What an incredible day! We got up at 4:30 am so we could try to beat some of the heat; after breakfast we hit the road around 6:00 am. Rode with a group of about 15 people in a very social paceline, and quickly covered the miles over fairly flat roads with a couple of small hills. By 9:00 am we had 50 miles (halfway) under our belts, and the temperature had already climbed into the mid 80's. The terrain became more and more desolate as we crossed a corner of the Badlands National Park; it's almost like riding on the moon except with more air and without the 1/6 gravity.

Around 10:15 am we arrived at the A&M Café in Interior, SD (pop. 67) which is at the 70 mile mark, and had delicious pie a la mode. Coming out of the café we discovered the temperature had increased significantly, it was close to 100° and seemed even hotter over the blacktop. We entered the Badlands National Forest soon after departing town and then began climbing to Cedar Pass (200' climb in one mile). The trip through the canyon as we climbed and then rode along the flat area after the pass was like riding the Big Thunder Mountain Railroad ride at Disneyland. The road curved back and forth through rock spires and walls, and while I took a good number of pictures I couldn't capture it all.

Once we left the park for good and passed the world's largest prairie dog, we proceeded along the I-90 service road, which was quite rough, hilly, and into the wind. This was actually the most difficult part of the ride, but like horses heading for the barn we got through it and arrived in Kadoka just after 1:00 pm. We unloaded the bags from gear truck and setup our tents in what shade we could find, then spent the next several hours sitting in the pool next to the park where we're camped. The local kids were somewhat amused at this group of adults floating on pool "noodles" and generally being loud. We got to chat with some of them and share some of the stories of the road. We were also well taken care of by Harry, the mayor of Kadoka (also member of the school board, parks board, and part-time worker at the local grocery store), who brought us coolers full of ice, and provided some of the big riders rides into town in his car. After the fun in the pool came the usual routine - showers, dinner, lunch prep for tomorrow, web site updating, postcards, and finally bed.

As you might have noticed if you've been looking at the galleries, Bruce and I have been wearing matching bicycle jerseys every day so far, and plan to do so for the remainder of the trip. We also have quite a large collection of jerseys, and today was the first day we had to repeat. To commemorate our matching jerseys, Katie and Kacy wore matching tops with the labels "Scottina" and "Brucerella" on the front. We were honored and ended up riding with them most of the day.