Week 3

Howdy partners! It seems like it has been a while since the last update. These past 8 days or so have taken us into the heart of South Dakota. It has been very eventful, and all is very well. Here are the details:

Day 12: If you recall, day 11 was a buttkicker with a serious head-wind, and we called it an early day. Well, what goes around comes around (literally with high and low fronts), becauase today we had a ripping tailwind right at our backs. After making it to our planned destination for the day (60 miles by about 2pm) we decided to keep going further to take advantage of the awesome wind. So, we rode all the way to Sioux City, Iowa, averaging a whopping 15 mph, and we pulled off our first centery ever! We hit 100 miles right as we rode into Sioux City, at Floyd's Monument and Grave, who was the only Louis and Clark member to have died on their journey (burst appendix). We finished at 103 miles and celebrated by splurging on a Holiday Inn Express and some Chili's takeout.

Our bike computer showing our 100 mile accomplishment. (Floyd's monument to the left).

Surf and Turf from Chili's and a hot shower. Sweet rewards.

Day 13: Another good day of tailwind. It's also been really hot - today it reached 93 degrees. The morning started with a delightful ride on a city bike path which turned out to be a fiasco when we ignored the "bike path closed" sign a few miles in. What we thought would just be minor repairs turned into a huge construction project on the adjacent highway which resulted in the demolishment of the bike path. Instead if going back and finding an alternate route, we walked our bikes through a couple miles of active highway construction, bulldozers and all, until the bike path started again. We got some strange looks from the workers but nobody said a word. At least we had our helmets! We went on to ride 80 miles and camped beside a beautiful lake outside of Yankon, SD. Pretty cool town. Good ice cream.

From now on we will take these signs seriously.

Campsite in Yankton.

Day 14: Since we just bicycled 180 miles in 2 days we took it a little easy today. Biked about 30 miles and then camped outside Springfield, SD. Our luck was starting to change as the wind began to change back to a headwind. Before getting to the campground we loaded up our bikes with a bag of charcoal, some grillins and veggies. Still hot so we relaxed in the sun by the river, had a great steak and porkchop bbq while the sun was setting.

Loading up on grub at Doug's Food Center. (Pepsi, feel free to send us a check).

Grillin.

Day 15: Thunderstorms rumbled in the distance through the evening, but we were spared. However, the weather has changed drastically. Today was cool in the 50s, overcast, and windy (the bad kind). We labored 50 miles to Pickstown, SD through hills and headwind. On the way we had a peanut butter sammy lunch in Marty, SD, which is a surreal and kind of eerie Native American town. It was on the Yankton Sioux reservation, and had a large Catholic missionary and school onsite. Apparently some not so good things happened there in the 1950s and 60s, but now the Sioux run the school, so things have gotten better. We got a hotel that night as reports were for some nasty storms that night, and boy are we glad we did! There were some big winds, big rains and big lighting where we stayed, and tornadoes about 150 mi east of us.

Day 16: Crummy day. Rainy, windy (bad kind) and very cold, highs in the low 40s. Took the day off, not a good day for biking and we were due for a day off. There wasn't much to do in Pickstown, we ate a lot at the local gas station cafe (twice), rested, and took a stroll to the post office to mail back more stuff. I'd say we've mailed about 12 lbs of stuff that we really didn't need. I think we are pretty bare bones now, and won't be able to dump any more weight. However, I have started to tear out the pages of the book I am reading after finishing each chapter - hey, every little bit helps.

Day 17: The weather wasn't much better, and while we wished we could just take all crummy weather days off, we can't. So we layered up and put on basically all of the bicycling clothing we had (maybe I should have waited a week to mail back that extra clothing) and rode into a very cold, misty, and windy day. It never warmed higher than 45 degrees, and with the wind felt like the low 30s. We fought a 25 mph head-wind all day. See the video below to get a better idea of what the wind was like. We were not happy campers, but we grinned our teeth and grinded on. We stopped for a long 2-hr lunch in the town of Platte, SD, to get out of the elements and warm up. We wandered into a local ice-cream and lunch spot, and it was a doozy. Steve, the owner was there, as well as some of his friends. Steve gave us free coffee and candy, let us try as many of his homemade ice creams as we wanted for free, and tested some of his new concoctions on us - cheese soup, chili dog with sauerkrat, and chicken salad sandwhices (all for free, but we left money anyway). Steve is a really great guy and kind soul, and shared his hard-luck story with us, which was very inspiring. He reminded us that life isn't about the rat-race, making a bunch of money, and immersing yourself in stuff. Life is about family and friends, being happy and making those around you happy. We promised to send him a post card when we finish. Finished the day at Snake Creek Rec Area (54 mi) and since we were literally shivering when we arrived, we got a little basic cabin with bunk bed for $30. There were some critters underneath the cabin that night, not quite sure what it was - it sounded like a mix of a pig/rat/raccoon. We decided to pretend that it was a cute little prairy dog down there, but you couldn't have paid me $100 to find out what it really was.

