Tuesday, July 19, 2016

Day 31 Miller, SD to De Smet, SD

At most of the places we stay, there's the option to either camp or sleep inside (gym or other large room).  I like to camp, but when it's hot out, and the indoor sleeping option is air conditioned, I wimp out and go for indoor sleeping.

Last night was no exception.  I slept in the large, cool gym.  This morning, when I first went outside, I noticed how humid it was!  This is the first day that I've noticed the humidity.  We're not in Washington anymore!

I have one word for today's ride:  Really, really difficult!  (Okay, that's three words.)

The South Dakota wind was back at work in full force.  It wasn't so bad in the morning, but after lunch, the wind got stronger (it was a cross wind), and it was hotter.  All in all, the last 30-some miles were really hard.

The ride would've been even longer, but several of us took a "short cut."  We were supposed to take a 12+ mile detour due to road construction on Highway 14.  Before we got to the detour point, Hilary and I decided that we were going to try riding through the construction.  Apparently a lot of other riders made the same decision.  The road was fine, and we saved ourselves at least an hour of riding.

Today is the halfway point in our coast to coast ride.  Cycle America staff marked the road especially for us, and they left out sidewalk chalk so that we could all add our name and/or a message.



This target and arrow was interesting.  I have no idea what it's for.


Here are some more scenes from the morning.  The little road on the prairie.


A herd of cows on the prairie.


A big dead tree on the prairie.


Huron, SD has the biggest pheasant in the world.  Hilary and I are celebrating that fact.


Here are some scenes from the last (really hard) section of the ride.



The cows were watching me struggle in the wind.


The wind was relentless, and it took all I had to not give up.  But, I kept on pedaling, and finally I made it to De Smet.

De Smet, as you may have figured out by this picture, was the childhood home of Laura Ingalls Wilder.  This was a few miles away from De Smet.

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