A hot and humid 73 miles into the town of Chamberlain. I recall doing a similar late July ride across Iowa where a favorite saying was “It’s not the heat, it’s the stupidity”. A high dewpoint made for some foggy glasses. Thankfully, morning clouds kept temperatures somewhat tolerable.

Most of the day was spent on an old, little used highway that runs between train tracks and interstate. Quiet and peaceful. Green and wet from heavy spring snow and rain. Some singing birds and an occasional rumble of farm machinery.

Vivian, Presho, Kennebec, Reliance and Oacoma were named places on the way. Some towns only have a building or two – some occupied, some abandoned, and some you just can’t tell.

Eventually, the turning wheels came upon a wide Missouri river and our destination town of Chamberlain across an old steel bridge.

Fried chicken and pot roast for dinner at the Anchor Grille & Shipwreck Lounge where Margie has been serving hungry cyclists since 2001. She is a favorite regular stop on the yearly tour, and most of us will be stopping in for breakfast tomorrow morning to fuel up for another day of riding.

~Dan

A memorable 100 mile day. A morning ride through the other-worldly Badlands National Park. And an afternoon celebration and photo-op at the halfway point on this coast-to-coast trip.

Pictures capture only a slight sense of magnitude of Badlands Park. An otherwise open grass prairie suddenly has it’s underbelly exposed in layers of geologic rock strata and spires. A windy road magically weaves a path over awesome vistas, then descends through rocky canyons that you can almost reach out and touch. One of the best bike rides I’ve ever experienced, and certainly a highlight of the tour.

Even some bighorn sheep were enjoying the morning views.

Reluctantly bidding adieu to the Badlands, the second half of today’s ride was a straight easterly shot over rolling South Dakota hills. Rollers after rollers. And then more rollers. Until suddenly, between two hills, I triumphantly came upon the halfway point of this cycling journey from Oregon to New Hampshire. Time for a little celebration:

A strong crosswind from the south eventually turned somewhat favorable for the final 20 miles into the metropolis of Murdo (population 452). A friendly hearty dinner at the Murdo Drive-in, and it’s back in the saddle tomorrow. Oh, and we lost an hour crossing into the Central time zone today. I better get some rest!

~Dan

Have you been to Wall Drug? It’s about 58 miles east of Rapid City, by bike. If you are unable to make it to Disneyland, Wall Drug is a close second. Or maybe a very distant second. A tourist mecca built around the concept of free ice water.

All the rivers on the tour this year have been running high and strong. Rapid Creek, which flows through Rapid City, was no exception. We had to make a few bike path water detours on our way out of town in the morning.

The worlds smallest biker bar happens to be in New Underwood South Dakota (according to the locals). Along with the other Dan on the tour, we were going to stop in to celebrate our Dan-ness – but alas, the bar wasn’t open. I’m not sure there was enough room inside for the two us anyway.

We did some riding on the Interstate highway today. I-90 offers a nice wide shoulder, and traffic was not too heavy. Even so, it’s not the most relaxing bike ride. It was only for about 10 miles, with a nice rest area for a quick bio stop.

A wicked thunderstorm is rolling through Wall as I write this. Evening storms are fine. Let’s hope it clears out by daybreak, for tomorrow, we ride through the badlands.

~Dan