Half Way and You're Not in South Dakota Any More

The group reached the halfway point in mileage and in time on the road on the 18th in Huron, South Dakota. Pictured here is Sean Bennett at the Riverside Park. It was while the first part of the group was celebrating this milestone that we bbblearned that a rider who had just observed his birthday the day before had taken a bad spill and was hospitalized. He fractured his pelvis and will not be able to complete the ride but is now at home and doing fine. We will miss him and his wife, who was also a rider but will think of them often. That same afternoon, we had thunder and lightning going into de Smet, SD, which fried the battery in Dan Scott's bike computer. The weather since has been much cooler, and everyone associates that with reaching Minnesota.

The first day into MN included our last check point in SD at a wonderful bike shop (Sioux River Bicycles and Fitness) in Brookings (thanks, Bob - hope you're still following the blogs) and a gorgeous, shady water stop at the SD/MN border. Barry Verbel declared he wanted to pitch his tent and spend the night there. The riders actually had rounded one curve and had their first tail wind in a long time - only lasted for two miles but did wonders for their spirits, as you can see from the photo of the four grown men on swings. That's Bill on the right. From the left are Sean, Bennett Tom Vancura, and Scott Hadley.

I can't seem to get the paragraph spacing to work; keep going for description of South Dakota.

SOUTH DAKOTA

I think that for many people, leaving South Dakota behind will be a fond memory. Their impressions of the state may not be fair, but I'm sure they're going to last a long time. As crew, I remember it for being wickedly hot, windy, lacking in shade, and full of biting flies. The headwinds particularly get into riders' heads and were unrelenting. Day after day. One rider got up and said, "But, Daddy, I don't want to play on my bicycle today." One of my worst water stops ever (no shade at all but one with water/gatorade most appreciated by the riders because the heat was taking so much out of them) was across the road from a major threshing operation. Somehow it seemed to make the wind even stronger.

Below are two photos from Scenic, SD. That's the place name and also is a fairly apt description. It's was also real hot and dry, with horrible headwinds. That morning we had just a bit of rain, but it didn't cool things off at all. Please note that the Longhorn Saloon (sawdust floor, lots of local character) includes on its sign "Indians Allowed". Above the sign are rows of longhorn skulls. Below that photo is a photo of a live longhorn, which at least has a tail to swat those awful flies. Wonder if his skull will wind up above the saloon sign.