We are in the States!!! We had our usual start time this morning, with my team helping set up breakfast at 6:15. We were once again reminded to make sure we had our passports with us on our bikes. We left at 7:20am and at km 20 we had the first rest stop. I biked by myself for almost the first 40km, needed some 'me' time. Just before km 40 we all stopped just before the Canada customs building. Once everyone was there, cyclists, gear trucks, campers, and volunteers, our tour manager Ed Witvoet called the US border. He had been in contact with them for weeks now giving them our passport info so that things could go smoothly. Ed let them know we were coming and then as a group, Bill on the motorcycle, the cyclists, the vans, the RVs, the food truck and the gear truck. We biked the km down the road to the border crossing and then lined up and one at a time, we were let through to be checked. It took a very long time. We gathered under a covered area waiting for everyone. As everyone was finished, there was a huge downpour!!! The customs people wanted a picture of us so we lined up for them. We waited a little while for the rain to let up and then we kept biking, taking our picture with the Welcome to Minnesota sign, of course. We stopped just a few km further at s restaurant in Warroad, Minnesota, for brunch. There was almost 20 of us there! This was great and a local news reporter came out when she heard we were all there, she talked with our chaplain, Harold Veldman, and then took a photo with the 10 of us who were still there. We continued on, some parts with an off centre tailwind and some parts with an off centre headwind. It was definitely better than yesterday. At the last rest stop, Sara and I were joined by Ashley and Kaitlin who were just behind us. Together, we biked as the last ones into camp, which is at the Lake of the Woods school in Baudette, Minnesota. This is a massive school and it has an indoor pool!!! I helped Ed, the Tour Manager, fill out a food order form for next week in my spare time. I didn't end up going swimming, just because of the timing and it wasn't free. A pretty unique and good day!
116.8 km
5h 30min
71 m elevation
21.8km/h