ROUTE: Wall to Pierre SD
DISTANCE: 117 miles
WINDS: Calm early, SE 5-10 by 10:00, predicted to be SE 20-30 by afternoon. Ouch!
DISTANCE: 117 miles
WINDS: Calm early, SE 5-10 by 10:00, predicted to be SE 20-30 by afternoon. Ouch!
WEATHER: Low 60s at departure, sunny and 87 by afternoon.
TERRAIN: Big rollers all day.
TOTAL CLIMBING: 3,700'
TERRAIN: Big rollers all day.
TOTAL CLIMBING: 3,700'
RIDE OVERVIEW: Mike here: Yawn . . . we woke early to load at daybreak so everyone could get on the road before the winds picked up and the temperatures got too high. With our predicted winds, we were looking at a long day in the saddle with the possibly of some afternoon thunder and temperatures in the mid to upper 80s. On rides past, we've been in the 100s into Pierre . . . we are thankful to the temperature gods . . . they've had mercy on us all the way so far.
Everything was on schedule until we got to breakfast . . . the staff at the restaurant was a little late (only about 5 minutes) with breakfast . . . our only hiccup to a quick morning departure. In spite of that, everyone got on the road in good order with a hardy breakfast to get them going on a long, tough day.
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 straight road that would disappear on the horizon before them . . . mind numbing at times. At one point, a motorist stopped by me while I was sitting on the side of the road waiting for the riders to come through. He pointed out that we should be on another highway about 20 miles north of where we were to avoid the heavy traffic on highway 14 . . . the road we were on. He probably sat there talking to me for about 10 minutes and all the time he was there, not one car passed by. When he left, I thought to myself, "Why would they put a road up there if they have less traffic than this?"
I really like riding in the wide open spaces, but when I rode this day a couple years ago, I found it discouraging after 110 miles seeing the endless road ahead of me 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 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. Now that this is over, you are ready for tomorrow's challenges.
Our third SAG was at the small town of Hayes by a small store called The Oasis Too. When I say small town, I really mean just a small dot. We set up at the store to allow people to buy sandwiches and such and one of our riders asked the lady behind the counter how it was living out here. Of course the reply was, "We like it just fine." Then a rider asked how many people lived in Hayes and the lady, using her fingers, answered, "Let's see, there's Jim, there's Martha . . . ." She finally rattled off about 9 names and said, "That's about it." I guess it's nice to know everyone in town by name.
Due to the hot afternoon and the headwinds, we were really diligent to keep the vans moving to keep a close watch on the riders during the afternoon. Luckily, the temperatures are rather on the mild side for this time of year and the winds didn't get close to 30 MPH (but the riders may have thought it was blowing that hard at times) . . . but they were bad enough. In spite of the conditions, for the most part, everyone was doing reasonably well. Barbara set up an unplanned water stop about halfway from the last SAG and the motel. I took it over so she could get in with the luggage and after everyone passed through me, I nursed the last riders until about 7:30 when I had to go in to do rap...Karen came back out to bring in the rear at 8:00. Earlier, Susan took in a load of folks who decided to bag it today, she came back out and escorted all but the very back riders into town. Good coverage on a tough, long day. Hey, we get to do it again tomorrow!
Everything was on schedule until we got to breakfast . . . the staff at the restaurant was a little late (only about 5 minutes) with breakfast . . . our only hiccup to a quick morning departure. In spite of that, everyone got on the road in good order with a hardy breakfast to get them going on a long, tough day.
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 straight road that would disappear on the horizon before them . . . mind numbing at times. At one point, a motorist stopped by me while I was sitting on the side of the road waiting for the riders to come through. He pointed out that we should be on another highway about 20 miles north of where we were to avoid the heavy traffic on highway 14 . . . the road we were on. He probably sat there talking to me for about 10 minutes and all the time he was there, not one car passed by. When he left, I thought to myself, "Why would they put a road up there if they have less traffic than this?"
I really like riding in the wide open spaces, but when I rode this day a couple years ago, I found it discouraging after 110 miles seeing the endless road ahead of me 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 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. Now that this is over, you are ready for tomorrow's challenges.
