PowerCycle

05/11 If South Dakota isn’t officially the windiest place on Earth I’d like to go ahead and nominate it. I’m in my tent listening to it howl as it tears through the trees. For most of the day it was coming at me from the side but that was especially bad because US-18 is not a bike friendly road. The shoulder is gravel for the most part and what paved shoulder there is has the recessed groves on them (the cluster of indents that lets people that shouldn’t be driving know they are about to run off the road). Riding over these on a bike stinks (a lot) and with the wind/huge trucks pushing you around you tend to do that a lot. Enough complaining about the wind though. Every mile I ride just means I’m stronger than it. Made 64 miles today so take that wind!

Today marked my first official newspaper interview. It totally caught me off guard and I’m sure some of the answers I gave were moronic. The big question I flubbed is, “Why?” I forget what I wrote on my Introduction page but I think my answer was something like, “I guess because I have a sense of adventure.” or something half-witted like that. Everything happened so fast!

I’d just sat down at the cafe in a town called Gregory when a woman walked in with a big old Canon camera and said something like, “You know you’re famous.” I’d been in town for a total of 2 minutes! Anyway, I’m sure the other people eating there thought it was funny watching the whole thing. We talked for a bit and Colleen (I think I got that right) asked all kinds of questions about my trip. It wasn’t that bad I suppose and if it sparks some local interest in bicycling that was part of the reason for taking this trip in this first place (now why couldn’t I have said that?). Then we went outside before my food came and I had my picture taken with my bike. And Dennis, I don’t know who you are but thanks for paying for my breakfast. Oh and while I was talking to Colleen the most amazing looking woman was leaving the cafe. That beautiful smile of hers got me through many long miles today.

I had no idea where I was going to stay when I left this morning but I sure didn’t think it would be behind a church on the Rosebud Indian Reservation. The town is called Okreek and its very small but the people here have huge hearts. I was about done for the day 10 miles ago in a town called Carter but Carter doesn’t seem to be a town. I only saw one building and I’m not even sure what it was. Well I needed water so I forged ahead.

In Okreek, the next town up, a community center caught my eye along with the vending machines next to it. I just pulled up when a lady named Robin drove up. I asked if there was a place in town to camp for the night but it’s a small town so they didn’t really have anything. I saw an old church across the street and asked if I could pitch my tent behind it (out of the wind). She said sure so I headed over. Well it turns out she meant the new church 1/4 mile down the hill so she came over to tell me. I saw the road to the church but then I remembered I needed water. She was nice enough to drive back over to the community center, unlocked it, and let me fill my bottles up. So now here I am camped behind the church with water and legs that are happy not to be pedaling.

Bernitta, I don’t know how you did it but I think I encountered my first drunk driver today. He was in a pickup coming up behind me and I could see him weaving into the bike lane a little and then weaving right back out again. I moved off the road and onto the gravel and sure enough he came within a couple feet of me even after I’d moved off the road. I wish I’d seen the police (or had a working cell phone) but no such luck. Hopefully he got to where he was going without causing an accident and hurting someone.

Decided I’m going to skip the Minuteman Missile NHS. I called this morning with my fancy new long distance card using the phone in a gas station. Too many variables for a guy on a bike.

And to keep the longest post in history going I saw a bird eating insects off the front grill of a semi that had pulled in for some gas. That was a pretty industrious bird. Wish I had a picture of it.

Update: Not done yet. I’m still in shock. While I was typing this Robin came over with her son. I can’t even believe she did this but she brought me a huge bag filled with snacks, fresh bread that she just baked, peaches, salad and a plate of hot pot roast. How do you even thank someone for something like that? That was probably the nicest thing anyone has ever done for me.

GPX Track