Hoping to raise money for charity, and challenge themselves, three men from the Quad Cities are riding the length of the Mississippi River on their bicycles. On September 10th, Tom Rowe, Tom Thoms, and Jim Millman set out from Itasca, Minnesota, and plan to reach New Orleans this Saturday (9/30).
Speaking from somewhere in Mississippi on Monday, Rowe says they're averaging 90 miles per day, and will have traveled a total of 16-hundred miles by this weekend.
He's enjoying the ride, but weather has been a problem.
"It's been 90 degrees every day and we've had a steady headwind - winds out of the south and 90 degree temperatures. Even in Minnesota and Wisconsin, they're going this is the hottest it's been here in September in years."
And at night, they sleep in a motorhome.
"It goes ahead of us and scouts a spot - sometimes it's a Walmart parking lot, sometimes it's a restaurant parking lot, and sometimes it's a campground."
They're also using the ride to raise money for three agencies, Alternatives, the Child Abuse Council, and Bethany for Children and Families. They call it "Breaking the Cycle," as in breaking the cycle of abuse.
Rowe says after ending their ride on Saturday, they'll celebrate Millman's birthday in New Orleans on Sunday.