Our new friend, Steve.

Day 18: More cold and more headwind! We biked (if you call moving slightly faster than walking "biking") 47 mi to Chamberlain and found a campground. While biking we got stuck behind some Dakota boys herding cattle for a few miles. There were probably 200 cows taking up the whole road so we jumped in to help them (2 bikes and a ATV on the road, with 2 ATVs flanking in the grass). After a while one of the ATV guys escorted us to the front of the pack. Cow herding was a first for us and definitely today's highlight.

Herding Cattle.

Day 19: Today was better. We slept in a bit had doughnuts and coffee for breakfast and stopped by the Lakota Sioux Indian Museum. We only biked 25 mi to Ft. Thompson. The next town was 60 mi further from Ft Thompson, and after 2 tough headwind days 25 mi sounded better than 85 mi. The sun was starting to come out again, so our spirits were improving. We planned on camping, but couldnt find any campgrounds in the area. It was also on the Crow Sioux reservation, and we weren't feeling too solid about "stealth" camping, since after stopping at a convenience store some beer drinking locals recommended not to go "that way" ("that way" being where we were thinking about setting up camp). So we got a hotel, and went to the local casino for a really good meal, and some light gambling. Spent $5 on slots, we were up $13 at one point (shoulda cashed out) but lost it all! $5 poorer...

Mamma needs a new pair of bike shorts!

Day 20: We had a tailwind! Horray! We rode that 60 mi full of rolling hills and river views to Pierre, SD, the sprawling megapolis and capital city, population 13,000, and were here by 1:30 PM. Since tomorrow is Molly's birthday (Happy Birthday Molly!!!) we got a room at the Day's Inn. Upon mentioning that it was Molly's birthday, they gave us a discounted rate in a nice room, and the owner lent us his Mercedes so that we can drive outside of town to the best steakhouse in SD - The Cattlemen's Club! These guys are awesome (plan A had been McDonalds - Molly loves her MickeyD's). We just got back from the steakhouse and have full bellies and happy birthday smiles. And that brings us to now.

Lunch stop en route to Pierre

Lord won't you lend me your Mercedes-Bendz?

Tomorrow looks to be decent tailwind so fingers crossed. As I'm sure you've noticed, wind is a central theme. We check the wind forecast daily. I now care more about the wind then sports, current events, or the meaning of life, unless the meaning of life is "wind", which would be a two-for. The Sioux call this land the Wind Center of the Earth Spirit. Those guys know a thing or two.

Q&A Time:

How much water do you drink a day?

I would say we drink one large (24 oz) water bottle every 15 miles or so. More on hot days. We both carry enough water to last an average 50-60 mile day. So far we have been going through at least one town every 50 miles to refill our bottles if we need to (usually in convenience store bathrooms). Once we get to Montana we may need to use natural water supplies to refill. We opted for iodine as opposed to a pump filter to save on weight and money.

How do you plan your routes each day?

At first we thought we could plan weeks at a time. As we've gone on we've realized that so much depends on the weather so now we pretty much take it day by day. Every night we look at our maps and the latest forecast. If hills and weather look good we plan for a longer day (60- 80 miles) and if not we plan for a shorter one. We sometimes give ourselves a couple options so if we are feeling good we keep going and if not we stop. We have these great maps for the entire route from the Adventure Cycling Association that detail distance, elevation, and what services each town has (camping, hotels, grocery, restaurant, gas station, bike shop etc). Sometimes our final decisions on where to stop really depend on where the campgrounds and/or lodging are sometimes even if we would prefer to do a 50 mile day we have to choose between a 25 or and 80 miler.

Icing the knee and planning tomorrow's route.

What bikes/ gear are you guys using?

We both have touring bikes which are made to carry extra weight and come with them components needed to easily attach front and back racks. I have a Surly Long Haul Trucker and Molly has a Jamis Aurora. We are carrying basic tools (Allen wrench set, 2 spare tubes and 1 spare tire each, frame mounted bike pump, lube, pliers, chain link, brake wire etc). We have mountain biking cleats and pedals which give you the option to clip in on one side or use a flat pedal on the other. Our panniers are waterproof bags made by Ortlieb. So far all of our equipment has treated us well and we are happy with our purchases.