ABBN40: Port Huron, MI to London, Ontario

Last night at dinner I learned from Canadian cycling friend Joe Hill (more on him later) that the US is testing a balloon with a surveillance camera pointed at the border. Citizens of Sarnia don’t take kindly to this and so they are planning a “Moon to Balloon” event for August 15. For more info see http://www.theobserver.ca/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=1678317

Today’s departure was en mass and precisely timed. We were lined up behind one of the support vehicles at 8:20 so a call could be made to the bridge authority at 8:25 stating we’d be at the bridge at 8:30. We were greeted by a bridge person, given instructions (which we already knew) and then the traffic into Canada, all 3 or 4 lanes of it, were closed and we paraded across the bridge.  Twice we had to stop and walk our bikes, actually carry them,  across expansion joints.  At the other end we were greeted on the road by Canadian passport officials who looked at our passports and verified we were on a list which had been provided.  I’m guessing everyone was through passport control within 10 minutes.  It will be interesting to see how this works going back into the US.

As soon as each rider was through passport control, he/she was welcomed to Canada by Joe Hill (on left in photo) and his friend Mike.  I met Joe, a friend of Jim Yuhn,  a couple of years ago at Hell Week.  And last March, under a shade tree in Luckenbach, I told Joe about the cross country ride and he said, “Let me know when you’re in our area.”  So I did.  Joe and Mike rode with us for 70 miles; they were then going to visit Joe’s daughter in London and then cycle back to Sarnia.

Day	Miles today	Feet climbed	Hrs in saddle	Miles so far	Miles to go	Days to go
40	81	803	5.5	3,038	702	10

   The group before we went into Canada. I’m seated on far right.

ABBN39: Birch Run to Port Huron, MI

The old saying “Red skies in morning, sailors take warning” didn’t hold true today.  There was a slight red sunrise but the forecast was for clear skies and we almost got that – partially cloudy skies.  It was a non-descript ride through non-descript Michigan.  I wasn’t worried about not finding a photo because I knew there would be one at the end of the ride – the bridge into Canada.  The bridge is most imposing; actually scary to someone afraid of heights.  Traffic is so heavy it’s pretty much bumper-to-bumper. But sometime tomorrow – I’ll find out when at our 5:00 meeting – they’ll shut down the bridge to allow to ride over in mass.  I hope someone will be able to get a picture.

Riding through Michigan yesterday, I realized we haven’t seen many signs of the recession.  In particular, we haven’t seen many houses for sale.  That changed coming into Port Huron today; there were many for sale signs on houses.  We were on Lakeshore Drive, a stones throw from Lake Huron, so maybe these were second homes but there are a lot of them on the market.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Day	Miles today	Feet climbed	Hrs in saddle	Miles so far	Miles to go	Days to go
39	92	600	6.3	2,957	783	11

ABBN38: Mount Pleasant to Birch Run, MI

First I must comment on Jake’s comment a few days ago: “good days fade with time but bad days are timeless.”  Wrong Jake. Has anyone else noticed that Jake is almost always wrong? With the proper frame of mind, the good days are all you remember. I remember the ride on the Grand Cornish out of Niece, the Gap of Dunloe out of Killarney, Bear-tooth Mountain out of Yellowstone and the Willow City Loop when the bluebonnets are in full bloom. I don’t remember any bad rides. And, if I did, they’d be better than the best day at the office.

Last night some of us had dinner at the Lone Star Steak House. Why are there no Lone Star Steak Houses in the Lone Star State?

Of the 50 riders doing the entire ride, I don’t know of anyone riding in the sag because they’re tired or can’t do the ride. Mostly, if there is anyone, it’s someone who is injured. Poor Joe – a hard core REFI hell or high water rider rode too hard and pulled a muscle so he’s in the van today. Of course it makes him mad, but he’s making the best of it. Well, his luck is not all bad; he did win the Red River Roadkill Rally t-shirt in the t-shirt contest the other evening.

Today’s ride was once again familiar – no hills, farmland and some chip-seal roads. Ah! We’re in North Texas. Ok, so it’s a little cooler. Still, today was a casual ride in familiar surroundings. ‘Felt more like a local club ride than an epic ride across the country.  --- The only reason we have a photo today is that I took a pee in a cornfield.  Otherwise, there was nothing worth photographing.

