stop.  Most of us went and got a cup of Coffee or Hot Chocolate and a snack and then the rain stopped once again.  We decided to go while the weather was OK and about 1/2 mile out of town it started to rain once again.  We had 22 miles left to ride and I was warm so the rain coat stayed in my pack once again, also I knew that there was a good climb out of the river  bottom and did not want to put the coat on.  At mile 72.5 we turned left and hit the climb of the day.  The hill was 1 mile long at 9%.  This was a tough place in the day for this climb,  but we just have to deal with it.  It wasn't too bad and once we hit the top the wind was behind us and it really felt good.  The temperature was about 78 degrees with the cool breeze, but the humidity was high.  The last miles went by fairly quickly and before we knew it we were dropping down into the valley and we crossed the Mississippi river and the Welcome to Wisconsin sign meet us.  We stopped and took pictures and had 4.5 miles more to go until we got to the Motel.  The motel was a welcome site and the rooms are really nice.  One of the riders that rode with us 3 days had cookies, cheese tray and hot chocolate waiting in the lobby for us.  This was really a big hit and we waited until the luggage truck was ready and did the daily routine.  Unload, shower, clean the bike and eat supper and get the cue sheet for tomorrows ride.

Tomorrow we are in for another 90 mile day and are going to Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin.