As usual, we started off our ride on a different route than the other 10,000 folks.  We joined up with the big group in Terrill, Iowa.  Because the route was only 40 miles that day (we logged 50, tho) the bicycle traffic covered the road from white line to white line.

We caught our biggest break of the day when we stopped at the American Legion in Graettinger. The good legionnaires and ladies of the auxiliary had wisely cranked the AC to a chillingly pleasant temperature.  Clean bathrooms, cool drinks & the best porkchops of the week. You just can't go wrong at The Legion. We recited The Pledge and the Madstatter downed two chops.

Our revelry was short-lived because howling headwind fought us all the way to Emmetsburg.  We recharged our batteries at the only establishment capable of rivaling the American Legion – the VFW!  (See the photo of some of our team with the cooks.) Just to be sure, we tested this hypothesis at a couple of other establishments.  The men and women who formerly wore the uniform of our country indeed reign supreme.

VFW in Emmetsburg

All in all it was a hot and sticky day. We ended the night by taking a garden hose shower at our camp site.  It was heart-stoppingly cold and utterly ridiculous.  Kathleen is still laughing about it more than 24 hours later.  Something about two grown men pointing a garden hose down their swim trunks is somehow funny. I don't get it.  Because this is a family site, the photographs have been withheld. See the MadStatter face-to-face if you're dying for a peek. I can guarantee you it will cost you something--most likely retinal damage.

Going to quit now before the FCC intervenes.

Reporting for SASF: Matt Madsen