Day 7 ride statistics: ? mph average, 52 miles, 1:52 hours train time, 111 average pulse, 152 max pulse, 2020 kcal

.I was determined to be the last rider to the river this day.  Scott, Diane, Josh and Jake all left about 5 AM.  The rest of us left as a group at about 6:30 AM. I began by riding with Jeff, Abby, John and the boys. They were fast but I decided to ride ahead at one time so that I could pull over and take their picture.  Jeff didn’t understand my intention and unknown to me, he stayed right on my tail as I was riding ahead. When I finally pulled off the road to get my camera out, I heard someone say “Are you ok?”  It was Jeff as he and Abby (who was riding his tandem) went sailing by me.  I said yes and they were gone.

I did get a picture of John and the boys as they went by. I then got back on my bike and caught John and the boys. I told them I was going to try to catch up with Jeff and proceeded on.  I rode and rode but never did see Jeff and Abby.

I finally came upon the Beekman’s stand and stopped for ice cream. As I was eating I saw Jeff, Abby, John and the boys all ride by. I must have passed Jeff and Abby somewhere without knowing it.

After leaving Beekman’s, I caught back up with Jeff, John and the kids at a Casey’s gas station.  I was kind of looking for them at a Casey’s because I remembered hearing them talk about getting donuts at a Casey’s.

Just when we were leaving the gas station, Joe and Stacey happened by.  While we were all riding together, we came across a sign advertising the largest horse in the world.  Well, we had to take a look. It wasn’t the largest in the world, although it was big.

I rode the rest of the way to the river with Stacey and Joe. Normally we would dunk our front tires in the river as symbolic of finishing. The line for people waiting to do this was way too long, it would have taken us over an hour I bet.  So we just stood in front of the river for our group photo, seen at the right.

After the group photo, we met up with Mom, Sheryl (Josh’s mom, my sister-in-law), Shea and Kathy (Connie’s parents), and our own support crew, who were parked at a house a few blocks away.  We transferred all the gear to appropriate vehicles and went our separate ways. Joe, Stacey and I headed for Rockford, IL via highways 67, 30 and 88. Everyone else went toward Altoona, IA.

My dad called me on my cell phone just as I was entering the LeClaire on my bike.  I ended up calling him back as we began our drive home. He was in Kansas and was just wondering if everyone had arrived ok. I told him we did and everyone had a good time.

I made it home by about 2:30 PM. Stacey and Joe continued on to Neenah, WI after that.