One thought generated by riding past farms day by day by day – we have too many farms in the US. We need to eliminate farm subsidies, forget this ethanol nonsense and let the free market take hold.  Banks and car companies are going bankrupt and farmers should too if the market can’t sustain them.

Back to the Zen question: What is a perfect bike?

• A perfect bike is one you don’t know you’re riding.
• A perfect bike is an extension of you. It responds predictably to your every desire. Maybe it responds before you know where you want to go. It’s like your leg. Do you think about your leg when you’re walking? No, and you don’t think about the bike you’re riding.  Most of the time, when I shift I don’t know it.
• A perfect bike it reliable; it never fails you.  You assure this with preventative maintenance.
• A perfect bike makes no unanticipated noises.  You hear the chain derail when you shift; you hear the free-hub ratchet when you coast; you hear nothing else.
• A perfect bike is a work of art; it is beautiful.  But like a woman, it is beautiful in the eyes of the beholder.

Am I riding a perfect  bike?  So far, yes.  In 2,800 miles it has never failed. Never missed a shift. Never dropped the chain. Sometimes there are extraneous noises caused by the handlebar bag and the rough roads, but that is all.  There have been three flats but you can’t blame the bike for that.

Day	Miles today	Feet climbed	Hrs in saddle	Miles so far	Miles to go	Days to go
38	74	231	4.7	2,865	870	12

ABBN37: Ludington to Mount Pleasant, MI

PS from last night: I thought Michigan was more or less progressive. Wrong. At the Ramada Inn last night the  restaurant was closed so the only available food was at the bar – which was 100% smoking – an ash tray (remember them?) at each table.

I felt lazy this morning; not a good way to begin a 133 mile day. But I ate on schedule (6:00), loaded my luggage on schedule (6:30) and began the ride.  A few minutes later, or so it seemed, I was at the first sag stop (30 miles).  Mike commented that everyone seemed laid back today so it wasn’t only me. A daydream or two later I find myself at the 64 mile stop where I re-energize with a Starbucks energy drink from the store cooler. Before I know it, I’m at the 82 mile stop and decide I’ll skip ice cream at 97 miles and go into Mt Pleasant for lunch  (109 miles).  Needless to say we had a lot of tail wind.  Not total but enough to make this a very easy century ride – and our last century of the trip. That makes 10 centuries this yeas, certainly more than I’ve ever done, or probably will do. – Mount Pleasant has a nice downtown with a lot of shops. I saw a couple of our riders at an outdoor cafe so stopped and had an excellent chicken-salad sandwich on rye.  One of the locals was genuinely interested in our ride – he’s ridden RAGBI five times and wants to ride cross country.  We chatted and then he chatted with the others.

Today’s route consisted partly of forests and partly of farms. A few lakes and rolling hills.  Have I been here before? No, but some place similar: East Texas, one of my favorite cycling areas. Probably the only difference is that alcoholic beverages are more readily available here.

Riding through farm country brings unpleasant and unfamiliar odors.  Quite different odors from those I grew up with in the oil patch.  Maybe it’s  the familiarity, but I think I prefer the oil odors to the farm odors.

Every evening, usually at 4:00, Jim the mechanic opens up for bike repairs.  We got 50 bikes riding 50 days.  If every bike needs repairs twice, then on average there will be 2 people needing work done each night. But no, there are usually a dozen waiting in line! Every night. I can’t believe it. I asked Jim if this is normal and he said yes. Note that these are high end bikes, Specialized Roubaix and Trek Madone being the most popular – and most are fairly new.  I asked Jim what are the most frequent complaints and he said (1) “My bike is making noises.” and (2) “My bike isn’t shifting properly.”

Which brings us to an important question:

• What is a perfect bike?
• A perfect bike is one you don’t know you’re riding. (More on this later.)

Day	Miles today	Feet climbed	Hrs in saddle	Miles so far	Miles to go	Days to go
37	113	2,168	7.5	2,791	944	13

ABBN36: Manitowoc, WI to Ludington, MI

We’re REALLY in the east now, east of Lake Michigan and in the Eastern Time Zone.

Lake Michigan is one of the five Great Lakes of North America, and the only one located entirely within the United States. The third largest of the Great Lakes by surface area (behind Lake Superior and Lake Huron), it is bounded, from west to east, by the U.S. states of Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, and Michigan. The word "Michigan" was originally used to refer to the lake itself, and is believed to come from the Ojibwa Indian word mishigami, meaning "great water." The lake is slightly smaller than the US state of West Virginia.

