Update #16 - June 23rd, 2001
Lansing, IA - 3550 miles

I got on the road (June 21) from Wisconsin Rapids around 10:30 a.m. The rainstorm was fast moving. It was lightly drizzling between Wisconsin Rapids and Nekoosa. Between Nekoosa and Tomah, I rode passed miles of cranberry bogs. This area is supposed to be the largest producers of cranberries in the country. For about 28 miles, the highway was perfectly straight since it used to be an old railway bed before 1928. Outside of Tomah, I had to wait at a gas station for a rain storm to pass. It really poured for about 20 minutes. From Tomah, I rode on to Sparta.

Sparta is the "Bicycle Capitol of Wisconsin". Two major state bike trails come through town. One of them was the first "Rails to Trails" project in Wisconsin. To commemorate this, there is a one and a half story tall fiberglass statue of a cyclist on an old high-wheeler.

Yesterday (June 22), I finished up U.S. 16 from Sparta to Lacrosse. The ride went really well. I didn't stay too long in Lacrosse since the Mississippi River was right there. I was able to pedal across the bridge to LaCrescent, MN (Apple Capitol of Minnesota). My plan was to ride SW to Decorah, IA but I decided to head south along the Mississippi River. The 25 miles in Minnesota went quickly and I crossed into Iowa at New Albin. I rode another 12 miles to Lansing where I stopped for the night. This is the second day in the row where I cycled 70 miles or more.

This is really great that I'm in Iowa already. I now have an easy ride across the state to Oakland (about 20 miles east of Council Bluffs) where I'll be preaching a week from Sunday.