7/23/96 (Tuesday) ESTHERVILLE to LAKE MILLS - 87.7 miles

It was chilly as we headed out so we stopped for pancakes early on at a church sponsored cabin on a very pretty lake. As usual the townspeople were very chatty and friendly. The day warmed up and there were very few clouds until the afternoon. And the best part was a strong northwesterly wind which gave us a major push on our way east. Easily 70 of the 86 miles was tailwind and the road surfaces were like glass as we sailed along on this magic biking day. Since the day was so long we were on the road by 6:10 and didn't goof off quite as much as usual, although we did eat lots of pie and pork products. In Bancroft, we got 1" thick grilled pork chops from Mr. Pork Chop and they were dripping and greasy and wonderful. You can hear Mr. Pork Chop hawking his product for blocks around because he sounds just like the hot dog vendor at the Ranger games that is on the Molly commercial.

The knee did bother me quite a bit today so I took Advil all day, wrapped it in an ace bandage, iced it whenever we stopped for more than 10 minutes, and when I went to bed, propped it on a pillow. We'll see if it helps.

In the evening we were pretty wiped so, despite an invitation from Jeanie to get hot showers at her brother's house, we opted out and went into town for pork sandwiches at the church. We found the school with the $2 showers, but the only unlocked door was on the opposite side so as we groused, a man came up and offered to let us in the nearby door. Turned out he was the superintendent of the school! According to Kath, this kind of stuff always happens on RAGBRAI. The showers were cold, but not frigid, and I actually passed up pie with dinner. We were dead asleep by 9:00, rock-like again.