Today’s ride was dedicated to the late Penny Stamps. Penny Stamps and her Husband Roe founded the Stamps Charitable Foundation Scholarship, a scholarship that I was extremely fortunate to receive. Penny recently passed away after battling Leukemia. She left behind a legacy that changed my life and the lives of many, and we kept her in mind today as we journeyed to Montevideo MN.

Our ride today was a nice 68 miles, 65 of which were on highway 7. 65 miles on the same road in a car is a breeze, just over an hour of driving before the scenery changes. However, 65 miles on a bike means approximately 6 hours of the same sight! That means it is important to keep ourselves entertained. We have several games that we play while on the bike – some new and many that have been passed down from team to team each year. We also enjoy the chance to tell stories and get to know each other in order to have some fun and pass the time. It was a good day complete with a lunch stop at a dinner that had a pizza buffet! Some riders regretted their decision to partake in said buffet, but everyone made it to the stayover nonetheless.

Tonight we are staying at Montevideo Middle School. We are reliving our perhaps not-so glorious junior high days by sleeping in the gym and the hallways – there is so much space to spread out and it is awesome! Not to mention that we have showers in the gym as well, which is always so nice. We had pasta and lentils for dinner tonight, which is our go-to meal on days where the stayover or local restaurants are unable to provide a meal. This is only the second time on the whole ride that we have cooked pasta and lentils – and they are pretty tasty when you don’t have to eat them every night that is for sure.

Today’s rider shout-out goes to Marie. Marie is an awesome teammate who helps out a lot because she is always really on top of herself and her chores, and always finishes early. She really goes above and beyond with helping others even when she doesn’t have to. Without her, we would not have as smooth of days, that is for sure.

This is our last night in Minnesota! We are pretty sad about that because the roads and trails have been really nice here, but we are also super excited to be in South Dakota starting tomorrow. We are really about to enter the wild west – many of us have never been to the state before and are excited to explore.