C2C Day 29 Sioux Falls SD to Worthington MN

66 degrees at the start of todays ride, 91 at the finish. 74 miles, mostly into a stiff 10-15 mph wind. An inspiring start through the Sioux Falls Greenway which was teeming with joggers, walkers, strollers, young men’s and women’s running teams, and at least one crazy cyclist peddling across the country. Cruising out of the city, I wound down to a farm road that runs right along a borderline – Iowa on my right, South Dakota on my left. Then, about 20 miles out of town, I came upon a geographical point of interest:

A stone and iron monument marking the corner of South Dakota, Iowa, and Minnesota. Erected before South Dakota was a state (‘Dakota Territory’), the 1859 iron piling is rusty and the stone base is cracked an chipped – but it has somehow survived weather, vandalism, and vehicles – restored to it’s current splendor in 1980. Fun factoid: you may know that the US has one 4-corner spot (CO-UT-NM-AZ), but did you know there are 61 Three-Corner spots across the country? Of these, 38 are on dry land while the remainder are in rivers or lakes where no marker can be placed. So… I can now proudly claim to have visited one of the thrilling three-corner markers. Ha!

Having survived the throng of crowds and traffic at the three-corner marker, I made my way to the lovely town of Luverne Minnesota – and low and behold, on main street, I came across something ever rarer than a three-corner monument… a Domagala Billboard! I stopped to snap a photo of the glorious signage, and then went in to meet this fellow Domagala.

Nicholas grew up in Luverne, played hockey (as most boys do when growing up in Minnesota), and now coaches youth teams (he’s got 4 kids). We tried to trace back our Domagala roots, but neither of us are very tuned into our genealogy. Nick’s grandfather lived in South Dakota, mine was born in North Dakota – so there is likely a connection somewhere upstream as the Domagala name is not very prevalent in the U.S. We exchanged contact info and I promised Nicholas a beer if he someday makes it to Denver for a hockey tournament.

After the excitement in Luverne, it was a steady headwind roll into our destination town of Worthington. Jackie smartly skipped the town-to-town riding (providing awesome support!) and instead took a 6 mile stroll around Worthington’s Lake Okabena. Lined with parks, paths, and some nice lakefront homes, Okabena is a wonderful city lake. And not content with merely riding AROUND the lake, Jax pumped up the paddleboard and rode ON the lake. Way to go, Babe!