Day 35 So This is Where My Cheese Comes From

This was supposed to be a short simple ride to Manitowoc (57 miles) where tomorrow we load a ferry for a ride across Lake Michigan.  It was a short ride but the wind did pick up into the 25 mph range - so it with the headwinds it was more like a 75 mile ride.

The day started off in Fond du Lac where we had our first great breakfast.  We stayed in a hotel built in 1923 and it was totally restored.  Fresh fruit and made to order Omelets.  Yum yum.  Much better than the Best Western continental breakfasts and put Denny's grand slam to shame.

Our ride started with a tour of the lighthouse on the Lake at Fond du Lake (yes thee is actually a lake there).

The lake looks quite big - my guess it is about the size of Lake Tahoe.  Big boats and marinas all around.  I took a picture of the lake and I could not see the other side.

Fond du Lac was the prettiest town we have been in since Jackson (Jackson Hole) Wy.  I think there are about 40,000 people that live there.  Some nice restaurants downtown and lots of bars - so there must be a younger population.

On the ride today we passed the following plant...

Now Cathryn and I buy this cheese all the time.  I now know where it is made.  Unfortunately the plant in the background does not reconcile with the Sargento commercials where you get the impression they make their cheese "one wheel at a time".  Oh well it does taste pretty good.

Not much else on the ride (still lots of corn fields) and at about mile 50 we got a glimpse of Lake Michigan.

I was riding with a young woman from Taiwan and she commented "it looks like the Pacific Ocean".

Tomorrow we get to take a ferry across the Lake.  This will cut out 400-500 miles.  I think the crossing takes 4 hours - so this will count as our day off.  Then it is back to the grind.

For some reason I keep getting stung by bees.  Got stung both today and yesterday.  That makes 5 bee stings on this trip.  I am pretty sure I am the only person that has been stung so far.  Not a big deal -just makes the ride a little less comfortable.

On my odometer today I passed 2600 miles.  That means we are down to about 1000 miles to do.  Miles are just flying by (at 12.5 mph that is).

On the graph you can start to see the end is near.  Here are my stats.

Miles             2,682.55 mi
Time                   212:01:00 h:m:s
Calories             87,300 C
Av Heart Rate   96
Ave Speed        12.7 mph

Not sure I will be able to blog tomorrow as we get in late on the Ferry and also jump to Eastern time.