Day 5: August 9th, 2007

Distance: 54.1 mi.
Time in Motion: 3:31:00
Average: 15.45 mph
Max Speed: 22.1 mph

I had a great night of sleep!  The air was cool, yet comfortable.  I ate pancakes about six o’clock and then I was on my way.

It was clear at first, but it soon became foggy again.  The sunrise was beautiful. 

The only rest stop of note was the Dale & Martha Hawk Museum (hawkmuseum.org).  There were many old tractors, 1,130 blow torches (where else are you going to see that many blow torches in one place?), an entire building full of clocks, and so on.  The museum is a very unusual collection of just about everything.  This could be the best rest stop so far.

On my ride, near the museum, I saw the remains of a semi tractor and trailer that must have been destroyed by fire. Oops.

Then I rode on, south and west (I think) against a slight headwind.  Eventually we passed the hay bale bicycle, pictured above. That’s when Justin caught up to me.  The two of us rode together until Rugby.

In Rugby I found the Little Flower Catholic Church, which is very beautiful.  After cleaning up, I went inside to take a look and discovered they were having Eucharistic Adoration (click here for a definition of that).  After spending so much time outdoors in the wind and sun, it was a pleasure to sit in the peaceful church and pray.

I ate lunch at the Dairy Queen and saw the monument marking the Geographic Center of North America, just across the road.  I’ve seen is so many times myself that it’s tough for me to get excited about it.  But there are always tourists snapping photos.  I imagine it would be an exciting stop for a cross-country bicyclist rider.

Later I checked my e-mail at the very nice public library.  Supper was burgers & music in the park.  Overall, this was a good day.  Tomorrow will be a long ride – 80 miles.