Day 55, July 24: Quincy, IL to Louisiana, MO. Distance: 55.5 miles rainy and temperature in the 70s.

A wet ride all the way as we left Illinois crossing the Mississippi River on Interstate 72 and riding into Missouri. Our route took us south-east from Quincy on route 57 through Marblehead, IL and Fall Creek, IL where we turn south and ride on Interstate 72 for a short two miles crossing over the Mississippi River and into Hannibal, MO, home of Mark Twain. Arriving in Hannibal wet and cold we found a restaurant for breakfast to warm up and recharge our muscles. Leaving Hannibal we traveled 33 miles over rolling hills to Louisiana, MO. The weather minimized our picture taking on the ride but we found that Louisiana was a city with lots of murals so I have included some pictures from there.

Day 55, July 24:Quincy, IL to Louisiana, MO. Distance: 55.5 miles rainy and temperature in the 70s.

Day 54, July 23: Ft. Madison, IA to Quincy, IL. Distance 69 miles. Temperature: 60s - 70s.

We said good bye to Iowa as we left Fort Madison and hello to Illinois. We started as a group from our Motel to minimize the congestion in crossing the two lane bridge from Fort Madison to Illinois. We then picked up route 96 and passed through the town of Nauvoo, IL where the Mormon Church was once based, then on to Warsaw with a detour to Lima and Ursa and into Quincy. Pictures were taken in Nauvoo of the Mormon settlement from 1845 and of the flooding further south on the Mississippi River. The flooding caused us to detour giving us about a 69 mile day. The weather was sunny and cool and the roads were quiet and smooth. All in all it was a very nice riding day.

Day 54, July 23: Ft. Madison, IA to Quincy, IL. Distance 69 miles. Temperature: 60s - 70s.

Day 53, July 22: Wapello to Fort Madison. Distance: 60 miles. Temperature: 70s and 80s.

Reports of additional washouts on Route 99 forced us to head west out of Wapello and turn south to Fort Madison. Leaving Wapello we passed through Morning Sun where some of us had breakfast. After breakfast we rode through New London, Lowell, West Point and arrived in Fort Madison. The ride was relatively flat with a slight tail wind. We had sunny skies for the ride with little traffic on our route.

Day 53, July 22: Wapello to Fort Madison. Distance: 60 miles. Temperature: 70s and 80s.

Day 52, July 21: Dewitt to Wapello. Distance: 80 miles, Temperature: 70s - 80s

Weather warnings of thunder storms and high winds held everyone at the motel unitl after 8:00 AM. A severe storm passed to our south hitting the Mississippi Valley area between Iowa City and Davenport. This area was about 20 to 30 miles south of Dewitt. As we left our motel the rain had stopped and clear skies were developing in the south and west. As we passed west of Davenport we began to see many effects of the storms: intersections without operating traffic lights, corn fields with the corn leaning and bent, some down trees and leaning power lines. As we reached route 22 that follows the Mississippi River west of Davenport the effects of the storm reached a higher level. In the town of Buffalo, we saw trees on houses, utility poles snapped in pieces, utility poles blown almost sideways. The end of our ride was also a surprise when less than 3 miles from our hotel, our road disappeared.

Day 52, July 21: Dewitt to Wapello. Distance: 80 miles, Temperature: 70s - 80s

Day 51, July 20: Dyersville to DeWitt. Distance: 73 miles Temperature: 70s and 80s

Last night we had thunderstorms and this morning we were greeted with a cool fog to start our day. We traveled south on Route 136 to Lost Nation passing through Worthington, Cascade, Onslow, Wyoming and Oxford Junction. In Cascade some of us stopped for a late breakfast at Grandma's Kitchen. At Lost Nation we turned south on County Road Y43 then east on E63 passing through Welton and then south to DeWitt. The fog was burned off by late morning and we had a sunny day for the rest of the ride.

Day 51, July 20: Dyersville to DeWitt. Distance: 73 miles Temperature: 70s and 80s

Day 50, July 19: Dyersville Rest Day. Distance 58 miles, temperature in the 80s.

Another beautiful day for a bike ride. After 3,000 miles on my tires and some significant signs of wear, I thought it would be good to get some new tires. Dubuque has three bike stores so a morning ride to Dubuque was the goal. There is a bike trail of hard-pack gravel that runs to Dubuque form Dyersville. It is recycling an old railroad bed that provides a 1 % slope to Dubuque. Ron and I rode about 10 miles on the trail and got off at Farley where we found some hot rods and classic cars that were on their way to a car show. The rest of our trip was on the Old Highway Road that parallels route 20 to Dubuque. While looking at our maps and bike shop addresses in Dubuque, a local rider offered to help us find the best route to a bike shop. New tires were acquired and we returned to Dyersville.

Day 50, July 19: Dyersville Rest Day. Distance 58 miles, temperature in the 80s.