ROUTE: Wall to Pierre, SD
DISTANCE: 117 miles
WINDS: Crosswind until turn at mile 77; then stiff headwind the remaining 40 miles into Pierre
WEATHER: HOT and WINDY
TERRAIN: Big rollers through crop- and grasslands
TOTAL CLIMBING: 3,720 feet
OOPS! : I goofed on Day 22's photos and saved them with Day 21 names, soooo . . . the Day 21 photos overwrote them. Rats. Don't you hate when that happens? But, all are now fixed, so please go back and take a look at Day 22 to see the correct photos. Sorry about that. I'm still wearing my web training pants. Susan
RIDE OVERVIEW: After a good hearty breakfast at the Elkton Restaurant near the motel, riders took to the road in great spirits. It wasn't as hot at the start as the morning before in Rapid City, and the route out of town required only two turns, the second to enter the Interstate for a mere mile before exiting to Hwy 14, which riders then stayed on for the next 77 miles. This road was endless big rollers through the tiny town of Cottonwood to Philip, where I had set up SS#1 in a tiny patch of shade at a Conoco station.
The part of South Dakota we rode through today is much different from the terrain into Grand Rapids. Today we are crossing vast, rolling grasslands and I know you are tired of me saying this, but you would be hard pressed to find another area where the roads are as lonely and seemingly never ending. Every time the riders came over a rise they were faced with another 10 miles of undulating road that would disappear on the horizon before them . . . mind numbing at times. There was very little traffic on the road, most of the activity taking place in the fields on either side that were being cut and baled or harvested. I talked to one harvester in the Oasis Too. He was from Rochester, MN, and had been contracted to harvest for a farmer in the area.
Today was a long monotonous ride, so to liven things up, we played poker along the route. A community card was drawn (3 of hearts) and then riders each put $1 in the pot and drew a card before breakfast and at each of the three SSs. A final community card was drawn after Rap (face card), giving each person a 5-card hand (we used four decks). Photographer Paul won the pot with 4 of a kind. He's now the person to see re a DQ blizzard "on the house."
Optimist Opie really liked riding in the wide open spaces, but others found it discouraging after 110 miles of seeing the endless road ahead of them while bucking the headwinds. To say the least, it's days like this that make you look into your soul for the motivation to go on. You learn a lot about yourself while pedaling into relentless terrain and winds . . . you also start remembering things that you haven't thought about in years like the words to songs you'd long forgotten, your second grade teacher's name and birthday, your first girl or boyfriend, your child's social security number, or the score and details of the 3rd game of the 1967 world series. You also wonder what you could have possibly been thinking when you signed up for a ride like this . . . maybe you are as crazy as your friends say you are. But whatever goes through your mind, you pedal on, and eventually you reach your destination . . . tired, beat to a pulp, but proud of what you have accomplished and a stronger person emotionally and physically for your effort.
Most of today's route rolled through hay and wheat fields and horse pastures. The horses in these western states are beautiful to look at--sleek and spirited, gathered in large groups, and always curious. They look quizzically at passing riders and seem to want to say something wise, but the moment is so fleeting that they never get a chance to speak. Lycra clad cyclists are probably the most entertaining sight they've seen in a while. I can just hear them talking amongst themselves: "Well, Ed, I've never seen the likes before. Where do you suppose they're going? Where did they start? How many miles a day do they ride? Do you think they sleep in tents? How many of them are there? How do they keep the flies off without tails?" Yep, we've all heard it all (except the part about the tails) before.
Today we crossed the Missouri River into Pierre (pronounced Pēr) and entered the central time zone, which means that we set our clocks ahead an hour. Mike joked that it took an hour to cross the bridge over the Missouri. Pierre is the capitol of SD and was once the steamboat head on the Missouri for the Black Hills gold trade. Also Fort Pierre Chouteau was the largest and best equipped trading post in the northern Great Plains and perhaps the most significant fur trade/military fort on the western American frontier. The fort was built in 1832 by John Jacob Astor's American Fur Company as part of its expansion into the Upper Missouri region. Today the Flaming Fountain on the South Dakota State Capitol Lake is fed by an artesian well with natural gas content so high that it can be lit. The fountain glows perpetually as a memorial to all veterans.
Due to the hot afternoon and the headwinds, Josh and I were really diligent to keep the vans moving to keep a close watch on the riders during the afternoon. Heat and headwinds beat up the riders today, but, many wisely knew when to quit and sagged the last part of the route. Josh spiked the roofs of White and Silver with bike after bike.
Most riders did fine until they turned east toward Pierre and encountered a stiff headwind combined with the afternoon heat. Barb set up an unplanned water stop about halfway from the last SS#3 and the motel. After Josh had dropped off a van full in Pierre he went back out to let Barb get in with the luggage. Then he nursed the last riders in about 6:00. We staff provided good coverage on a tough, long day.
Tomorrow we have a shorter mileage day (84 miles). I sure hope there will be a couple of clouds in the sky hovering over me as I ride Float. I can't take the heat. But this group is tough. They are now a hardened cross country team . . . all seem to be in good spirits and ready to ride tomorrow. See you then.
HEARD ON THE ROAD TODAY:
- "I got sensory overload at Wall Drug."
- Dialog at SS#3:
Fritz, do you want some ice?"
"Sure!"
"$1.00 a cube." - "This is inhuman! We don't have this in Holland! To put your body through this is not right. It's inhuman!" (Guess who)
- Question: Where are we going tomorrow? Answer: "Chamberlain, then Mitchell and Sioux Falls."
Carol: "I don't know where we're going now." - Joe to Linda: "So when one of your teammates goes down you just leave them at the side of the road?"
Linda: Well, you send yours home! I think you ought to rename the A-Team 'The Survivors' because no one has survived Joe." - The fortune Murray got at the China Buffet this evening: "You are what you think about all day long." Guess what Murray was thinking about all day long . . . how much his rear hurt. Does that mean that he's an a_ _?
PHOTOS OF THE DAY:
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| Little SAG Stop by big oil tanks; This was the only shade for miles and I had to keep moving the table around the tank to follow the shade as the day wore on. |
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| The Oasis Too (minus a few letters) and Post Office in Hayes SD, site of SS#3; a pretty desolate place in the middle of vast cropland. |
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| A sign posted in the Oasis Too. Here are the directions for getting to the Driftwood Bar and the Goat Ropin': North Highway 1806 -12 miles West of Fort Pierre, SD. Take Highway 14/34 West 6 miles to Cut Across Road then turn North (right) go 3 miles until gravel ends, turn West (left) go 3 miles |
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| Mike's attempt at encouragement. |
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| Murray triangulated by Mike's arm and top tube. |
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| Riders would probably gladly have spent the day here if it meant shade and being out of the sun |
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