Wow, we are beginning to rack up some serious miles. On Sunday, we rode to Kadoka, SD. Then we got up on Monday morning and rode to the state capitol of Pierre. And today, we rode to Miller, SD. So far this week, that's 102 + 96 + 73 miles ( many ), and we are now in the Central Daylight Savings Time zone, so it's two hours different from Arizona !
Kadoka
The highlight of this ride was going through the Badlands and the Badlands National Park. It was simply beautiful. We rode in on a state highway with little traffic, and little to no wind for a very pleasant day.
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| Sarah, Todd, Yugi, Jeffrey, Liz, Doron, Rob |
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| Me |
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| Doron checking it all out |
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| Liz |
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| Me |
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| Sarah on the edge |
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| Molly, Steve and Cookie riding up |
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| Todd |
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| Sarah, Me, Molly Doron, cookie, Steve, Todd, Liz, Yugi, Jeffrey, Rob |
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| Jeffrey ! |
When we left the Park, we still had about 20 miles to ride to get to Kadoka. It was a pretty longish 20 miles, as we kept expecting to see Kadoka, and these hills kept jumping up between us and our destination. But we made it and were treaded to a great dinner at the H & H Restaurant in Kadoka. Fried chicken, meat loaf, baked potatoes, Yum !!! In the morning we had breakfast there with eggs, sausages, biscuits & gravy and left for Pierre well satisfied.
Pierre
The ride to Kadoka was 102 miles and we knew we had 96 ahead of us to get to Pierre. It was mostly a ride through fields of wheat and hay, with the hay rolled up as far as the eye to see. This was the land of Laura Ingles "Little House on the Prairie".
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| Lots of abandoned houses out here with stories to tell ..... |
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| Riders up the long and straight road |
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| Little House on the Prairie Church |
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| Nesting |
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| Wetlands are really important |
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| Lots of hay |
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| And more hay..... |
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| Heather's Great Grandfather was John Waldron... an American hero at Midway ! |
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| Waldron Memorial Bridge over the Missouri |
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| Steamships used to dock here and met the Deadwood Trail |
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| Missouri River |
After a longish ride, in temperatures that got to about 96 degrees, Rob and I crossed the Missouri River. Heather had told us about her Great Grandfather who flew at the Battle of Midway in World War II, and who was instrumental in our victory over Japan at that battle, so I wanted to make sure to get a picture of the memorial plaque. We crossed the bridge, over into Central Time. I knew the Missouri would be a lot wider here than it was way back in Townsend, Montana, but still was surprised at just how big this key North American river had gotten !
Miller
This morning, we rode out of Pierre for Miller, South Dakota. With the time change we got a chance to roll in the early darkness and coolness. Yay ! We also had a special treat with Sharon's uncle and step grandmother coming down to meet the Team and they brought us some delicious goodies to eat. The way to warm any cyclist's heart is with food, and Sharon is really happy to see them. We had a 74 mile ride today, and got in fairly well, with only a little bit of headwind in the last few miles. I got to the first Checkpoint first, but lagged a little bit later in the day. Oh well, it's only 200 plus miles in three days !
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| Sharon and Rob waiting on a train ( coal train full of empties ! ) |
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| Water tower on the road to Miller |
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| Some rain ahead of us |
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| Sharon and her family who came down to meet her and brought us lunch goodies ! |
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| Steve and Todd |
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| New Holland dealership ! |
Tomorrow, we roll for De Semet, SD. Then we cross into Minnesota, and go to Tyler, and then a day off in New Ulm. This is a long week for us !
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