Dave and I had a great breakfast at Main St Cafe in Stillwater. We met Michelle and Kevin Hileman there. Michelle and I worked together 16+ years ago. Hadn't seen each other since then so great to catch up.

Kevin has completed many triathlons and works at an athletic club. I had never met him before so I was a bit nervous he would show up with a carbon fiber racing bike and ride my butt into the ground. He had the bike!

Today was a lot like yesterday. Big ups and downs. Kevin has a gadget on his bike that measures everything. RPM's, watts of power generated, incline of hills, etc. We were on an 18% incline almost immediately. I can't even explain how steep that is…especially before you're even warmed up.

Kevin took it easy on me all day. Thank goodness.

We spent the first 25 miles on the St Croix Scenic Hwy but only saw the river at Stillwater and 25 miles later when we crossed the river into Prescott, WI. It's probably scenic in a motorized vehicle but on a bike it was just hills and corn!

We road somewhere up on that ridge.

Leaving Prescott I could see a high ridge running parallel to the river. I knew we were going up there. Unfortunately I was right!

There were no services (food, water) for 20 miles after Prescott. Kevin was out of water and I was low by then. We finally came across a campground that had a small bar. Had some lemonade and got some ice and water.

The regulars at the bar were curious about where we were heading. When we told them Stockholm, they kind of laughed and told us we would have a big (2 mile long) hill to climb. Great. 😩

We finally joined up with the Mississippi River. The close body of water is Lake SomethingOrOther. The Mississippi is in the distance.

The big hill was real. Not that steep, but 2 miles of constant up. Not easy after 50 miles but we made it. Video is at top of hill.

The good news is that we got to coast down the other side. Gerty and I were pretty happy.

We finished the 64 miles in 5.5 hours. That includes about 30 minutes of stops so we had ridden at a pretty good pace all day.

Michelle was waiting for us in Stockholm. They bought me lunch and a couple Buds. Michelle had also reserved (and paid for) a motel room for me. How nice is that!!!

Overall a tough but really rewarding day. Kevin taught me a few things and was a pleasure to ride with. Not sure I would have made it quite this far today without his company.

A big thanks to Kevin and Michelle. You guys are awesome.

Starting to think that in another 1000 miles or so I may actually be considered a cyclist.

Ride on.

Just Pete