A group of 11 bikers spent the night in Albert Lea Thursday night and took a quick break from their 21-day ride through 48 states to raise money for the Children’s Miracle Network.

Most of the bikers are from Georgia, where their trek began. They are riding an average of 500 miles a day to raise awareness and money for the charity. The organizer of the ride, Scott Ressmeyer, did the same ride solo last year, and 10 other guys wanted to join in.

“What I like about Children’s Miracle Network is 100 percent of the money goes to the kids,” Ressmeyer said.

All the bikers are paying for their own gasoline, lodging and food. All the money they raise from donations will go to the charity. They haven’t had too many problems on their trip so far, which started May 7 and ends May 28.

So far the group has been through snow, fog, rain and sand storms. They didn’t expect it to be so windy in Albert Lea.

Some who had never been to Minnesota were looking forward to seeing what it looked like. They came to Albert Lea on Interstate 90 from South Dakota, and hadn’t expected the prairies of southern Minnesota to be so windy. They slept Thursday night at the Best Western in Albert Lea and are headed to New Buffalo, Mich., today.

The riders said getting to meet people along the way has been one of the best experiences.

“The highlights are when we can go to hospitals and meet kids and meeting other people along the way,” Harris County, Ga., Sheriff Mike Jolley said.

He contacted other sheriffs throughout the country and has met some of them. A sheriff in Buffalo, N.Y., plans to meet up with the group. They also left Columbus, Ga., with a police escort for the first 10 miles.

Ressmeyer and some of the other riders have been posting to a blog — http://rideformiracles.wordpress.com/ — about daily events on their trek. They also have tracking devices on their bikes so readers of the blog can see where they are on a map.

“The biggest challenge has been the weather,” Ressmeyer said.

When they stop for the night they leave their bikes at the hotel and walk to the nearest restaurant to get some food and chat about the ride that day. It’s also a time when they meet local people, like the marketing manager of McDonald’s on Bridge Ave. in Albert Lea, who offered the riders free breakfast this morning while they were eating dinner at Applebee’s Thursday night.

Even though there have been challenges the riders look forward to seeing all the states and said each state has something unique to offer.

Interstate 90 “in Minnesota is a lot better than some of the neighboring states,” Jolley said.