Officer Fred Fanning is alive today because of blood donors like you and I. Two years ago Fred was diagnosed with Leukemia, which is a cancer of the blood. Over the course of his treatment he had to be put into an induced coma, and over the course of 40 days, he received transfusions totalling 75 gallons of blood. Imagine 15 five gallon buckets sitting side by side, and that is the amount of blood products he required to save his life. Today Fred is alive and well, and he was our bicycle police escort for today's ride to Stewartville High School. He doesn't take what we do for granted, and is living proof that each and every one of us can make a difference.

Nick, Fred & Phyliss

The final destination for our day was the wonderfully picturesque city of LaCrosse, WI. It was a beautiful day for a ride, and some of the team members were commenting that it was quite hot. OK, so all of the team members complained about the heat, save for the South African riders and myself. I thought it was a beautiful sunny day, and since I barely broke a sweat on the hills, did not really figure it was hot. Pretty much all of my weekend training rides since about last May have been warmer than this, so I am very acclimated to the heat. As a result of my comment today about it not being hot, I don't believe I will be allowed to comment on the weather again. Oh well, maybe when it starts to actually get hot out they will forgive me? :-)

Mike in LaCrosse

When we finally rolled into LaCrosse, we were greeted by not only the Lions Club, but also by the Mayor of LaCrosse, who is a strong supporter of Organ Donation Awareness. One aspect of donation that many people are not aware of is the transplanting of corneas. The Lions Club is a key player in raising awareness for this aspect of tissue donation, and even has an Eye Bank set up to help facilitate eye related tissue donations. I am pretty sure that the value of a person's eyesight is the single most important thing in their life, even though they totally take it for granted until they start to lose it!

Another state, another rainy day? No, I don't like the sound of that one, since we have 9 states to ride through! Well, regardless of how the math works out, we all got wet today, and everyone took it pretty well. Then we stopped for lunch, and we all started to get really cold. (It wasn't bad as long as we were pedaling and staying warm, but stopping allowed us to all get chilled) We did finally make it to Richland Center, WI around 1:30 PM, and by that time it had finally stopped raining. But even with the weather, and even with the hills we had to ride today (Our first real hills of the ride), everyone was amazed at the scenery around us. One rider said he was "looking at postcards" all day, as the landscape was that spectacular. In one of the sections of the ride we rode by several Amish buggies, and even a traditional Amish farm.

I will however mention that at times today you dared not look around, as the riding took too much of your attention. There were about 8 hills that I came down at a speed of over 40 miles per hour, and probably a dozen more that I came down at a speed of over 30 miles per hour. In the rain, trying to use what little brakes I had to keep from flying too fast on wet curving roads. If it had been a dry day, there would have certainly been a few 45+ mph downhills, and at least one or two 50+ mph downhills. (Far more serious hills than you find in Florida!) And there is nothing like a mile and a half of climbing a hill at 7 mph to make you appreciate what regular old flat terrain is like!

Today we also had alumni riders with us (Riders from previous Five Points of Life rides), along with a local guest rider from the Lions Eye Bank of Wisconsin. The advantage of having a local rider was very evident in that riding with her in our group kept us from ever missing a single turn! Another advantage of having a local rider in the group is that when the mileage on the turn sheet did not match up with the actual mileage, she made good on her promise that if the mileage was wrong, she would buy Dairy Queen for those wanting to take her up on it. (We keep getting promises of Wisconson Cheese Curds, but we haven't seen them yet...)

Karen, Sharon & Barb

There are some days when this wonderful adventure gets to be a lot like work. There is laundry to be done, and a huge hotel with only one washing machine and dryer to use for all of the guests. There are stamps to buy from post offices that are always closed when we finally get to that part in our day when we have a moment to mail something. There are late night team meetings, there are routes to plan, start times to decide, and so many more details. It is a lot like running a business, however ours is a business that is always on the go, with a large entourage in tow. The support crew works even longer hours than all of the riders in that they are out doing tasks like finding a grocery store at 9:00 PM, and then they have to bring everything back, sort it out, pack it all up in ice for the early morning departure, and then have it out at a moments notice at every rest stop during the day. Talk about a thankless job. I do not envy them in the least.

Madison, WI Skyline

Once again today we were all impressed with the beauty to be found all around us. Today we landed in Madison, the state capitol of Wisconsin. My hotel room looks out at Capitol Square in the heart of downtown Madison, with one of the most stunning examples of incredibly good architecture (The Wisconsin State Capitol) shining brightly throughout the night. Tonight we had a sponsor dinner at a park on the south side of Lake Menona. The view of downtown from there rivals many of the views we have seen along the way (And unfortunately is impossible to capture in all of it's full glory with anything other than the human eye). The hardest part is actually taking the time to stop and look at what we see, versus just passing it by not really seeing it at all from the inside of the van with the rest of the team, or with the seemingly endless rolling of our wheels.

Speaking of the seemingly endless rolling of our wheels, as of tonight I have over 700 miles under my wheels. This is a serious amount of miles to have racked up in just 8 full days of riding. But not nearly as serious as the amount of mileage we will have accumulated after 8 more days, or the week following that, etc.

Richard & Tony

Today I started my day of riding by "sagging" (riding in a support van) for about 2 miles, to allow me to do an interview via cell phone with Rock 104, a radio station based out of Gainesville, FL. The interview went well, and set the mood for what was to be a very fun day. I ended up riding with Tony after my interview, and while riding along without paying too much attention to our exact location, we suddenly discovered we were in Waterloo, WI, in front of the Trek bicycle factory (4 time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong rides a Trek bicycle). While the team actually rides Cannondale bikes, it was still cool to stop for at least a photo in front of the Trek sign.

During the course of our day we do a lot of traveling through both remote and more populated areas. Today we had the pleasure of getting 2 police escorts through 4 cities. The first one in the morning took us through Watertown, WI, and went pretty straightforward. The afternoon escort was an incredible event, as it involved 3 different police departments from 3 different cities in the western suburbs of Milwaukee, WI. It was a full blown "blow through every intersection we came to" event, and it was unique to see the cooperation between the police departments in each city as they got to the edge of their city and handed us off to the next police department. The Five Points of Life Ride is a serious event we are all taking part in, but for the simple "fun" factor, this afternoon's police escort was VERY cool! :-)

Nancy & Friends

Richard & Guest Riders

One thing that is fun about being part of such a large entourage of people is that we seem to have a "wake" of activity in our travels. When we go to a restaurant, we end up having conversations with all of the tables around us. Heaven forbid a handful of us should go into a bicycle shop, as that will almost certainly turn into a huge spectacle. We can't really go much of anywhere it seems without causing people to notice us, as well as the fact that we are all a fairly happy and gregarious bunch to start with, let alone get us on a good day when we are being even a bit more silly. Waitresses want to hear the South African riders accents, Tony almost always seems to find another transplant recipient in the most uncommon of places, I am always taking pictures for posterity, and a good time is almost guaranteed to be had by all. Pretty much like a big, loud and happy family, except all dressed in coordinating apparel, making the impact even greater.