When one enters South Dakota, you are immediately provided membership into the 4-H Club: Heat, Humidity, Hills, and (the worst) Headwinds! Our century ride on Sunday the 15th (Day 21), has been the toughest, most challenging day for me so far.
We headed east from Rapid City and immediately saw heavy thunderstorms brewing behind us. I saw lightning flashes in my little helmet-mounted rear-view mirror. The storm soon caught up with us. Fortunately, it was a fairly brief (about 30-minutes), hard downpour. What followed were 70 miles of searing heat (90's to 100 degrees), high humidity, steep hills, and strong 10-15+ mph headwinds.
After the steep climb over Cedar Pass in the Badlands National Park, we passed through the eerie, magnificent moonscape of the Badlands. The last 20 miles were even hotter, with no redeeming esthetic value. I finished the 105 course and rolled into Kadoka, SD an exhausted wretch. After dinner, I immediately retreated into my tent and got a solid night's sleep.
The next day, (Day 22), we left for Pierre, SD, for a "shy" century (96 miles). It's amazing what a good night sleep will do. Somehow, I found a new store of energy. The 4 H's were in full regalia, but I was able to power through feeling pretty good. Alot of the headwind thing is mental--you somehow convince (delude) yourself into thinking you are actually making progress. The scenery was dotted with round hay bales (pictured) and a seemingly endless horizon line. It was around 100 degrees when we crossed the Missouri River into Pierre, ending the day's ride at our camp at a City Park overlooking the River (pictured at sunset).
As you know--or should know--Pierre (pronounced "PEER") is the state capital of South Dakota (capitol building pictured). One story goes that when they were trying to decide the name for the capital, the state founders were trying to get the famous city planner/architect Pierre L'Enfant to design their new city--in the grand tradition of Washington, DC. L'Enfant quoted them a price for his services. Even at L'Enfant's Government/AARP rate, the South Dakotans felt that it was too rich for their blood. One man proposed, "why don't we just name the city after him and it won't cost us a thing...then, we can design it ourselves and no one will be the wiser." The rest is history. It's on the internet, so it must be true.
More to come...
Marty
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