Bike Across America – Day 26

Friday, July 14, 2017

Start: Chamberlain, South Dakota
End: Mitchell, South Dakota
Mileage today/cumulative: 75 / 1,916
Elevation Ascended: 1,100′
Weather: Sunny, 68° at start; sunny, 87° at finish
3D Relive Video (approx. 1 minute)

The wind changed today. Note that I did not say it shifted. It continued to blow from the east, directly at us but just stronger, 15 mph+ for most of the day. It was another tough day but we were happy to be riding only 75 miles, so we just powered through it and saw some fun stuff along the way.

We left Chamberlain and took an early detour in Pukwana for two MUST SEE highlights. One was the Puk U Bar, closed at 7:30am but still good for a photo op. Right next door to the bar is the Pukwana Lawnmower Racing track. It was described by the ABB staff as the NASCAR of lawnmower racing. Judge for yourself by viewing just the first ten seconds or so of this video.

From thriving Pukwana, it was on to Kimball, home of the South Dakota Tractor Museum. Tractors are serious business in these parts and the museum was pretty interesting. Betty, the Tractor Museum docent, was excited to show us around and demonstrate an antique corn shucker.

After prying ourselves away from Betty, we put our heads down for the last 30 miles to Mitchell, home of the “World’s Only Corn Palace”. The Corn Palace is an arena that hosts events, including the Professional Rodeo tonight (we will not be attending). It’s called the Corn Palace because the outside is completely decorated with corn. Sort of like the Rose Parade but only better. Here are a few a-maiz-ing facts about the Corn Palace:

• It is redecorated every year with a new theme. This year’s theme is Rock of Ages; the theme in 2018 will be South Dakota weather. We believe that wind should be prominently featured.
• 600,000 pieces of corn are used to decorate the outside each year.
• The Corn Palace contracts with farmers for specific types and colors of corn each year.

We’ve included a couple of photos but for the full experience, check out the streaming Corn Cam.

Another 70+ miles tomorrow heading into our rest day in Sioux Falls, our last stop in South Dakota!