DAY 23
Rapid City to Wall SD
July 8
Distance: 57 Miles Climbing:  1725 Feet Winds: Northerly 5-10
Weather: Sunny and mild...high 73 Terrain: Rollers most of the day

Today's Report: 

Lazy start this morning.  With such a short day we decided to load luggage at 8:00.  Last night at rap I was greeted with cheers...SLEEP IN!!!!  I told them that we weren't going to open the van until 8:00 so no need to go out early...well, as  you can imagine, 80% of them were standing in line to load at 10 minutes till.  When he did start the loading, it didn't take long for everything to get on the truck and everyone to get on the road...except for Denise and company as they were waiting on her to decide whether or not to wear her jacket...see It' happened today below.

About 4:00 in the morning I was laying in bed listening to the thunder clapping and watching the lightening light up the parking lot.  It was still pouring when we got up for breakfast at 6:00.  The riders were apprehensive to see all this rain and the winds were howling out too.  I tried to assure them that we weren't loading for 2 more hours and that the climate may be entirely different then.  I came out of that one looking like Houdini or a weather soothsayer.  About 15 minutes before we opened the truck to load the luggage, the skies cleared up, the winds died down, and the sun beckoned us to get on the road.  Just a side note:  As I sit here typing it's pouring again in Wall.  It started about 20 minutes after the last riders pulled into town.  How bout that for controlling the weather?  Hey, I might as well take the credit...if the weather had been crappy I'd gotten blamed.  (One more side note...at maintenance time  the sun came back out.  Geeze, I know the riders are wondering how I do that.)

This morning we had nearly 10 miles of right-left/right-left city cycling, the longest stretch without a turn being 2.4 miles.  Last night in route rap, I joked about taking odds that no one would get through the first 5 miles without making a wrong turn.  The riders were through three-quarters of our route sheet before getting out of town, but I only saw a couple folks off route early...good thing I saw them too or they may still be looking for Wall.  When they hit Hwy 1416, just on the outskirts of town, it was up and down over rollers but straight ahead to the SAG Stop in New Underwood.

The winds were supposed to be in our face today, but that didn't really materialize either.  We had a northerly wind that quartered our left front all morning...much better than the 10-15 predicted in our face.  That with the mild temperatures made for an enjoyable rolling rest day to get ready for tomorrow.

Today we are back into grasslands with rolling grassy hills and fields of golden wheat dominating the landscape. The road was undulating and in places the rollers were perfectly spaced for effortless climbing. The other dominant items along our route were Wall Drug Store billboards.  We've been seeing them ever since we left Astoria, but now they appear every mile or so--something like the Stuckeys and fireworks signs on the east coast route to Florida.  Each has it's own message, such as "Free Coffee to Honeymooners," or "Classic Western Art at Wall Drug."  Whatever the message, the signs promised a spectacle when ever we got there.

I would like to know how much they've spent on advertising over the years as there must be a million signs all over the world pointing to this place.  It started out as a small drug store that was off the beaten path so it got little or no traffic.  It was the wife's idea to entice travelers with the offer of free ice water.  It caught on when the owner and a friend started putting signs out on the main road to advertise.  We were treated by a visit from the mayor at RAP and he told us that Wall Drug now has a $300,000 annual advertising budget...that's a lot of signs.  By the time they got back from putting out the first signs, people were already lined up and the rest's history...that's the power of advertising a good idea.  They still offer free ice water and they have more than 2 million visitors a year...it all started over a glass of ice water.  Now for THE REST OF THE STORY...Wall is just a spot in the road and would be more aptly named "Hole in the" Wall, but tourism keeps it going.  Only 818 people live in Wall, but the town can seat over three times that in their restaurants and there's over 2,000 available motel rooms.  One other thing I found really interesting is that the high school students come from as far as 75 miles to get to school...and the town doesn't bus.  Kinda puts my dad's walking 3 miles to school in the snow uphill both ways to shame. 

Yep, this is a tourist trap...and we are tourists I guess.  Everyone took the afternoon to take in the sights...a couple went to a grasslands museum that also serves as the town's visitor center.  It's really interesting to see how people survived in this area in years past and how they settled in this harsh land.  It was a restful afternoon.  Now hopefully everyone will be rested for a tough day tomorrow...it will be long and windy again.  Hopefully the winds will be at our back or will be light.  But whatever they are...we'll ride.  See you then.

PHOTOS AND SUCH

Sometimes early in the morning Chuck just has trouble getting his leg across the bike.

IT WAS SAID OR HAPPENED TODAY:

"Wall Drug was even less of a thrill than I anticipated."

"At Wall Drug you can get anything you want except something you need."

"It's usually so dry in this part of the country that if you spit, it never reaches the ground."

"When I got up it was pouring.  When we loaded to ride, it was beautiful out...how does Mike do that?"

At luggage load and as Denise and her pack were about to pull out, Denise asked me if I'd "throw her jacket in the thing."  I said, "Sure."  When she handed me her jacket, I just threw it toward the grass and was going to ask her if that was the thing she was talking about.  Well, my impromptu plan was OK except for a little gust of wind about the time I let it go and for the fact that it had just finished raining...the jacket landed in a puddle of water.  Oooops...sorry Denise.  I was embarrassed but her riding mates said they wanted to do something like that but didn't have the nerve and that it was nice knowing me. 

"That Wall Drug is something else."
"Yeah, a tourist trap to the nines."
"I think it was worth the price of the whole trip...at least the part from the motel to the store."

Late in the afternoon we found George performing the weather ritual for tomorrow's ride.  So that's how we've had such good weather so far.

But she's mighty.

In South Dakota, if you pee in the bathroom at the rest areas, they want an official record of who did it.

Eric had to take out the new tooth brush he bought because it made his bag exceed the 35 pound limit.

The boys were itching to get on the road, but Denise still had to make her clothing decisions.  That's when Tom got me into trouble when he said, "Just give it to Mike and he'll throw it in the 'thing' for you." 

SOMETHING ELSE:

It's nice to see a group become a family.  We've seen lots of examples of "caring for fellow riders" displayed over the past few days.  Riders helping each other get through tough days, encouraging each other to finish, looking out for the safety and well being of their fellow riders...just about what ever is required, they stand ready to do.  This morning was an example of what I'm talking about.  Colorado Tom decided to have breakfast at McDonalds which was right across the street from the motel instead of walking to breakfast at Perkins about 3 blocks away.  As he was ordering, Nate rode by and kiddingly yelled, "Eat one for me!"   The only problem is that Nate doesn't understand is that when you get to be Tom's age, you mean well, but what you think you hear is not always what was actually said.  What Tom heard was, "Get one for me!"  So Tom's thinking, Nate really wants a McMuffin so I'm just going to get him one.  But another problem is that Tom didn't catch Nate by the first SAG so he gave the McMuffin to Jeff in the van.  Jeff dutifully chased down Nate and presented him with the McMuffin.  With this group, you've got to watch what you say or you may find that people are really listening...and really want to please.

The whole idea of a fender is to keep water off yourself and others following behind.  Somehow I feel this fender set up will not support the later.

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