Illini 4000

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Day 28: La Crosse, WI to Rochester, MN

Today’s ride was dedicated to the mother of Hannah Rose, one of Cari’s good friends. Hannah Rose’s mother struggles with cancer, and we biked with her in mind this morning as we set out from Wiconsin to Minnesota.

Today was originally set to be an 85 mile day – but because we had a tour scheduled for 4pm at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, we shortened the day to 44 miles and then shuttled the rest of the way! It worked out pretty well because there were some really strong headwinds on the route that would have made arriving to Mayo by 4 impossible. It was really fun packing all of the bikes up into the van – like a really fun puzzle! The Mayo Clinic was a sight to see. It is so large and so successful, and it is great that people have access to such a wonderful place.

For today and tomorrow (because tomorrow is a rest day!) we are at the Zumbro Lutheran Church in Rochester. They have such a beautiful facility with showers accessible to us at all times!!!! We are very excited to relax here this evening and tomorrow.

Today, Steven is getting a big shout-out! Steven helped out a ton with figuring out the logistics of this day, and packed the van full of bikes in an efficient and safe way. He also helped his teammates through the very strong headwinds.