Today's Report: 

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 from the northeast, we were looking at a long day in the saddle...the temperature today was forecast to be relatively mild (85 degrees) for this time of year...we'll take what ever we can get.  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.  As it turned out, the winds were more light than anything which was a blessing...or at least better than headwinds.  I love it when the weather man misses a forecast like that.  After a hearty breakfast near the motel, everyone got on the road in good order and seemed to be in good spirits as they started to tackle a long, tough day.

The part of South Dakota we rode through today is much different from the terrain into Rapid City.  At departure, the sun was barely breaking the horizon as we started dropping and the cool morning air made the early part of the ride easy and enjoyable.  It was nice for a change to be dropping out of the motel rather than climbing before our pancakes had time to digest.

Today we crossed 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...and the next rise would always be higher than the one they just crested.  That fact was a bit demoralizing and mind numbing at times, but much more interesting than the high desert we've crossed already.  At one point last ride, 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.  As he left, I thanked him and 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 and today was a great day both weather wise and scenery wise.  It's amazing how mild temperatures and light winds help keep your attitude positive, 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 relentless headwinds.  To say the least, it's days like that 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.  Luckily, the day was challenging, but without the extreme heat and headwinds it was very doable...and no one seemed to be hallucinating when they got in.

Headwinds were not the case today as Karen and I cruised out of town and started to ramp it up for a "free ride" day.  This meant we didn't have any assigned duties today and we could hammer down and kick out the miles at will.  We picked up Jim H. and Ted before the first SAG and Chuck and Eric rode with us for a spell before we chugged into the first SAG with a respectable average of 23.  We settled down for the remainder of the ride and rode with Jim H. to the finish but even after backing off a pinch, we still covered the 117 mile challenge in well under 6 hours.  Hey, an effort like that deserved a milk shake and hamburger from McDonalds.

Our third SAG was at a "city" park in the small town of Hayes.  When I say small town, I really mean just a small dot.  There's only a couple buildings on site...luckily one is a store which allows people to buy sandwiches and such.  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.

Finally, as we coasted into town, we crossed the Missouri River and into the central time zone...home at last.  The only time we stopped for a photo all day was to record the event.  Also 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 RAP. 

Tomorrow we have a much easier day...but not much.  The riders are looking forward to shorter mileage day 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 who can look just about any ride in the eye and pedal it out with energy to spare.  We're closing in on another leg...just 3 more ride days and we'll be in Sioux Falls, but tomorrow we must first roll into Chamberlain.  Oh!  Tomorrow we cross the half way point...is it downhill from here?  See you then.

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