Day 25, DeSmet to Tyler, 78 miles of riding

Best: Riding behind Cathy in the headwind.

Worst: Riding the rest of the way in the wind.

Most Unexpected: Enjoying the breakfast at Wards especially the cheesy hash browns.

Last night we ate at Wards after visiting the exciting DeSmet museum and then the library.  We were meeting at Wards at 4:00 for dinner, and after the museum we didn't want to walk all the way back to the campsite, so we were the total nerds by killing time in the library.  Dinner was Lasagna, salad, bread (2 pieces if you wanted), and dessert consisting of chocolate covered Rice Krispie treats, and left over donuts.  The donuts were actually quite good as I ate a jelly filled one that I kept from exploding.

This morning after loading the truck with our gear, we all stood around going over the q sheets (our travel directions) while providing breakfast for 10,000 mosquitos with healthy appetites.  We rode our bikes to Wards where the breakfast was quite good, and then off to ride in low wind conditions.  We made it to the Brookings, the home of SDSU, for our lunch stop in a nice park.

After lunch, the gods decided it was time to stop playing nice, so they created a 13-15 mph sidewind which became a headwind on some turns.  I rode with Cathy and Paul, and when there was a sidewind, there wasn't much of protection from riders in front and it slowed us down quite a bit.  When it was a headwind, we could get right behind Cathy on her cruiser and actually travel faster than the sidewind. We made it to Minnesota for our last check in with around 20 miles to go, and the roads went to crud.  The terrain changed also, but then reverted back to flat with corn and soybeans. 

We are staying in Tyler in the high school with most of us opting to sleep inside in the cafeteria. Dinner will be catered and I am hoping it is not lasagna again.  Charlton says it will be chicken. (it was Lasagna two years ago creating the unique opportunity of digesting back to back lasagna dinners). 

Temperatures are still playing nice with us reaching into the low 80's.  The mornings start off cool with a cloud layer that burns off around 10:00.

Another red sun, this time with a barn to look at.

All of the towns have these signs listing their past winners of events.  This one lists both a Nobel Prize winner, as well as a Miss South Dakota, and a high school band winning a contest a long time ago.

Dino's diner suprisingly has a dinosaur in front.

You got to love the group responsible for cleaning up the road.  They probably stay at home and just wave their hands to make the litter go away.

A huge soybean oil processing plant.  You don't see these in California.

This cool South Dakota house is right next to ...

This South Dakota house.  Just a little different architecture.

Time to take down the Christmas lights.  Oh wait, time to fix up the whole house.

Wind turbines after we hit Minnesota.  They are spinning pretty good at this point.

These are the blades on the wind turbines located along our route indicating their is some wind through this part of the country.

Lets all meet back here in May for this music fest. Larry probably plays his CD real loud.

Your test below, which picture is from South Dakota and which is from Minnesota.  Answer below.

The bottom picture has a clue on the horizon, wind turbines.  This is from Minnesota.

Day 24, Miller to Desmet, 78 miles and halfway to D.C.

Best: Gorgeous sunrise, unfortunately I am not excited to see a sunrise because it means I got up real real early.

Worst: Having to actually pedal the bike.

Most Unexpected: Visiting the DeSmet museum and not seeing anything related to Laura Ingalls Wilder.

Last night we went downtown to eat dinner at a recommendation from a School official, Turtle something.  We ended up walking out after finding the menu was sorely lacking, as was the waitress who was less than accommodating.  Instead we ate at some location I can't remember and the food was okay, but I needed dessert so I bought a hostess cupcake on the way back.

We were up early today as usual, but again the outside world was dark because of the time change, and started riding in cool conditions.  The sun was a redball coming up and the photo below represents that view (if you put on your rose colored glasses.)

Yeah, I know the picture doesn't knock your socks off, but neither does most of the landscaping from today.

Heres another exciting picture from the day showing the worlds skinniest shoulder stripe.

Of course we had to take the obligatory group picture at half way point.  I look like I don't want to be a part of the crowd, but I just didn't get close enough. (okay everyone smells, but don't tell them)

We rode past a freshly dead skunk which stands out as one of the smelliest things I have endured, the gag reflex almost kicked in.  

Other things we saw were pelicans, blue herons, cows in water, and cows on land.  Even cows on trash cans.

