Roller Coaster Ride and we are not at Six Flags - Galena, Illinois

Day 12  Potosi (Grant River Recreation Area) to Savannah, Illinois (Palisades State Park) - 67.2 miles

Today was a shock to our systems....after enjoying the relatively flat route through Wisconsin, we received a wake up call.  We were faced with numerous steep climbs...one of them was a 15% grade.  Of course what goes up, must come down, so we were also treated to some incredibly long descents.  We found ourselves finding the precarious balance between building enough speed, but maintaining control as we screamed down the hills to make it at least half way up the next one.  I found myself actually talking to my bike on the downhills -  "Glide baby Glide!"

15% grade on Black Jack Road

On one of the steeper descents Rob was hurtling downhill, when he hit a pothole....the bump was big enough to send our camera flying off his bike to miraculously land on a bridge - the perfect Kodak moment!  Thank goodness we purchased the water proof, shock proof, come flying off you bike camera.

We had heard that Galena is one of the treasures of the Mississippi River Trail, so we planned to enjoy lunch and explore the town.  All of the historic buildings along Main Street have been maintained and are now a series of shops and restaurants.  We were fascinated by the huge floodgate at the end of town.  We learned that during a flood they will close the flood gate in order to save the historic part of town.  Unfortunately, that comes at the expense of people on the other side of the river.....a decision to close that gate must be a very difficult one!

It was a wonderful afternoon in Galena and we would encourage anyone travelling this way to make time to stop in.

Historic Galena

Giggle of the day:

We decided to visit Gobbies Sports Pub on Main Street in Galena.  The host took one look at us and gave us priority seating on the outdoor patio.  He thought we were involved in the local triathalon.....we went along with it....as we felt we deserved a seat and a piece of pizza!  We liked the pizza so much that Rob boxed up the leftovers.  I am sure people passing us later in the day, must have thought he was the world's slowest pizza delivery man!

Pizza Delivery? - Galena

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