Day 50 Mitchell to Chamberlain

Thursday 8th July
Daily mileage 71miles Average Speed 10.4mph Ride Time 6hr48min
Total Mileage 1915

We were up and at breakfast at 6am where Dave our Rotarian President host had cooked up a special egg dish with sausage and toast. Thanks Dave, I think that helped Kris to recover from the cocktail hour last night! So we set off at 7.30am and headed west on highway 23 and later onto highway 16 into a 9mph headwind that was to stay with us most of the day and move slightly to the NW later in the afternoon.
The sun was very hot again which is the norm for South Dakota and the terrain was still very green and very flat. With smelly farmers fields and cows that are spooked by us we rode 15 miles before a quick sandwich stop at a gas station in Mt Vernon. Not sure why it’s a mount as it is flat as a pancake. There were mini frogs jumping all over the road and it was difficult not to squish them! 10 miles later we stopped at another gas station in Plankinton for another sandwich break. We have been eating the same sandwiches now for nearly the full 50 days!

Another 12 miles we stopped at White Lake for you guessed it! Gets a bit repetitive doesn’t it! The guy in the store told us that in 4 miles we were going to cross the half way point of USA, there was nothing to actually signify the fact but we celebrated it with a high five anyway. We were riding with headphones in singing away, we were lost in our own worlds watching eagles soaring above against a blue sky backdrop and there were smaller birds dive bombing the eagles, we imagine that the eagles must feel like we do with mosquitoes bothering us. You are lucky we do not have smelly vision with all the farms around and the road kill that you can smell for a good 20meters before you can see.

There was hardly any traffic on the road today and there was nothing really to see so we had to find inventive ways to amuse ourselves. I told you I can fall asleep anywhere! A man on a motorbike slowed down to talk to Kris and as they were chatting about the trip they saw some deer in the fields and the man told Kris to be careful of the mountain lions that are deer coloured and lurk behind trees waiting to pounce on their prey. Kris asked if the guy had ever seen one or whether there had ever been any attacks on humans and the answer to both were no.
This highway is actually the old road and now follows the new interstate 90 that we are running parallel with just a short distance away and we keep snaking over and under it. 13 miles later we stopped at Kimball and sick of sandwiches we stopped in a café that sold the largest pancakes you ever did see, so much so we only ordered two and even had to leave some! All the towns today seem nicely spaced so we are getting to have regular cold drinks which has been nice. We stopped after 12 miles for a quick stand still in the shade of a tree in Pukwana and then we plodded the final 8 miles into Chamberlain which was a sight for sore bums!
The campsite we had intended on staying in tonight was right on the Missouri River but it is now under water as it has flooded from recent heavy rain falls! So we found happy campers campground literally a half mile off the main road which is clean and cheap! A bit of bike cleaning and a shower before an early night. We saw one of those mileage posters today as well which are always quite interesting, shows we still have a long way to go!
It has been recommend by a friend of Kris that he should enter a paragraph or two of wisdom for you all to read. The following has nothing to do with me.

“Hello y’all, long time no speak. I have prised the laptop away from Alison and convinced her that my input will only enhance the readers enjoyment of the blog. Todays article is about putting the day to day issues we face into perspective. Imagine, if you will, arriving at your desk at work and making circular cycling actions with your legs for 7 out the 8 hours you are behind your desk. Whilst doing that, place a fan in front of your face to experience the non stop headwind. Finally, pull up a screen saver of the longest, straightest road you can find and stare at it! Let me know how it goes and if you like it there may be a potential long distant ride in you too! See you tomorrow folks!”