Sleeping in the Miller High School gym simplified the camping element, but I have to admit that the air was a bit stuffy. Packed up my stuff, loaded it on the truck and joined the camp breakfast at the truck. Another coffee press pot had been broken, so we are now down to just one. Perhaps we can pick up another one in Minnesota. I'm told that there is an REI near Mpls. Some Riders are going up there during our New Ulm rest day. Maybe someone can pick up a replacement.
Had a very enjoyable ride in a loose draft pack with Rosie, Janet, Tracy, and Diana. After riding by myself all day yesterday, I decided to find a tribe for awhile. We had a really good time together.
The landscape offered a few more contours that what I saw yesterday. But the road itself was fairly level for the whole route to De Smet. Gentle tailwinds at times made the miles fly by. Had a water stop at mile 15 in Wessington. And a check point in Huron - a sizable community. Directly across the street from the check point (where we also made our daily sandwich), was a street named Midway. As this day is our "midway" of the Ride - in days, and I believe in miles - it was very appropriate to take a group shot by the sign. (Thanks to Rosie for sharing one that I'll post in a day or two).
I was craving pancakes at this point. The others agreed that it wouldn't hurt to find a restaurant. Rode through town, but didn't see much in the way of a cafe. On the outskirts, we stopped at a gas station and the nice attendant redirected us about a mile back to The Plains restaurant. It was easy to spot as its parking lot was home to the World's Largest Pheasant. Went in and found seats in the cafe - just diagonally across from the complex's bowling lanes (?!?). Patty was our waitress and did a fine job. Turns out that she is originally from Chicago, not far from Rosie's old neighborhood. Enjoyed a short stack, some eggs, and "coffee".
Left Huron and started in on the final 25 miles. With about 15 miles remaining, my legs just had to push and I moved away from the group. Did my best to hammer out the final stretch and appease my limbs.
Arrived in De Smet by mid-afternoon. Nice city park for our campsite. Warm, steady breezes. Found the local library and spent over an hour trying to upload photos. Inadvertently deleted all photos from my camera. Good lesson: COPY the file - don't just move it to the desktop. Fortunately, David had saved all shots up to Rapid City on his computer as well as on a disk. But I did lose ones that I had taken since then and hadn't posted. Oh well. Will need to take plenty tomorrow to prove that I did indeed ride through South Dakota.
Dinner was served to us in the basement of a church adjacent to the park. Returned to the campsite to find that I had a flat. Spent some time diagnosing the cause, and fixing it with help from Ash and Nick. Wrote and talked with Rosie for awhile. Word spread that we should expect a thunderstorm during the night so I guyed out the rainfly. Went to bed and waited for the storm.
The other day when Tony and I were riding together, he asked me for ideas for good lunch items to offer cyclists. (He will be organizing the mid-day meal for a sizable organized ride in Pennsylvania next year). We did some good brainstorming about what tastes good when you're riding all day. Rice and beans. Grilled cheese sandwiches. Steamed red potatoes and seasoning salt. Fruit - including bananas of course. Chips or pretzels - something crunchy with salt. Lots of cold drinks. Salads - but nothing too heavily seasoned or fiber-ful.
Maybe skip PB&J sandwiches.
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