Happy Father's Day! Take some time to reflect on the influences our dads have had on us, and how they've made us who we are. For some, today is a celebratory day, but for others it's difficult and filled with memories. Christy dedicated the ride to both her uncle and her father.On today's century ride in the driftless region of the USA, we were buffeted by a blustery 20-mph crosswind from the south. Some of the gusts were up to 35 mph! While we leaned into the wind (isn't physics cool!?) to avoid being blown off the road, we were entertained by the struggling birds. Needless to say, we were grateful for any trees on the left. Additionally, we had approximately 4,100 feet of climbing. Who knew Illinois is full of rolling hills? On top of all that, our halfway prize was 2.5 miles of coarse gravel roads. Fortunately, we were graced with the wind on our backs for awhile, and then we flew into an epic storm front! By some miracle, the storm blew over us without dumping any rain. But it looked really cool.Today was the only 3-state day of the whole trip! After lunch we rode into the rolling hills of Wisconsin (state #8!) for 35 miles. Stopping in New Diggings, we ran into several individuals from Champaign county, and had the opportunity to discuss the mission of Illini 4000 with them. Thank you to Bob and Mick for your kind donations! Wisconsin gave us it's worst headwind, but we finally made it across the Mississippi River to Iowa - state #9! In Dubuque, we are staying at St. Luke's United Methodist Church. They gave us a tour of the Tiffany stained glass windows in the sanctuary (among the largest collection in the world and a location on the National Register of Historic Places!), then let us use the kitchen to make a much-needed dinner of spaghetti and lentils. Bonus: this church has really nice showers! :)
