Day 2 - 6/2/06

Departed Brownsville, MN at 7:30am and arrived Marquette, IA 5:30pm. Travel Time- 54.5 Miles and 4 hr 49 min. Today was a rough day. Shawn broke 1 spoke 20 miles into our ride today and it took an hour to fix it. The hardest part of our ride was the distance from Lansing, IA to Harper's Ferry, IA it was 14 miles of Bluff's (inclining hills that never end), we walked our bike's with all our gear uphill about 6 miles. Of the 14 miles we only rode about 8 miles if it. When we arrived at Harper's Ferry we were so fatigued that Amber fell off her bike twice while just standing with one foot locked in. Very exhausting today. Also getting from Harper's Ferry to Marquette, IA was uphill but not as bad. This route was very scenic but I wouldn't recomend this road for a casual bike ride. But on a higher note: We met our first group of other bicyclists, it was a group of 8 men and women, They were very friendly. Due to lack of facilities (restrooms) at the campsites on our route from MN to IA we treated ourselves to a night in a hotel. We stayed at The Isle of Capri Hotel in Marquette, IA. However this put us over our budget about $90, but it was totally worth it. The staff here was great, they let us use there laundry facilities even though they are not for public use. We also took part in a little gambling at the Isle of Capri Casino, even came out $5 ahead. The casino was an actual Riverboat on the Mississippi River. This place was definetly top notch and just across the river from Prairie Du Chein, WI.