GMRR Day 21 - Moline, IL to Galena, IL

The route for today's ride and the ride statistics can be found here.

Today started out on fairly level terrain, and on a nice bike path along the Mississippi.  The route and the ease of riding kept much of the team together for the first miles.  Here is a shot of two different groups moving up the river.

Young geese being shepherded along.

Our cyclist in a looser gaggle than the geese.

The scenery was quite different for today's ride.  We were along marsh land along the Mississippi, and in woodsy terrain with many fewer farms than we have been seeing.  Here are some shots to give you an idea of what I saw.

This looked to be a wildlife conservation area.

Woods along the road in last third.

Farm on a ridge and more wooded farm land.

The work on today's route was all after the second SAG.  We hit the hills, and had several challenging climbs.  Some of that shows in the hilly terrain reflected in the above photos.  When we got to Galena, it is a lovely little town.  The downtown seems to be thriving.  Ken tells me Trip Advisor rates it one of the top ten most charming downtowns, and I can see why.  We stopped at a root beer shop there and had a lovely root beef float.  Here is a shot to give you at least some feel for the town.

Looking north up the main street.

Me riding up the street in Galena.

Our motel is a couple of miles from the downtown area, and of course most of the way there was uphill.  I stopped along the way to get a shot of a home for my wife.

All in all, it was a successful day on the ride.  Tomorrow promises more hills.