Today was them most challenging day yet, and the least fun. We experienced the four H's of bicycling, Heat, Humidity, Hills, and Headwinds. We awoke to winds from the east and northeast, which happened to be the direction we were headed today. After breakfast, Bruce and I followed the route east for 20 miles into the wind, then turned north for 30 miles of crosswind, and then east again for 40+ miles of headwind again. From the lunch stop in Midland (about 38 miles into the day) I had very little energy, but thankfully Bruce had the legs today and was able to help me make it all the way to Pierre without a sag. The other thing that helped us make it through the day was having the crew at water stops about every 10-15 miles; this was essential to keeping us hydrated and on the road. Unfortunately the water we had access to in Midland was heavily chlorinated and made me feel nauseous, so I dumped my Camelbak at the next water stop and refilled with better tasting water. Today was the day that I came closest to taking a ride into camp instead of finishing the day, the challenge was both mental and physical and almost got the best of me. So far I'm still on track to achieve EFI. We also crossed into the Central time zone at the end of the day and therefore lost an hour, so that seemed to extend an already difficult day even more.

One of the bright spots in the day was at our lunch stop in Midland, which was set up in the city park next to the playground toys. Click here to see a video of me on one of the rocking horses.

We're camped on the shore of the Missouri River in the capitol city of South Dakota. Showers were about a mile away from camp at the YMCA, but a shuttle was provided so we didn't have to make the hike up the hill. We had a delicious all-you-can-eat Chinese buffet dinner (actually it really should be "all-you-should-eat"), and will again head to bed early as most of the group is exhausted. Tomorrow's forecast is for winds from the southwest (i.e. favorable), but I won't count on it until I see it.