Day 24, Miller to DeSmet, SD

After a restful night in the Miller High School, air conditioned, Yes!, we set off for De Smet. The weather/wind forecast was becoming familiar, winds 15 to 20 out of the east. It promised to be another hard day pushing into the wind, and the promise was kept.

The arrow and target were in a field as we left Miller. Don't know its significance.



We continue to be amazed by the extent of flood damage throughout the states where we have ridden. The picture at the left is not of a small lake, but rather a farmer's field. Even where the waters have receded, you can see evidence of their presence, such as fences which are totally jammed with dead vegetation, grasses and other plants that were caught in the fence as the water rushed through.



This was the halfway point of our day, and coincidentally of the ride. Hard to believe that we are half way done. Gave us a bit of a lift.

Turns out that we needed the lift. The wind continued to build, and the sun went behind clouds. It is a bit telling that this was the last picture that Margaret took this day. The last ten miles into De Smet took us more than an hour. We arrived in time to set up our tent in a light rain.

I should say a word about De Smet. Apparently De Smet is the setting for Laura Ingel Wilder's book, "Little Women." LIW and her history and literature are taken very seriously here. Each building in the down town area has a card which lists its history. They also have re-enactments of portions of the book during the summer.

The De Smet Chamber of Commerce hosted us for dinner in a store in the business district. Very nice meal and very nice people. Tomorrow we ride to Tyler, MN, and a new state.

Day 23 Pierre to Miller

Eating breakfast in Pierre (pronounced Pier, thank you) Phil, the helpful custodian, dropped by to bid us farewell. The night before, our group had planned to sleep at the high school. (since as John mentioned our original spot was under 4 feet of water!) Unfortunately, the high school was experiencing problems with flood waters as well. Phil went out of his way to find us a spot in the middle school and even got the air conditioning turn on! Three cheers for Phil!!

Storms gathering in the morning

This should have been an easy-peasy day...not so much.  Stormy weather was threatening the area and winds had kicked up. Head winds appeared and strengthened throughout the day. This made for a looooong 79 miles. It took us longer to get to Miller than the 102 miles from Rapid City to Kadoka. We had a long climb out of Pierre and then road the relatively flat South Dakota farm lands.

Flood waters on fields.

 Miles and miles of grain.

Miles of grain need huge grain storage. This is just one of many.

Day 22, Kadoka to Pierre, SD

Today's forecast was for a chance of afternoon thundershowers and wind from the east building to 10 to 15 mph. Wait, aren't we headed east? Per the cue sheet, this is Dances With Wolves country (the movie was filmed in this area) - long hills and wide open spaces.

Hoping to beat the wind, we started out as early as we could and pressed a bit in the early morning, trying to get miles in before the wind increased as it tends to do during the day. I hope these pictures convey a feeling the the real emptiness of this part of the country. These pictures could have been taken at 9 AM or 3 PM. This is what we saw all day.




















We were a bit tired, but doing OK until we turned east at mile 34. For the next 60 miles we would push the bike against a 15 mph head wind. We faced long rolling hills, no trees to break the wind, and low reserves because of our push for a sub-six hour century on the previous day. We eventually decided on taking a short break every hour for a snack and "mental health" reasons. Later we found out that everyone was having a tough day.




Finally the sight we were waiting for, a view of Pierre (pronounced "Pier"), and the Missouri River. Yes, the descent to Pierre was pretty nice.






Once we crossed the Missouri River, the extent of the flooding that Pierre has suffered, and is suffering became apparent. The National Guard was at work in the parking lot behind the middle school at which we stayed, loading sand bags onto trucks and transporting them to where they were needed.

This first picture is of the park where we were scheduled to stay, but it was under four feet of water. We were told by residents that the river is still rising - slower than before, but it has not stopped yet.



















Today's ride was 99.1 miles. Close enough to a century for us. That's two tough centuries in a row. Tomorrow we ride 72 miles to Miller, SD. Shorter, but another head wind is forecast.

Day 21 Rapid City to Kadoka

The week began very well. Tail winds and fairly flat land made for a fast ride in the morning. Since we had a 102 miles to cover, we left Rapid City early. At 6AM we were on the road and headed toward the Badlands.

The wildlife was "unreal"!

The world's largest Prairie dog

We ran across some odd wildlife but still have not encountered the buffalo or rams purported to inhabit this area.

Long horn steer?

This one we were looking out for!

