Quick Day 5 Debrief

As I take a break from sorting through duffel bag detritus, I offer today's brief recap:

- Great Lyft driver from hotel to starting line. He drove us to the luggage truck and to our bikes.
- Deb rode 10 feet and discovered she had a flat. So we turned back and had a bike shop fix it (staple in the tire).
- Unexpectedly, rest stop one was 20 miles from the start, given some adjustments made due to Thursday's rain.  They weren't joking when they said (at Mankato brewery on Thurs night) that there were a number of hills before rest stop one.
- I ate pie ala mode at rest stop one, in Rapidan, where there's a big dam. It drizzled to Rapidan, and rained more steadily for a while afterwards.
- Leaving rest stop three in Nicollet (after we reconvened with the team) was a little hairy - no shoulder; fast, big trucks. Deb got run off the road by a semi. Another rider required an ambulance.
- We had a number of visitors at the finish line and it was such a great surprise! Thanks, Stacy, Keisha, and Kelly! 💞
- Deb and I stayed at the finish to cheer on our camping and dining companions from the week - Kelli and Gregg, whose team is appropriately named, "MS is BS."

The Ride Across Minnesota (formerly known as TRAM) week is my favorite week of the year. I'm so grateful for the opportunity to do a great ride and to raise awareness and funds for this cause. I had such meaningful conversations this week with people affected by MS, reminding me why we ride.