94.89 mi / 6:30:58 time / 14.0 mph avg. / 25.0 mph max. / 2713 ft. climbing
Staying at AmericInn Motel

Two bowls of Raisin Bran, a donut, an English muffin, and four mini-muffins got me started out right. It was back on Old Highway 16, where the first vehicle I saw, six miles in, was another bicycle. At about 20 miles, I dove down into the Missouri River valley (the sign said 6% grade, but it was never more than 4%, liars). The hills tumbling down the valley were a new sight, and along with crossing the river, they signaled my entry into “The West”. I got a 570 calorie “Cream Cheese” (?) muffin at the bottom; sorry I haven’t kept up with the Little Debbies, they seem a little less common out here. Strangely, the gas station I stopped at had a rack dedicated to Goose Island beer. Too bad it was 10:30am. That reminds me, last night when I asked the waitress what beer they had, she replied “Just about anything that comes in a can or bottle!” I don’t think I was completely successful at hiding the look of scorn that flashed across my face. Sorry! (I got an MGD in a bottle, by the way!)

After crossing the river, I did my first Interstate riding for nine miles, including a 300ft. climb out of the valley. It wasn’t too bad, but man, those trucks are loud. I could still hear them most of the day, even though I was on a road that was usually a mile away from the Interstate, so that tells you how loud they are when you’re 10 feet from them.

Overall, it was a pretty nice day. Oh yeah, finally, the first day without any rain! The state doesn’t feel nearly as desolate as I thought it would, although it certainly helps that I’m right near the Interstate. It probably also helps that it’s 70-80 degrees and green. If I was getting blasted with 95 degree heat and surrounded by dusty grass, it would probably be a lot worse. That’s not to say it’s not pretty empty: I would literally see about four cars per hour (which means that it’s no problem at all to stop on the side of the road and relieve myself!) There are so few people living here that they haven’t even gotten around to paving most of the roads yet! (usually on the main street in a town will be paved, if that). But there is plenty around to keep my interest. I gained over 1000 ft. of elevation from the river, and there are definitely lots of hills starting to rise up around me. I passed fields of sunflowers, lots of ranches, and beehives, which didn’t seem to be suffering from the mysterious bee death.

I was going to hit Super 8 #3 in Murdo, but the AmericInn lured me in with their cheap rate ($44 total). I would have no problem camping tonight, but I really don’t see the point of camping in what is essentially a parking lot in the middle of a town. I’ll wait ’til I get to some more natural areas. I got dinner at a diner, and finished it off with a Banana Split, which was both my second ice cream product of the day as well as the trip (it finally got warm and dry enough!) I really had to put in an effort to eat even more than usual to reload the calories after yesterday’s ride.

Tomorrow I roll 70 easy miles to the Badlands. That means I’ll be out of touch for at least a day, maybe more, so don’t worry, I’m probably not dead, I’m just not near the Internet. I want to say thanks to everyone for all the emails and comments, I really love reading them. And I mean to reply, but I just haven’t come across the time yet!

This entry was posted on Saturday, August 25th, 2007 at 10:01 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.