We entered Cannon Valley Trail. The Cannon Valley Trail runs through diverse and spectacular scenery on a former Chicago Great Western Railroad line, connecting the cities of Cannon falls, Welch, and Red Wing. The conversion to a paved trail started in 1984 when the railroad offered the route. Paralleling the Cannon River, the Trail offers glimpses and panoramas of the valley and the river. Wildlife abounds along the trail. Today I rode with George and we encountered squirrels, turkeys, deer of all sizes and, as a special treat, a mink ran across the trail right in front of our wheels. It is very pretty in he wild.

After leaving the trail we crossed the great Mississippi. This section of the river has been engineered and makes a complete S series of curves. It is reported to be the hardest section of the river to navigate. We were leaving Red Wing which at one point was the largest shipping port on the river.

After a 2-mile climb we began to see lake Pepin. This is a natural lake formed during the ice age. The Mississippi could not remove the gravel fast enough and the lake was formed. We rode for over 20 miles along one side of this lovely lake. The views astounded us. Many of the riders stopped in Stockholm for an espresso. It is a lovely little town.

Twenty new people joined us in Northfield. We now have 3 recumbents. The new rider is going to be with us for 2 weeks. I will not see much of him, as he is very fast. Three people left the ride. All the people of the Coast-to-Coast group are still with use with the exception of the rider who broke her hip. We hope to see her in Boston. Today the Coast-to-Coast riders entered the seventh state of the ride.

The bugs keep getting bigger and more aggressive. The larger bugs have been joined by the no-see-ums.

We traveled 73 miles of rolling hills today. Tonight we area staying in Pepin, Wisconsin. It is the birthplace of Laura Ingalls Wilder (LITTLE HOUSE ON THE PRARIE).

We passed though a lot dairy farms. These farms are much closer together than the crop farms as it takes less land for dairy farming. One farm had enough milking area to milk over 2000 cows at one time. As they always milk in shifts, I wonder how many they milk in a day.

About 20 miles before Osseo we passed through a lumber tree farm of fir trees. They were about 30 feet tall. The smell of the pine was so sweet. We were in this forest for 10 miles.

The only draw back today is the school lost its hot water so the showers were very cold and quick. We eat tonight at restaurant that has won awards for its pies. After a cold shower this will be a pleasure and something to look forward to.

The country was very rolling. Many nice homes. We saw several new homes next to abandoned older homes. This is the first time we have seen this. Cars in the yard as trash have shown up again. Some homes had cars as old as 1930.

We saw the stripped cows again today. We saw some buffalo, a couple eagles, and a cranberry bog.

I want to thank everyone who relayed information on what was wrong with my shifters. All were explored with the exception of changing to Shimano. As hinted at by several of the responses, the problem was in the tension on the cable. I found that there was a minor contact with the boot cover. I shifted boot to have no contact. I checked all attachments. I checked for damage. I replaced all the cable covers and made sure all open ends were round and had nothing extending into the cable area. After all the checks and changes, the bike functions correctly. It was a dream to ride after several days with only the use of a few gears. Thank you all again!

This route had 43 turns. One rider went 40 extra miles. The entire course was well marked with the exception of 2 turns. This is unusual for the ride. The course is usually perfectly marked.

We went to where there are prairie chickens. None were visible.

Late in the ride we went by a lake with houses across the street. The houses were so large and spectacular. It would take about 3 people working full time to keep one up. This town has lots of large factories.

It looks like we will have a storm tonight - high winds, lightning and downpours.

Tomorrow well take a ferry after a 50 mile ride.

We rode 50 miles to the ferry in the rain. I am writing this on the ferry going across Lake Michigan. The ferry holds about 250 people and takes 4 hours to make the trip. There are 70 of us (riders) on the boat. When we get off we have 10 miles to ride. It may be dark when we set up our tents. As this is the start of a layover, we must find our own food this evening. I hope there is some!

To make the ferry we had to get up at 4:30 am. Our normal get up time is 5:30 am. Our ride today was from Menasha, WI to Scottville, MI.

Tomorrow is a layover day. Everyone will be doing laundry. The rain and the long rides have put everyone behind the laundry curve.