I found it interesting at the State Fair Grounds there was an exhibit on growing corn.  Really?

How to grown corn.  Like you don't see enough of this on the road.

You would think a wishing well would say something like throw your money in and make a wish, not clean up after your pets. This is in DeSmet at the park we are staying.

This is inside the museum at DeSmet and shows what animals look like in 3D as opposed to the 2D we see them on the road. 

Finally a picture of the house Pa built Ma for all you Laura Ingall Wilder fans out there.

Day 23, Pierre (the re is silent) to Miller (the th is silent), 74 miles

Best: Can you say flat with a tailwind?  sure,  I knew you could.

Worst: Karolina went home today after receiving a bad knee diagnosis yesterday.

Most Unexpected: A donkey keeping watch over the cow family.

Last nights dinner was at the local ice creamery where I had a Coney Island Dog to go with my chocolate malt. I found out a Coney Island dog has ground meat on top of the hot dog.  Yech.

Karolina finally went to the doctor to have an evaluation of her knee which continued to hurt her.  The diagnosis was both bursitis and tendinitis with a recommendation to stay off it for 2-4 weeks.  This morning she took a cab to the airport and we were sorry to see her go.

I am also excited to report that Marich Chocolates who is graciously sponsoring our ride with delicious treats (I am living off their chocolates after each days ride) listed my blog on their website.  I am so famous that I will now be charging 25 cents per autograph.

With the time change, we started the day as we would normally at 6:15, but the sun had not yet come up.  Forecast was for a side/headwind, and they were incredibly wrong. We did the one climb of the day out of Pierre and then rode flat for the rest of the way with an 8-10 mph tailwind blowing us along. We rode across construction dirt for less than a mile, and then we hit a section of recently chipsealed road for 14 glorious miles.  This would have been my worst for today except for Karolina. Pictures were hard to take because the ride looked like this.

Then somebody planted a tree.

We did ride past a train for 3 1/2 miles.

If you noticed the five engines, you would assume it was a long train, and as I said, 3 1/2 miles.  Of course the train was moving in the same direction as us and slightly faster, so I guess if it was stopped it might have been significantly shorter than this.  Just guessing.

There are a lot of cracks on the road, A LOT OF CRACKS.  I measured 13 cracks per 1/10 mile, or 130  jolts to the butt per mile.  This is a new scientific measurement and is J/B/M.  

We were moving so quickly today that we hit the lunch stop at 9:00 and were to Miller at 11:00 including stopping for a flat, and pictures.  Basically crusing at 21 mph.  It was so flat today we saw a water tower 15 miles ahead that we eventually rode past. 

Kevin found his 50th bungee cord of the trip today.  Below is the documented proof, or at least proof that he found one.

Kevin asked if I wanted to take the picture toward the wheat field on this side of the road, or the wheat field on the other side.

Which sign should I pay attention to?

I can hear this farmer saying, "I'm not sure which seed to try, how about I plant 30 different varieties and see which one comes up.  Oh darn, they all did, now what.'

My favorite picture below of the donkey guarding the cow family.

Mama cow telling her calves, if you don't eat all your hay you are going to grow up big, ugly and stupid like Francis next to you.

Day 22. Kadoka (what's a Kadoka) to Pierre (Pier) 95 miles

Best: Riding 15 miles through a thunderstorm with big sidewinds and sideways rain

Worst: The chain lubricant we are using for this trip washes off with any rain leaving a chain that literally screams oil me.

Most Unexpected: Waking up at 3:30 with the start of a thunderstorm.

