Day 25. July 11. Pierre to Chamberlain, SD

Day 25. July 11. Pierre to Chamberlain, SD.  84 miles

Almost to a person, the riders are saying this has been the toughest leg so far. The ride today was "only" 84 miles, but we fought 20 to 25 mph head and cross winds all day long. Weather reports said there were times when gusts were over 30 mph. After the118 mile ride yesterday, this was a toughie. From about mile 22 to mile 40, we climbed 600 feet, so not only were we fighting the winds, we had to go up hill for miles. Then, with about 10 miles left to go, we had two other long (maybe a mile long), steep climbs.

For me, once I accepted the fact that we would be in the saddle all day and that it would be difficult, I got into a bit of a rhythm and just took what the road and weather gave us. Much of the day was at the 10 to 12 mph range. The part I didn't like was that we had to work hard just to get down the hills. Some of these descents with no wind, I'm sure, would have been at 30 to 35 mph, but we had to work hard to get down them at 15 to 18 mph. It was delightful to crawl off the bike at the end of the day.

For much of the day, we followed the Missouri River. Yesterday was my very first glimpse of this river, and it is a mighty one. It's the longest river in North America at over 2,300 miles long, flowing from somewhere in Montana to where it joins the Mississippi just north of St. Louis. It is wide and very pretty. Today, with all the wind, there were white caps on the river. 

Today was a big day in that we crossed the half way mark of the trip. We've completed 25 days of the 50 day adventure and we've ridden 1,886 miles out of the 3,667 we will complete by August 5th. There is still a lot of riding to do, but I've now ridden half way across North America!

After showering, Gary, from Near Pittsburgh, and I walked downtown to the Derby Coffeeshop. This is a restaurant/bar owned and operated by Botany. She grew up here in Chamberlain, moved to Minnesota for 5 years, but came home to open the restaurant with the help of her dad and brothers, who have done most of the remodeling. She's been making it work since 2003 with good home cooked food and lots of friendly conversation. Botany thinks that's why she's been successful. It's not made her rich, but she says she's comfortable. In a lot of these small towns, you get the impression that it doesn't take a lot to satisfy people. 

There's a pool table near the bar for those who like to play. The kitchen is in the back, but somewhat open. Her brothers help cook and serve beer on the weekend and even her 83 year old grandmother comes in to wash a few dishes. A few of the cyclists commented that it has such a comfortable feel that it's like sitting around your own kitchen table.

Botany told me that one of the larger employers in the area is the St. Joseph school. We passed it 5 to 10 miles outside of town. It's a boarding school for Native American children from all over South
Dakota with about 150 students, from kindergarten through high school. Boy, that would be hard to have your first or second grader living a few hours from home. She said a majority of students are from the Lakota tribes in western SD.
 

If you get out to Chamberlain, make sure you stop by the Derby Coffeehouse for a chat. You'll like Botany. And she makes one of the best milkshakes I've ever had - chocolate/toffee!

These kinds of days do teach you some things. You learn that, if you persist and stay with things that are hard, you can do difficult things. You can go beyond what you might otherwise define as a limit, if you just persist! You learn how important it is to do difficult things with others. I'm not sure many of us would have made it all alone. The encouragement and not wanting to let your teammate down is an important part of it, but riding cooperatively does made the pedaling easier. 

Tomorrow we ride to Mitchell (71 miles) and will get a chance to visit the Corn Palace. On Saturday, we ride into Sioux Falls (72 miles) for a rest day. I'm so excited because Tam is coming out for two days. I've not seen her since June 17. 

Be well. Do good.

Don