The Badlands were amazing. I've never seen anything like them. As usual, my photos do not do the landscape justice. It was truly breath taking. It looked like a giant had made huge sand castles long ago for us to interpret. The most startling thig to me was the suddeness with which the Badlands begin and end. One minute the landsape is green and mountainous, the next it is barren and full of other worldly hill and valleys.

A transition area as the Badlands end.

Once out of the Badlands, the earth began to roll and we had to work harder to make progress toward Kadoka. I was really excited to complete my first 6 hour century and that began to be in doubt. In the end we made it : ) ... a milestone (no pun intended) for me.

100.1 miles in 5 hours and 55 minutes!

Day 20, Rest day in Rapid City, SD

Actually "rest day' is a bit of a misnomer. What these days are is a "catch up day." We got our laundry done, bought new bike shoes to replace the ones we had worn out, packed up our cold weather gear and mailed it back home. We also tried to catch up on sleep.

As you can see, we did not work the entire day away. We took the morning off, and made the trip to Mount Rushmore with several of our fellow riders. Really an impressive sight; the picture doesn't do it justice.

After seeing the memorial, we got to talking about the choices of presidents. Washington and Lincoln were consensus choices. Jefferson? I lobbied for John Quincy Adams. If you were to add a fifth president, who would it be? My choice was FDR, but a lot of votes were cast for JFK. Thankfully, no one mentioned Reagan.

The van trip and rapid altitude change triggered an asthma attack for Margaret. Guess it is just as well that we climb slowly on the tandem.

It's 101.7 to Kadoka tomorrow. Try to find it on the map.

Day 19 Rapid City, South Dakota

It was with some trepidation that both John and I approached today's ride. Eighty miles from New Castle, WY to Rapid City South Dakota. We needed to climb to 5781 ft. Looking at the profile we would climb for the first half of the ride and then lose altitude into Rapid City. All told, we had to climb 3,491 feet, including a mile long 7% hill. That is a lot of climbing. As it turned out, today was much easier than we thought it would be. We did, in fact, climb all morning, but the climbs were not as severe as we feared. We have become better climbers, but we have also come to accept long climbs; we just settle in and spin, and spin, and spin...

After all that spinning, we were hungry and lunched at Sage Creak Grill in Custer, a delightful cafe with wonderful menu where we meet a woman who rides a tandem recumbent! Later we rode into Custer State Park. If you ever get a chance, you need to go to Custer State Park. It is gorgeous. Located in the Black Hills area, the topography is very different than the land 20 or 30 miles to the west. Gone is the red, sharp edged rock face that suddenly appeared in Wyoming. The boulders are rounded and black. Widely spaced deciduous trees are replaced by tightly packed pines. The deep green of the pine needles combined with the black rocks and soil leave little doubt as to how the area earned its name.

To sweeten the pot, the roads suddenly bent downward. We coasted over hilltops and around corners, through hill and valley, emerging from the park refreshed and exhilarated. The last leg of our journey was along highway 79, a four lane divided highway full of traffic. The road rolled into Rapid City, South Dakota, providing a final set of hills to be tackled before we arrived at the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology. Upon arrival, I was interviewed by South Dakota Fox news. I've yet to see the broadcast, but I was promised that I would sound intelligent. I'm not sure how they will manage that : ).

Day 18, Gillette to Newcastle, WY

On the road again.

After a really tough ride yesterday, we were ready for a bit less of a challenge today. The weather and the route conspired to give us one. The first 27 miles of today's ride were predominately down hill to our first rest stop. After that there were long gentle rolling hills, with only a couple climbs to keep our lower gears in the game. We had lunch in Upton, the best little town in the world according to its sign. After that it was less than 30 miles of rollers into camp.

We are staying tonight in the Weston County Senior Center. Dinner was provided by them (as will breakfast in the morning). It was plentiful and delicious. We burn anywhere from 5,000 to 7,000 calories a day while riding. That is in addition to our basal calorie requirements. Eating 6,000+ calories a day is not easy, in fact we are so tired at the end of the day that sometimes have to force each other to eat. Those of you who know me may not find this believable, but trust me on this one.

We will be staying indoors tonight in a couple of the common rooms at the Senior Center. Indoor camping means no tent to pack and put on the gear truck in the AM, which makes it easier to get out of camp on time. At this point, anything that makes our lives easier and less complicated is welcome.

Finally, I would like to thank all of you who have sent us comments. They really do help us stay focused and motivated. There are times, yesterday was an example, when this ride is very difficult for one or both of us. Please know that your comments are appreciated.

Tomorrow we ride to Rapid City, SD for a new state and a rest day.