Day 30 miles: 102
Total miles: 1,829
By bike:
Due to heat index forecasts being 115 degrees I left the hotel early at 4:40 a.m. I was immediately greeted from the hotel with humidity that fogged everything and coated me in a light dusting of midwest funk.
As I looked East I saw a large storm with lightning. One of my superpowers on this trip has been the ability to dance around storms but this one looked ugly. I kept riding out of the suburbs of Minneapolis and kept trucking
I never got rained on. It felt amazing crossing the Missississississsissississippi river into Prescott, WI and stopping for Doritos and Mellow Yellow. Psychologically, the long mileage days have been wearing on me and I tried my darnedest not to look at the odometer or speed.
I’m not photogenic.
My bad habits from North Dakota seemed to follow me, but I noticed when I stopped to take photos and concentrate on what has made me happy on this trip it was easier. I stopped by an odd fence made out of skis and took photos of the flowers. There were definitely hills and it was muggy but it didn’t seem to bother me.
However, the heat was was starting to truly work on me. The highway I was on had many one lane roads for road construction so it was a lot of sprints after many hills to keep up with traffic. I started consuming one liter an hour and my spirits were high.
Flowers to inspire. 
I kept going at Winona, MN, the original destination. However, La Crosse was 30 more miles away and I resolved to keep biking in the 3 digit temperatures as the hotel in La Crosse was way less than half the price as the $200 hotel in Winona. I took some awesome trails but due to the heat I was excited for Lauren to pick me up. I RARELY cheat on this trip but having her drive 25ish miles was fine by me. We went to the Radisson and I pigged out for the first time ever at Culvers with a double veggie burger, fries, and double scoop ice cream cone.
By car:
For once, I really don’t have much to say! I spent the day plugging away at my projects and eventually I caught up to Matthew.
The people of Wisconsin are painfully friendly. It’s wonderful. Every road worker smiled and waved. The woman working at the gas station loved my glasses and gave me a free cookie after I made her laugh. I was amused by the accent and what I’m guessing are Wisconson-isms. For example, due to the heat and humidity, several folks were asking for the nearest “bubbler,” which I had no idea was Wisconsin for water fountain. Every single person I spoke with told me to “have a nice day now!”
Unfortunately I only have one photo and a video for the entire day. The photo is just what I thought was a funny representation of Wisconsin:
The video is of Matthew being a tad overdramatic when I finally found him at the end of his ride for the day:
La Crosse is a neat town! I’m excited to explore more of it tomorrow. We’re slowly adding more spots to our “we should come back and stay longer sometime” list. As for tonight, we’re enjoying the much needed AC in our hotel and hoping even a slightly cooler day tomorrow!
No Jobs, No Home, No Worries. A Shared Journey by Bike and Support SUV Across the U.S. 