After walking to our restaurant in downtown? Kadoka and eating meat loaf, we returned to our campsite and got ready for a clear day of riding.  That's what the forecast said. That's what the forecast lied. At 3:30 I heard a very faint sound of raindrops on my tent, about one every three seconds.  I got up and tied the flysheet down, covered my bike seat and went back to bed.  Lightening flashes, thunder rolling, and rain falling is what went on from 3:45  with strong gusts of wind.  The alarm went off at 4:30 and unfortunately the rain did not abate, so a wet tent went into my gear bag.  We rode back to the restaurant where we had the fabulous meatloaf for breakfast, (we did not have meatloaf for breakfast, it is just a confusing sentence without an appropriate comma).  It looked like we might escape the rain, and we took off with a tailwind for about 5 miles with drizzles, Then the heavens opened up, the tailwind became a strong gusty sidewind, and the rain flew horizontal.  Visibility was not good, and a 3 degree shift in road direction meant either a tailwind or headwind because the sidewind was so strong.  Fortunately after 15 miles, the rain abated which meant the overall experience could be rated as very cool.  We made a left turn at 20 miles at 1880 town and the tailwind resumed.  The tailwind turned into a sidewind until mile 45 when we made a right turn into a strong tailwind that we rode into Pierre which everyone knows is pronounced Pier.  We are staying in the gym (everyone but me who found a cool niche without overhead lights.)  I relubricated my chain with Kevin's lube which I had applied two days ago and kept my chain from yelling at me today in the rain like most other riders who were using the supplied free lube.  

Pictures with appropriate captions follow.  If you a former Playboy reader, I know you only read this blog and never look at the pictures.

Classic sign denoting where we camped last night. We had small kids yelling at us that we couldn't camp here; they were so well trained. Mosquitos were plentiful in this area and dined well on us this morning. 

Conditons when we left the diner.  Note the heavy thunderhead we were rolling under.  Also notice the cool reflection of the blinker that I caught at the exact moment it blinked.  

I am not sure I get this.  It is 1880 town with a 50's diner. What?

Looking back at the thunderhead we are trying to run away from.  We succeeded!

Why are all these horses eyeballing me?  Haven't they ever seen a naked cyclist before?

Little church on the prairie, a new TV program starring Gus Lopez. (Shout out to my brother in law)

We met up with this group riding across America in the opposite direction.  The group is 4k for cancer. The rider next to me has a hand injury from falling (the one that is behind my back), and the two ladies are taking the day off to drive the sag wagon.  They said they didn't prepare for the ride, they just started to do it, and of the 23 riders in their group, many had injuries.  Hmm, I wonder why.

Visualize this hill going up and you get an idea of todays ride.  Either going down, or climbing back up. Flat is just so overrated.

The mighty Missouri looking a little different from my last picture of it about two weeks ago.  The center of the bridge marks the time zone change.  We are now two hours ahead of PST.

Guess what this is.

Day 21, Rapid City to the exciting city of Kadoka, 102 miles

Best:  Riding through the Badlands, They are not so bad.

Worst: Stressing about what to come up with for worst for the day.

Most Unexpected:  Seeing a Big Rider going the wrong way through the Badlands, and then the same rider somehow ending up riding on the freeway instead of the frontage road.

We left Rapid City behind this morning on a very slight steady downhill which made us all feel extremely strong.  This was a very fun day of riding, especially because of the riders in the group I was with, Kevin, Jenn, Charles, and Lisa.  Basically we rode 75 miles to the Badlands, and then spent quite a bit of time taking pictures and traveling off road including visiting the Visitor Center. We didn't travel too far off the road because of the following picture:

Which made us all the more brave to take the following picture.

After taking this picture outside the Badlands, I asked a couple if they were going to take their picture with the Prairie Dog as we were getting ready to leave.  They asked us if we were going to see the real prairie dogs just across the parking lot.  No, we answered, we have only seen hundreds as we have been riding across the country, most of them alive and not crushed by cars.

We did take the obligatory Big Ride team picture as we were all wearing the Big Ride jersey to get through the Badlands park.

Obviously a great looking bunch.  In the back row is Charles, Paul, Kevin, Terry, Kenny, and some funny looking guy.  In the front row is Cathy, Karolina, Becka, Jenn, Lisa, and Anita. 

Weather is warming up, with the max being around 90. We are in Kadoka with a population on a good day of 748, and the best part is that we have access to a swimming pool.  It did taste a little salty after we got out.  We did talk to the Mayor of Kadoka who has been the mayor for 24 years.  He did say the only bar in Kadoka is owned by the City, which probably makes for a happy City Council.  This is Sunday so of course the bar is closed.  Enjoy the pictures below, the fruit of my labor, not the fruit of my loins. 

What the heck is this brontosauras eating, concrete pilings?

This picture is out of order, but shows the riders all in the same jersey, and I seem to be in front at this time. 

A natural obelisk to memoralize all the dead prairie dogs.