Day 22 – Wind blows.
Kadoka, South Dakota to Pierre, South Dakota
Today was possibly my hardest pedaling day yet. From the very beginning, I never quite got warmed up. My legs were tight, and worse: tired. We began the day at the city park with pleasant rollers through farmland, farmland, and more farmland. It was extremely dry all day, all of the bridges we crossed today were over dried up riverbeds or otherwise a trickle or sludge of muddy water. The weather was warm right from the beginning of the day, and it only got hotter, and hotter, and hotter.
As the day heated up, the wind also picked up. And up, and up, and up. As the day wore on, the water stops couldn’t quite keep up with my personal water intake, and we stopped to buy a couple of gallons of water at a tiny little general store. Actually, it was an antique store, a grocery store, a liquor store, and oh much more. The poor woman who worked there, in the middle of this dry, dry nowhere. At least it was air conditioned. I struggle to imagine what life is like out here, so radically different than what I know. It does have its own sort of beauty though, unique thus far to South Dakota. The most striking image in my mind was this vast golden field today, with what must have been eight or nine huge combines driving through them trailed by huge swirls of dust and hay against the blue sky. As Ane said, this sure wasn’t a family farm, and I was literally blinded (and praying there wasn’t a car behind me) when we rode through the cloud of dust, but this is South Dakota.
The last twenty miles of our almost century were really tough. I was struggling for sure. We had a cross headwind, strong, and it meant that it was hard to really keep a draft on the shoulder. I was very fortunate because I was with Ben, Sean, and Andy. I couldn’t keep pace with them, my legs felt like jello, but they waited for me through the wind at the top of every single hill. Each time I would fall behind I would think, alright I guess I’m finishing this on my own. But each time they would be up there waiting for me. It made all the difference. I spoke to Andy later, and he told me that hey, we all climb at our own pace but in the end we’ve got to come in together. That’s what this ride is about.
Good thing for today: a quote passed on from Ane’s mother about the wind, “Well you are in South Dakota you know. Pretty soon you’ll be in God’s country.” Minnesota that is.
Today was possibly my hardest pedaling day yet. From the very beginning, I never quite got warmed up. My legs were tight, and worse: tired. We began the day at the city park with pleasant rollers through farmland, farmland, and more farmland. It was extremely dry all day, all of the bridges we crossed today were over dried up riverbeds or otherwise a trickle or sludge of muddy water. The weather was warm right from the beginning of the day, and it only got hotter, and hotter, and hotter.
As the day heated up, the wind also picked up. And up, and up, and up. As the day wore on, the water stops couldn’t quite keep up with my personal water intake, and we stopped to buy a couple of gallons of water at a tiny little general store. Actually, it was an antique store, a grocery store, a liquor store, and oh much more. The poor woman who worked there, in the middle of this dry, dry nowhere. At least it was air conditioned. I struggle to imagine what life is like out here, so radically different than what I know. It does have its own sort of beauty though, unique thus far to South Dakota. The most striking image in my mind was this vast golden field today, with what must have been eight or nine huge combines driving through them trailed by huge swirls of dust and hay against the blue sky. As Ane said, this sure wasn’t a family farm, and I was literally blinded (and praying there wasn’t a car behind me) when we rode through the cloud of dust, but this is South Dakota.
The last twenty miles of our almost century were really tough. I was struggling for sure. We had a cross headwind, strong, and it meant that it was hard to really keep a draft on the shoulder. I was very fortunate because I was with Ben, Sean, and Andy. I couldn’t keep pace with them, my legs felt like jello, but they waited for me through the wind at the top of every single hill. Each time I would fall behind I would think, alright I guess I’m finishing this on my own. But each time they would be up there waiting for me. It made all the difference. I spoke to Andy later, and he told me that hey, we all climb at our own pace but in the end we’ve got to come in together. That’s what this ride is about.
Good thing for today: a quote passed on from Ane’s mother about the wind, “Well you are in South Dakota you know. Pretty soon you’ll be in God’s country.” Minnesota that is.
posted by elizabeth at 11:13 PM
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