Tuesday, July 15, 2008

Day 21 - July 13th - Rapid City to Kadoka




After packing, David and I met up with the other Riders for breakfast at the School of Mines dining hall. He took photos of the truck being loaded, groups at breakfast, and of me getting ready for the day's route. We said our goodbyes, and he drove off to the airport to return to Seattle while we straddled our bikes and headed east. A long-distance day (102 miles) under blue skies.

We had gentle winds, often in our favor for the first 30 miles or so. I noticed a change in the scenery from days past. The hills were more tawny than green. There were occasional clusters of leaf-less trees. Small sunflowers grew up between the cracks in the asphalt along the side of the road. And there were cacti mixed in with other scrubby-looking groundcovers next to the shoulder. Saw some brown and white cows - a change from the solid black ones up until now. Seemingly uninhabited expanse. Covered about 20 miles at a lickety-split pace with Jim. A good challenge. We didn't encounter a town of any sort until we reached Interior, near the 71 mile mark. At a small, meekly-lit grocery, I bought and quickly devoured a bag of chips, a lemonade and a couple of single-serving cups of applesauce (? - it just sounded good). I then rode on by myself through this small SE corner segment of Badlands National Park. The scenery was magnificent. It was very challenging to convey the scale of the rock and stone formations and colors with the digital camera.
Just a few miles after exiting the Park, the route turned east, tracking a service road parallel to I-90. The road led right to Kadoka (after about 10 miles of rollers). The campsite was at the city park, which included an outdoor pool - already busy with local kids. Showers were in a small building next to the pool.
I helped unload the truck with Brendon and Daniel, and then set up my tent and showered. Some mosquitoes were in the air, as if to remind us of things to come. Around 6 or so, we trooped over to the H&H Restaurant, for a buffet dinner. What a wonderful meal! Brisket, fried chicken, potatoes, a trips to the salad bar. I enhanced my meal with a cold beer, and finished the whole thing with a slice of homemade blueberry pie with ice cream. Waddled back to camp to settle in for the night. Wow - in the tent, and no sound of trains! What a treat.

South Dakota doesn't seem to have rumble strips. That's right. No extended lengths of terror for cyclists. What I HAVE seen are what I'd call rumble Bits. A modest attention-getter about the size of a storm drain. Just about every 10 yards or so. When David and I were in the car, I asked him to drive over one so that I could sense its impact in a car. Barely a shudder. And on the bike, not so bad. You can regain your senses so much faster on a Bit, rather than on a Strip.
I've also noticed how many creatures die on the roads. Today, I stopped to move an expired feline off of the road shoulder and into some vegetation: I felt that it getting hit once was enough. Deer, rabbits, and assorted small rodents are regular victims of fast moving vehicles. And on a bike, you notice dead birds - perhaps too small to see when you're in a car. But quite a few. I must see a dead bird every few miles. A couple of owls, but mostly really small birds.

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