Day 26. I get to see the Corn Palace

Today we rode from Chamberlain to Mitchell, SD. It was a ride of 71 miles with no headwinds for a welcome change. I had pedal problems again today. At around the 17 mile mark I noticed my left pedal crank coming loose again. I pulled off and called the mechanic's van. Mike came up and took a look at it, got it back on but told me to keep an eye on it because it was stripped. About 6 miles further down the road the crank came off again. Mike took me to the sag stop and managed to take a triplex crank off of Barb's bike and put it on my bike in place of the compact I had. Amazingly he was able to get the bike to shift through all three rings. The course was fairly flat so I kept in the middle ring and made it into Mitchell with no further problems. Mike called ahead to a bike shop in Sioux falls and they will have a replacement part ready when we arrive tomorrow. Just before the hotel we stopped at the Corn Palace. It is an all purpose arena with the outside decorated in corn murals. There are also a number of murals inside the arena. The ones inside remain the same with the corn replaced every ten to twelve years. The ones outside are changed on a yearly basis when the corn crop comes in. It is called the Boston garden of the west. The rats I used to see in the old garden would do some serious damage to the murals. Tomorrow we are on to Sioux falls and a rest day. Katy and Bridgette will be there and I am really looking forward to seeing them.

Day 25. Halfway mark

Today the ride took us from Pierre to Chamberlain, SD, a distance of 84 miles. It was supposed to be an easier day but for the third straight day we ran into head winds. Coupled with the toll that yestrrday's ride took on everyone it was very difficult. More so for me. Somewhere around the 45 mile mark I felt that my left foot was further out than normal. I looked down and saw a slight gap. Not sure if that was normal I continued pedaling and still had the sensation of the foot going out further. I looked down again and the gap had increased. This was about the 48 mile mark and I decided to get off the bike and call for help. I usually unclip my left foot but was unable to I was now almost at a stop and managed to unclip my right foot before falling over. The mechanic Jim managed to get the pedal arm back on but at that time I decided to call it a day as my back was acting up a bit. I took the sag van into the hotel and I iced my back. South Dakota has a real problem with flooding. Every town we come to has sand bags all over the place. The water level of the Missouri river is extremely high. Another thing about riding in South Dakota is the mind numbing sameness of the roads. You come over the rise and all you see in front of you is more of the same. We did pass the halfway point of the ride at the first sag stop.

Day 24 BRUTAL

Today we biked 117 miles from Wall to Pierre, SD. Based in the weather forecast we expected strong head winds but the weather gods gave us an extra bonus with heavy rain. After the second sag everyone was soaked to the bone and some riders were in danger of going into hypothermia. At that point we still had 61 miles to ride to the finish. Two good things happened. First the luggage van was at the second sag and we were able to get clean dry clothes to put on. Secondly. The store at the sag sold hot chocolate. It was the best hot chocolate we ever had and put some warmth back in our bodies. After the sag the wind died down and the rains eased for about 20 miles. Then we took a turn heading east to Pierre and were met with the strongest wind of the day right in our faces and we had it for the remaining 40 miles of the ride. It was the worst day I have ever had on the bike and it lasted for 9 and 3/4 hours of riding time. Most folks at dinner felt the same. A lot of the days here run together but this is one none of us will ever forget.

Day 23 July 12th

Today we biked from Rapid City to Wall, SD. It was supposed to be a relatively easy ride of 57 miles before our ride of 117 tomorrow. The first 23 miles were just that but then we ran into head winds of 15-20 mph for the next 34 miles. When the wind is blowing here there is absolutely nothing to stop it. It is just wide open spaces. You feel like the wicked witch in the Wizard of Oz. You are peddling as fast as you can and going barely anywhere. In addition to the head winds we had a lot of climbing which only added insult to injury. We are spending the night in Wall which I am sure most of you have never heard of. It is the home of Wall Drugs and we have been seeing signs for this place for hundreds of miles. It is kind of like South of the Border for folks who drive east to west instead of north to south. It is exactly the same once you go inside. A hokey tourist trap that sells all kinds of junk that people don't need but still buy and then try to get rid of at yard sales. It should be a long day tomorrow with head winds in the forecast and we cross into the central time zone so we lose an hour. Don't be surprised if the blog is really late tomorrow.

Day 22 Monday July 11th

Our ride today took us from Hot Springs to Rapid City, SD. The ride was 74 miles with several long climbs one of which took us to Mt Rushmore. It was the first time I had ever been there and it was very impressive and well worth the climb. The place was swarming with tourists and I saw a few red sox and patriots jerseys in the crowds. We did the usual picture taking and then had ice cream cones to help us with the last 22 miles. The prices on everything there was very reasonable. Souvenir hats and T-shirts were only 5 bucks. No room to carry any souvenirs. There was a mishap right before we arrived at Rushmore when Terry our oldest rider at 74 had a crash. His helmet broke in 3 places and he may have some other injuries. He is an excellent rider and a mishap like his could happen to anyone due to the road conditions. Severe thunderstorm warnings until 9 pm but I think everyone has made it in for the day.

Day 21 we enter South Dakota

Today we rode 93 miles from Lusk, WY to Hot Springs, SD. Not much in the way of scenery or any major events on the road today. For the last part of the ride we had a tailwind which helped with 2 climbs at the 70 and 90 mile marks. Last night in Lusk they had a parade to celebrate Frontier Days. It was a little bizarre. It started out as expected with horses, covered wagons, etc. But then they ended the parade with a procession of muscle cars. Later that night they had the reenactment of the first scalping of a white man by a native American. A bunch of the riders went over to see the show and they said it was pretty entertaining. Tonight we had a first as we dined in a bowling alley. It was pretty strange seeing everyone sitting around the scorer's table eating their dinners. Tomorrow we are on to Mt. Rushmore. Everyone is hoping for good weather.

Back in the saddle the sequel

Today we rode from Casper to Lusk, WY. It was 106 mile ride under perfect conditions. Blue skies, sunshine, temps in the 80's and best of all a strong tailwind moving us along. My back behaved and I had a pretty good ride. There are apt of wildlife out here that think nothing if running into the road. Riders have seen bears, buffalo, coyotes, deer and antelope come out of nowhere and run right near them. There was another incident today where a deer ran right in front of a rider and was smashed by a semi on the other side of the road. When I got to it the only recognizable part left was the head. The remainder looked like it had swallowed a hand grenade. We all have to wTch our sides and the road as well. Today is our last full day in Wyoming and the town of Lusk is having a parade and a frontier days tonight. We'll be checking it out