Our third SAG was at the small town of Hayes by a small store called The Oasis Too. When I say small town, I really mean just a small dot. We set up at the store to allow people to buy sandwiches and such and one of our riders asked the lady behind the counter how it was living out here. Of course the reply was, "We like it just fine." Then a rider asked how many people lived in Hayes and the lady, using her fingers, answered, "Let's see, there's Jim, there's Martha . . . ." She finally rattled off about 9 names and said, "That's about it." I guess it's nice to know everyone in town by name.
Due to the hot afternoon and the headwinds, we were really diligent to keep the vans moving to keep a close watch on the riders during the afternoon. Luckily, the temperatures are rather on the mild side for this time of year and the winds didn't get close to 30 MPH (but the riders may have thought it was blowing that hard at times) . . . but they were bad enough. In spite of the conditions, for the most part, everyone was doing reasonably well. Barbara set up an unplanned water stop about halfway from the last SAG and the motel. I took it over so she could get in with the luggage and after everyone passed through me, I nursed the last riders until about 7:30 when I had to go in to do rap...Karen came back out to bring in the rear at 8:00. Earlier, Susan took in a load of folks who decided to bag it today, she came back out and escorted all but the very back riders into town. Good coverage on a tough, long day. Hey, we get to do it again tomorrow!
Today we had "Poker Day." Everyone put in a buck and got a card at luggage load and all the SAG stops. Finally, they got their last card at the motel. "New" Paul had the best poker hand and won the pot with an ace high straight at the evening's Route Rap.
Tomorrow we have a much easier day . . . looking forward to shorter mileage and hopefully we can keep the same luck with the temperatures. We've been fortunate to have less than oven temperatures so far . . . and we're not complaining. This group is now a hardened cross country team . . . all seem to be in good spirits and ready to ride tomorrow. See you then.
SEEN ON THE ROAD TODAY: The Cottonwood jail (above) . . . looks like a bad place to be to me.
HEARD ON THE ROAD TODAY:
HEARD ON THE ROAD TODAY:
- Just when you thought you'd heard it all . . . . . actually this was yesterday at mechanics . . . I was changing Mary Jo's chain after I told her that hers was worn beyond usefulness. When I asked her how much longer she planned on riding that worn chain, she replied, "I thought if I kept riding it, it might heal itself." That's the sort of thing that keeps me entertained day after day.
- "Only 10 cars passed us in the last 40 miles, and the van was five of them."
- "Why can't you serve Gatorade Smoothies at the SAG Stops?"
- "Early settlers in South Dakota . . . they put the towns too far apart!"
- Julie: "Right now I've got two pair." [Riders played poker on the route today]
Gerard: "Yeah, right!"
Julie: "I do! Do you want to see?"
Gerard: "What? See your pair?" [Lots of laughter] - Patricia: "Gabe found the perfect lunch for us on the road . . . wieners and beans. He put them on the van engine to heat them up."
- Susan: "Ah, 'engine'uity on the road. I like that."
DUH! OF THE DAY: Thinking it was water, Mary-Jo poured blue Gatorade over her head and neck at the third SS today.
PHOTOS OF THE DAY:
PHOTOS OF THE DAY:
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| Susan says, "If you have a bad hair day, buy a goofy hat!" After seeing this, I'm not sure I've ever had a hair day bad enough for that wolf head hat. [I did not buy it; I was just goofing around trying on the hat. SSW] |
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| Pacelines into the strong wind were the order of the day . . . this train was rolling pretty well. |
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| I told these people not to play with the bison . . . little good that did! |
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| Jim and Jeff enjoyed the brisk tailwinds they had on one 20-mile stretch, but all good things had to come to an end. When they turned eastward, it got a lot tougher. At least they were still smiling after the turn. |
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| Gary's last name isn't "Carr" for nothing . . . he expertly took a turn at the front with the aplomb of a high horsepower automobile . . . it was proving to be a long day so sharing the workload was a good thing. |
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