We missed one of the turns along the way, which worked out fine since we were planning to go to Decatur where there was a bridge across the river to Iowa and the wrong turn took us along faster roads. Later on a number of cyclists also didn’t turn where they were supposed to, but they don’t get quite the same advantage. A ways down the route we got a call from the first SAG stop since there was a cyclist who was having trouble. We headed back and picked up the cyclist and brought them across the bridge into Iowa and a ways further into the route.

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A few days ago, we got this picture of them with there new Giant bikes :

Lucky for them, they got them at local prices too!

I guess our family has had a fairly strong history with the bicycle, from flying down the streets assisted by training wheels, to cycling circles in the drive when bored while living on the farm, to a trip my father and I made in the Netherlands, cycling around the country when I was fourteen or so.

Another interesting thing about bikes in my history… as a kid, I just couldn’t seem to get the hang of the things. I got to look jealously on as my siblings rode around, but I couldn’t get the whole balance thing down. Then one evening I got really fed up with not being able to do the same, and I tried it again. I ended up falling off the silly thing, but got up, got back on, and I’ve never had a problem since! I’ve even adapted to using clips within one trip, and without the dreaded falling over!