Day 35 Charles City, IA - Austin, MN

As luck would have it, the heat broke last night when a small front moved though northern Iowa... and as luck would also have it, the wind changed switched as well and was right out of the north at 6 o'clock this morning at 10-15 mph. We began the day in bigger hills and they lasted for the first 36 miles into St. Ansgar (pronounced: Sintansger). I was somewhat cursing our luck when in the midst of that thinking I passed a cemetery. I began reading the names on the nearest tombstones as I passed, and from that point on I felt very fortunate to be riding a bicycle in ANY weather conditions... always a nice wake up call passing a graveyard!

In St. Ansgar we met up with my cousin Bruce Rindflesch who then provided "local knowledge guiding" and a motorized escort us on his Ruckus scooter.
The terrain evened out and we crossed the Minnesota border on highway 105 and stopped for the traditional border-crossing photos.
The wind continued to pick up and so we just kept crawling along at between 7 and 10 mph all the way into Austin, Minnesota... even Andy had to admit that he was tired and the wind "sucked". All told we spent nearly 10 hours travelling a mere 62 miles.

Bruce and his wife Nancy have the grill fired up, and the alluring scent of some huge burgers (with all the fixings of course!) are prompting me get off the computer. It is GREAT to be back in Minnesota!!!