Day 23 - July 20th - Pierre, SD to Miller, SD
| Route Distance: | 73 | Average Speed: | 13.3 | |
| Total Distance: | 1598 | Maximum Speed: | 25.1 | |
| Riding Distance: | 73.6 | Elevation Gain: | TBA | |
| Riding Time: | 5:31 |
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| Picture
Notes: Mark - crew member and photographer Herd of deer - John Deere, that is South Dakota motel Click here for more pictures from today |
| Between the heat, humidity, threat of rain
that kept my rain fly down, and the bugs, I slept very poorly last night,
only 2½ hours or so. Even getting my towel wet and draping it over me did
little to cool me down inside the tent. Due to this I got a slow start out
of camp; Bruce and I were well behind the rest of the group leaving Pierre.
The forecast had not held as we had hoped, and we looked forward to another
day of headwinds. Despite the lack of sleep and soreness from yesterday's
ordeal, I felt much stronger and the climb out of the Missouri River valley
(seems like there's always a climb out of town in the morning!) went by
quickly. The first forty miles were a gradual (~1%) grade up, and the wind
was between a headwind and a crosswind. Some of the challenges today
were dealing with a house being moved in the opposite direction which
occupied the entire road, and about 6 or so miles of construction that
included recently torn up asphalt that threatened to shake out any of our
remaining fillings. About halfway through the construction I considered what
we had been facing (heat, humidity, headwinds, lousy road conditions, and
traffic), turned to Bruce and said "at 11:30 we get locusts, then the floods
start at 1:00). And what do you know, for the last 10 miles of the ride into
Miller we were inundated with grasshoppers! Many a laugh was had. A bright spot today was the stop at the Frosty Freeze in Highmore, SD. The milkshakes were to die for, and we used the time as an excuse to wait for the wind to shift to a tailwind. When that didn't materialize we headed out anyway, and it turned out that the wind did abate somewhat and made the last run into Miller more palatable. On our way through town Bruce and I investigated motel opportunities to see if we could make sleeping arrangements in a cooler place since the temperatures were still hovering in the high 90's. When we arrived at the high school we found out that they opened up several of the rooms for us in the air conditioned building, so we decided to take that option. It turns out that even the most diehard campers among the group are sleeping indoors tonight. Dinner was another "$10 night", and we headed into town for steak. A quick stop at the grocery store before heading back to the school, and then I'm wrapping it up early to try to catch up on sleep. One of the big riders that amazes me the most is Justine. She rode this ride several years ago and decided to do it again, and does so in her own individual way. Unlike the rest of us with our fancy road bikes, Lycra shorts, colorful jerseys, and all the bells and whistles, Justine rides a hybrid bicycle, wears gym shorts and a tank top, and motors along much slower than the rest of us. But she just rides and rides and rides, stopping very little and only for short periods of time, and often gets into camp in the middle of the pack. Bruce calls her the Energizer Bunny, she just keeps going and going and going. I have the ultimate respect for her taking on this challenge, again no less, and succeeding without all the trappings that the rest of us need to do the same thing. Way to go, Justine! |