Today we had a mix of everything.  We started with a 400+ foot climb from the river into very rural Amish country.  We descended back to the river and had new roads with extra wide shoulders.  That led us to urban riding through Lacrosse and by the UW campus there.  We then found paved paths that eventually led us to the 24 mile gravel Great River bike path.  This portion crossed several rivers that were flowing into the Mississippi and lots of wetlands.   Our final segment was on some hot blacktop but we had a tailwind and smooth roads.  We finished in Buffalo City Wi.  We were blessed with easy riding and great scenery.  However the real blessings came with the people we met.

In Lacrosse we saw our friend from France.  He had ridden 100 miles yesterday and was just starting out for the day.  We learned his name is Emmanuel.  He had to stop at a trailhead and get a trail pass.  We didn’t see him the rest of the day but it was fun to see him again.

The second person we talked with was Joe.   We stopped at deserted little bar called Mary Moe’s in Bluff Siding WI hoping for some AC and lunch.  We actually almost rode past it because it didn’t look like anything worth stopping at and didn’t have much for signage.  Besides the bartender we were the only folks in the place which was worrisome at noon… We got water, pop, great burgers, fries and cooled down.  Unfortunately their AC was broken but the fans were helpful.  Once our food arrived a guy walked in and sat down.  He looked like quite a character.  He asked if those were our bikes and then asked about our trip.  He told us that 2 years ago he, without much planning and no experience, bought a $200 bike from Walmart and rode from Kearney Nebraska to Sarasota Florida.  1700ish miles in about 2 months.  He said it was the most extreme thing that had ever done.  But he was most excited to tell us that he found God during his ride.  He told us that before his ride he considered himself a firm atheist and had lived a pretty wild life.  But during the trip he met some different folks who shared about God and that he saw the Lord meet his needs in a way he never expected.  He then understood there is a God and that He does love him.  Much of the rest of his trip his faith developed further and further.  He used the phrase “B is for Blessing” as how God got his attention.  We swapped faith stories of things we experienced on rides and I even had a chance to pray for him.  He prayed for us and gave me his number in case we had any trouble on our ride.

B is for Blessing….  Absolutely agree.  The big hill to start the ride led us to amazing scenery.  We navigated through LaCrosse easily and had a shady spot for a snack.  We had good roads with wide shoulders and easy traffic.  We saw lots of wildlife all day.  We road another of Wisconsin’s amazing rail to trail segments.  But most importantly we met a brother in Christ who found the Lord on his own bike adventure.  Had I not been listening to the Holy Spirit on where to stop… we would have missed Joe.  B is for blessing.  Listen to God and look for the little things that become real blessings!

We finished the day at 73 miles and 1795’ of climbing about 3:30pm