Day 24: Today, I rode in the SAG wagon for first part of the 116 miles. I gave in to the comfort and most of all the safety of not riding. The sky was almost black with heavy rain. The Weather Channel had a big red blob over our area with the word STORM. My Southern California riding habits and fair weather cyclist mentality really showed through today. The club I belong to will cancel any ride if the roads are wet. I am a bit brainwashed that one should not ride in the rain. Eventually, the rain cleared up and I began riding at SAG stop #2, the 56-mile mark. The final 60 miles were on straight roads with a little bit of rolling terrain through this mainly green agricultural landscape. There were many large farms and cattle fields, but only a few houses. The road surface was very good and there wasn't much traffic, but the headwinds were strong and continued to worsen during the ride.
Since I was far ahead of most riders who had ridden the first section, I was riding alone. This meant that there was no one to share the work with in a pace line. I missed my friends a lot, but I did not want to wait the couple of hours that they were behind.
Pierre with a population of 13,000 is the capital of South Dakota. Pierre owes its growth to Dakota Central Railroad; the transportation support needed for the mining and cattle industry of the day. Pierre is located on the Missouri River, and now supports extensive recreation activities.
Day 25: Early today we reached the official halfway point of our ride across America. The first half has passed rather quickly, and I fear that the second half will go by even faster. Judging from today's ride, I will soon call myself a strong rider. Due to more road construction that forced us to take a 15-mile detour on compacted gravel roads, the day's ride reached 95 miles
The forecasted rain never materialized, but we did encounter very strong winds all day. We had a 10 person pace line with half mile rotations for 40 miles. During the 15 miles on gravel everyone was able to choose the best strip of gravel road. There were very few cars so we soon were all over the road. During the last 30 miles of the day, seven of us formed a double rotating pace line. Our average speed for the day was 12.6 miles. Our climbing total was 3,550'. There were some nice views of the Missouri River at the beginning and end of the day, but there wasn't much to look at between the beginning and end points. There are many casinos owed by Indian tribes in this area. Chamberlain has a boarding school for elementary and high school grade American Indian students in the area. The 2,000 people living here work mainly in the tourist industry. Chamberlain is a fishing and hunting center.
Day 26:
I awoke to flat #5 today. A small piece of glass had caused my tire to slowly go flat during the night. This morning we were all ready for a relaxed ride, and today's ride suited us perfectly. The ride was 70 miles on mostly flat good roads with very few cars. The temperature was pleasant and the winds were moderate. Of course, I rode with the best group, my group, Chris, Rich, Wilson, Julie and Van. We practiced different types of pace lines, talked and laughed, and enjoyed the day. We are a very compatible riding group, as we all ride at a similar pace. Wilson did deviate from the group at one point. He had spotted a large snowplow coming from behind and took off to take advantage of its drafting potential. We were all impressed by his great speed. It didn't last long, but it was entertaining to see him draft behind a snowplow in mid July.
We rode by small cities about every 12 miles. The 12 miles between towns was due to how far a steam engine could travel before having to reload on fuel. The day's destination was Mitchell, a small town incorporated in 1881 with one tourist attraction, the world's only Corn Palace. The exterior of the palace is decorated in 10 different colors of corn. The exterior is replaced very year at a cost of $100,000. The money comes from hotel and booze taxes. The palace houses a sports arena and concert hall. Large murals decorate the interior walls and show scenes of American Indian life and white man's life and of their peaceful coexistence. During our visit a small arts and crafts fair was underway. We got many free samples of fudge and caramel popcorn. It was probably more sugar than we needed, but it tasted very good.
Day 27:
Today is the last day before our rest day. A lot of today's scenery reminded me of some farm areas in Southern Sweden. However, the crops here were corn and soybeans; crops you do not see in Sweden. Our usual group of six, Julie, Rich, Chris, Van, Wilson and I rode at a comfortable pace. The temperature was nice and again, the towns were fairly close together.
Sioux Falls has a population of about 130,000 people, and the Big Sioux River flows through town. The settlement started around 1850. Stone quarries attracted many Scottish, English and Norwegian immigrants who put their skills to work as stonecutters. The railroad came to town in the late 1800's making Sioux Falls an economically stable community.
Unfortunately, our hotel is about 4 miles from the downtown historic district built during the late 19th century. Tomorrow, our rest day, I want to visit downtown. Now, it is time for a major bike cleaning. I hope to finish before dinner at 6:00pm.
/Gunnel