We awoke at 6am, extra early to get an early jump on the heat.

I want to apologize for the lack of posts the last few days. We went 3 days with no internet access and almost no cell phone coverage. The heat has been exhausting.

We have been very tired, and very unable to summon the energy for biking to the nearest internet hotspot.

I added photos to an older post, and added a new post. I am still a few days behind.

Thank you to everyone for your support. I appologize to those of you who were trying to get a hold of us.....

We survived the heat wave, and are still having a great time.

Our mileage is pathetic, but the terrain and weather have both been rough. We have also had some mechanical difficulties which you will surely see photos of later.

Off to bed.

Tuesday morning we left Prairie du Chien. We knew we were in for a very hot day with heat warnings all over the area. First we stopped at the post office and mailed home 13 lbs of gear. The night before we stopped at Cabella's and bought some hot weather gear. The things we sent home were warm weather things we replaced with hot weather gear. The postal workers really liked our story, helped us pack up our stuff, and took a picture of us with our bikes and package in front of the post office.

We made pancakes for breakfast in the hotel room because everything was closed. Good thing I had pancake mix packed. They were sub-good. Late start.

Chuck fixed his rear fender, which broke on our 2008 tour.....he had been hauling the new bracket for a while.

There was a lot of road construction.

We woke up a bit before 7 at our Sparta hotel, the girls were cold already. Katie borrowed Laura's air mattress even though she only used the top third.

We had a nice breakfast at Country Kitchen in Sparta and hit the road. The waitress suggested a shortcut that would entail a dirt path down steep slope, and picking our bikes up over a fence. We took the long cut.

I got up this morning and got all of my things ready to go. I got my camelback ready and I look inside and found a wasp nest inside. Thanks dad for getting it out.

Today we started out with a party before we left. We left at about one. It was hard saying goodbye with everyone giving hugs and saying goodbye to us. We would like to thank mom and dad for the party. I hugged everybody and here is me and my grandpa saying goodbye.

Flag: Chuck's new Flag I am all set to go! Check out my new flag, Amanda made it for me! It is hard to see how shiny it really is in the image.

A long time ago Chris said he wanted to ride bike down the mississippi, so I asked when he planned to do it and if I could come with. I hadn't been on any multi-day bike trips before, so this was all new to me. Finally Chris picked a date, and the planning began. We went to the Hostel Shoppe and I ordered a trike. That same weekend we went on a short 2 day bike trip from Hustler to Norwalk (about 30 miles) on upright bicycles. That was when I knew for sure i never wanted to ride an upright again, and that I had made a good choice in ordering my trike! To bad I didn't have it for that trip!

Today Laura, Katie, and I gave our bikes a thorough cleaning and tune-up. Laura had a good time removing the 'goo-balls' from the cassette on her bike. Everything is cleaned, lubed, and ready to roll. Chuck's bike will get it's makeover tomorrow, Roger's was done earlier in the week.

Hello from Pittsville. It's great to hear your out on another ride this one sounds awesome, ride safe and have fun. It was great meeting you last year, and were looking forward to seeing you again. Sometime after you dip your tires in the gulf you all have a lunch on the house in Pittsville, or maybe we can deliver to New Lisbon. Take care Baum's Mercantile

I am 15 years old and I first learned how to ride bike when I was 7 years old. A week later I went on my first 100 mile bike trip. My brother Chris has inspired me the most through this. I'll never forget all of our trips we had together and I can't wait to expierence what lies ahead. All together I have rode over 1,000 miles with Chris and Laura. After my accident (getting hit by a dump truck) I wondered when I would get back up again and find my strength to ride again. Through all these years of biking I found it has became my passion. I just love the feeling of accomplishment. Now this is the chance I have to take to fufill that dream and know I've done it. Making it to New Orleans has been my goal to achieve.