Bike Across America – Day 27

Saturday, July 15, 2017

Start: Mitchell, South Dakota
End: Sioux Falls, South Dakota
Mileage today/cumulative: 71 / 1,987
Elevation Ascended: 1,168′
Weather: Partly cloudy, 74° at start; sunny, 95° at finish
3D Relive Video (approx. 1 minute)

There was one thing and only one thing on everybody’s mind this morning: go straight to Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Stop only for food (one Snickers bar), water, and restrooms. Ride into the two SAG stops, sign in, take care of business and get back on our bicycles.  Why the laser focused, ride like our pants are on fire, bat out of hell game plan? Because Sioux Falls is a REST DAY!

Getting to the hotel quickly means that we can knock out chores on “arrival afternoon” – grab lunch, do laundry, restock supplies from Walgreens, and coordinate dinner plans with friends. This leaves all day tomorrow, our third full rest day, for sleeping in, massages, and enjoying some hard earned R&R that does not include sitting on a bike saddle. It also marks the end of the third leg of our journey. Both of us agree that this was a particularly difficult stretch, even without the headwinds of the past two days (which, thankfully, were diminished today). The rolling terrain requires more consistent power output and, for the first time, we began to feel some cumulative fatigue in our legs. We’ll also remember this leg for how South Dakota pleasantly surprised us. We’ll definitely be returning here for hiking and rails-to-trails cycling.

At a SAG stop today, we met an elderly gentleman who was traveling with his wife and Pomeranian. He peppered several us with questions about our ride.  Finally, after contemplating our answers, he said, “I’ve got a lot of things I want to do in this life, but this isn’t one of them.”   Later, as he drove out of the service station, he leaned out the driver’s window and hollered, “If you step in front of my truck I can put you out of your misery.” A couple of days ago, we might have taken him up on that.

Bev’s Thoughts At The Halfway Point:

• I never thought my hands would be what pooped out on this tour. Many of us are noticing a loss of hand strength, so much so that holding a fork or picking up a glass of water has become difficult. In addition, the fingers on my right hand that have been ravaged by Dupytren’s Contracture are numb. I sure hope this is temporary.
• This morning, many riders said how happy they were that we had a short ride. Only on a bicycle tour like this would 71 miles be considered “short’.
• Riders seem much more fatigued today than on prior rest days. Personally, I need this rest day. I’m both physically and mentally fatigued. I think two really hard days into a headwind are mostly responsible for my exhaustion. I’m excited to give my back some time off the bike. Massage booked for tomorrow – yay!
• Like many others, I am bummed that Alastair’s (1/2 of the tandem) time with our tour is over. Chris’ (blind rider) regular partner, James, has arrived and will take over for the remainder of the tour. Alastair has been such a joy to be around. It does seem as though James is just as personable and funny, though.
• I now know the minimalist movement is not for me. I’m tired of wearing the same four jerseys and pairs of socks.
• It’s so funny how excited we get about tiny, random things on this tour. The single washing machine and dryer at a hotel are unexpectedly not in use allowing us to get our laundry done early. A hotel’s breakfast includes real oatmeal. Sliced nectarine at a SAG stop. A hotel room on the first floor, closest to the breakfast room. Lots of outlets in a hotel room for all the things we have to plug in to charge. A Starbucks nearby (yes, that’s how bad hotel coffee is – we now consider Starbucks the gold standard). 
• It is fun to talk to people about our ride across America. Responses have ranged from admiration to disbelief to a sureness that we are all nuts. “Holy Toledo!” , “You’re crazy!”, and “I’d ride one block and die” are all comments I have heard. Because I focus on just getting through each day’s ride, I sometimes lose sight of the big picture. It really is a daunting challenge and Greg and I are more than half way through it. High five!!
• I’m pretty sure a giant tapeworm is living inside my belly. I am hungry all of the time. It has been difficult to get healthy food so I find I’m eating things I don’t consume in “real life”. For example, I just finished eating a huge Cold Stone Creamery ice cream. I need to think of some kind of physical activity I can do to burn off all these calories……oh, wait……
• I’m watching the Tour de France while I type this and coincidently, they are talking about what the racers eat. Bob Roll just said, “You really don’t need to eat that many calories.” Uh oh.

Sioux Falls is our last stop in South Dakota. When we resume this journey on Monday, we’ll cross the Minnesota state line early in the day. Minnesota! Wow! See you then!