126.24 mi / 8:26:32 time / 14.9 mph avg. / 26.0 mph max. / 2219 ft. climbing
Staying at Kimball Super 8 Motel

Since yesterday was a short day, the plan for today was to get on the road as early as possible and see how far I could make it. Thing is, the early stop yesterday left me with a dilemma: I want to camp at Badlands National Park, and I was 280 miles away from it. That would be four 70 mile days (shorter than the required average) across fairly unexciting and easy roads while wasting tailwinds. Or, I could try to make it there in three. Of course, I decided to shoot for the latter. It ended up being the longest day I’ve ever done on my bicycle, and probably the longest ride I’ll ever do in my life.

It started over some big gravel hills leaving the park (I had to cross the Big Sioux River twice!) As I left Sioux City behind me, I ran into a backpacker/hitchhiker waiting under the I-90 overpass and we chatted for a bit. Sixty miles later when I arrived in Mitchell, I turned a corner, and there he was again! Apparently he’d gotten in an hour earlier, and, like me, was looking for the library. I missed the Corn Palace, but for some reason there were kernels of corn littering the shoulder for miles approaching Mitchell, so I figure that was close enough.

Most of the riding today was pretty easy, on nearly deserted roads, with minimal grades and a slight tailwind. South Dakota changes from “Iowa” pretty quickly. The cornfields get replaced by pasture with herds of cattle, and it has much more of a “where the buffalo roam” feel (though the only buffalo I’ve seen so far were in a pen on the side of the road). At about mile 100, I rode through about 15 minutes of minor drizzle (not even a shoe-top wetter, much less a shoe-filler). The only reason I even mention it is because it prevents me from legally saying “Finally, a day without rain!”

This isn’t something I could have done on the first day of the trip, but now I’ve gotten broken in enough that I can do it without completely destroying my body. My calves are a little sore, but my hands and butt and feet (my normal problem areas, especially with all the wet) are just fine. Still, there was no way in hell I was going to sleep on the ground after 126 miles (especially since there aren’t any “natural area” campgrounds around here). Conveniently, there was a diner with all-you-can-eat buffet right across the street. They had high school football on the radio there (even playing in the bathroom!) so that gives you an idea what kind of country this is. And they have WGN on TV here, so I could watch the White Sox lose! I should have one more long-ish day tomorrow, and then after that, I can coast the rest of the way!

This entry was posted on Friday, August 24th, 2007 at 10:03 pm and is filed under bike. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.