Pierre to Miller SD

Today was a long 75 miles across US 14 with a stiff SE headwind. The road was long, straight and flat. The scenery was farmland as in the picture. Fortunately the grasshoppers were left behind west of the Missouri River and now we had little frogs on the road. At least they weren't jumping in our face.

The first checkpoint was at 20 miles and I quickly refilled my water bottles because I wanted to keep plugging away. The next stop was at the 50 mile mark in Highmore. It took a while to get there with the wind and I was almost out of fluids. Out here you don't waste your water because there's no place to get more. We had lunch at the bowling alley-cafe-bar in Highmore. Most of us riders stopped there and I think we overwhelmed the place. 25 extra people all at once.

After lunch there was only 25 miles left and the wind did die down a little bit, enough to notice and ride a little faster. We arrived at Miller and I was craving ice cream so I asked a local women. It's at the soda fountain in the Rexall drugs, so small town.

For dinner we went back into town and ate at a recommended place that was ok, nothing to write home about. It's all part of Americana. Aren't we lucky to be able to experience this?!?

Rustlers

Miller SD high school is home of the Rustlers. The local merchants have this painted in front of their stores to show support. The new water tower in town will also have this on it. It's a big deal here in Miller. I immediately thought of our boat Rustler named after a ski slope at Alta.

Day 22, Kadoka to Pierre

Today was only 95 miles but the majority of them were into the 15 plus mph wind on a very rolling landscape. We had 35 miles of a great tailwind while we headed north. There wasn't much excitement to look at today so I kept my concentration by watching and running over the thousands of grasshoppers that were on the road. They were all over and would land on me, hit me in the face(good thing for sunglasses) and even ended up in the chain. After a grueling day we crossed the Missouri River and are camped at a city park along the river. Pierre ( pronounced pier) is the capital of SD and in the central time zone. Since we lost an hour it's now bedtime.

Rapid city to Kadoka

July 11 I celebrated my birthday with a 102 mile ride which took us through the Badlands. It was amazing to come over the top of a hill and see them. Although this picture doesn't show their true beauty, the rocks are very pretty. They vary in color from the whites to pale yellows and there are dark red layers in them.

We stayed at a city park in a tiny little town, Kadoka. Being a Sunday, everything was closed, even the bar. We ate at the H&H restaurant. A grasshopper joined us for dinner but didn't last long as fellow rider George at it up.

After a long tiring day I was asleep by 8 pm.

Rest day in Rapid City

Rest days are always well deserved. We've been riding for five days now and our next stint is six days. We used Susan's car and went back to Custer State Park in hopes of seeing the bison. Sure enough, we saw hundreds of them, so many we were in a bison traffic jam. They just walk across the road right in front, behind and next to the car. So close you could almost touch them, but you may regret the outcome. They're some big animals. The park has a roundup in the fall to brand the new ones, vaccinate them and determine which ones they are keeping and which will be sold. The park can only safely overwinter about 967 head. The summer numbers climb to 1500 head.

Then we headed off to Mt. Rushmore for a quick visit. It's amazing that someone carved those heads out of the rock. Even though Washington is the one farthest on the left, Jefferson was originally to the left of George but the rock was bad and the carving was destroyed.

The rest of the day was relaxing and tomorrow we have another century ride through the Badlands.

Day 19 Newcastle, WY to Rapid City, SD

Today took us from Newcastle, WY to Rapid City, SD, through Custer State Park and the Black Hills. The day started out with a climb up towards the Black Hills. I was wondering why the trees were all dead. In 2000 there was the Jasper fire that claimed an area approximately 8 by 10 miles. Our first big downhill took us to the town of Custer, SD. From there we went up to the pass in Custer State Park in the Black Hills at 5383' and one long downhill. On the way down there were female and young big horn sheep in the road. I also saw one bison in a ravine. The last stretch of the day was due north on route 79. Fortunately we had a tailwind to get us into Rapid City. Following dinner we walked downtown for a beer at the Firehouse Brewing Co. One beer and I was ready for bed.

Sam and Tim

Not only are they great riders they also go running after. It must be nice to be young. Sam aims for 25 miles a week of running. Keep up the good work!