We crossed Lake Michigan on the S.S. Badger, the only coal-powered passenger ship still in regular service in the U.S. (see photo above)  ---  And we’re in Michigan.  We’ve been told that navigation will now be a challenge because of the number of turns but we’ve had 30 turns already so I don’t think it will be a challenge.

Preparing to load the ferry we came across a couple on a tandem, fully loaded for self-contained, camping touring.  Well some of the time.  They’re with us in the Ramada Inn tonight.  If you’d like to follow their cross-country adventure, check out www.2bumsonabike.com.

Day	Miles today	Feet climbed	Hrs in saddle	Miles so far	Miles to go	Days to go
36	15	?	?	2,6780	1,057	14

ABBN35: Fon du Lac to Manitowoc, WI

We were back in farm country today and it was interesting to see modern electric generating windmills juxtaposed against the old farms.  I wonder if either makes any money.  ---  I did see a few dairy cows today and what must have been a cheese factory, though there was no sign so indicating; just a modern building with four milk trucks parked, a large warehouse and a lot of exhaust fans. ---   We travelled northeast mostly by going either north or east.  The wind was from the northwest so we had either headwind (going north) or tailwind (going east).  There was nothing in-between.  --- You can see from the photo on the right we had ominous clouds much of the day, and they got worse as the day progressed.  I got sprinkled on as I got close to the motel.  Others who were a little bit later got caught in a rain shower.  --- Riding east on county road X for 10 miles through corn fields and you come to a “T” intersection at road LS and there it is, Lake Michigan (more in tomorrow’s blog).

Day	Miles today	Feet climbed	Hrs in saddle	Miles so far	Miles to go	Days to go
35	57	1,213	3.9	2,663	1,064	15

Church on left is Catholic – are they on the top of the hill so they can have “high mass”?

ABBN34: Wisconsin Bells to Fond du Lac, WI

For the past two days we’ve been in much more forested areas, even overhanging trees, and much less farming.  Where are the dairy cows and the cheese factories?  --  Another change, starting when we arrived in Minnesota and getting better each day is that we’re mostly travelling on county roads.   The western states just don’t have that many roads, particularly in the mountains, so we were on state high ways, even interstate highways, much of the time.  I much prefer the county roads.  Speaking of which, Minnesota’s county roads are designated by letters, not numbers.  Yesterday, the highest I saw was “O” but speculated surely there are more than 26 county roads and sure enough, today I saw “CX”.

Today was an improvement on yesterday, in spite of weather forecasts of 50% on both ends of the ride. We saw no rain. There was a lot of wind but since it was predominately behind us no one complained.  So it was a fast 84 miles to Fond du Lac which was welcome after the previous 4 days averaging over 95 miles.  We’re staying in a Ramada Inn high-rise downtown, an old hotel which has been modernized.  When is the last time you’ve been in a hotel with ornate brass numbers on the doors? 

Without the farms, there were no barns or silos to photograph today.  As I rode up to one church (left) it looked like it had Arabic letters on it so I thought “Great, a Muslim Mosque”. But it turned out to be a Presbyterian Mosque.

After dinner tonight we’re having a t-shirt swap. No one has a clue as to how this will work but I’m ready with a t-shirt from the Red River Road-kill Rally. Tomorrow is supposed to be a short day followed by a rest day which includes a ferry ride across Lake Michigan.

Day	Miles today	Feet climbed	Hrs in saddle	Miles so far	Miles to go	Days to go
34	84	1,705	5.3	2,606	1,121	16

ABBN33: La Crosse to Wisconsin Dells, WI

When I posted the data near the end of this blog I realized: damn, we’re 2/3 across the country.

This hasn’t been a good day:

1. We rode 30+ miles on the Sparta Bike Route. Many of you say “Great, no traffic.”. I saw yuck, no scenery – only trees overhanging the trail. Nothing to photograph. By the way, the trail is not paved (more on that later); it’s crushed granite or something like that.
2. The trail has 3 tunnels, 1/4 to 3/4 mile in length, which you must walk and carry a flashlight.
3. It rained most of the time we were on the trail. The unpaved surface, when wet, is not nice. By the time we got off it (mile 60) eve
4. ryone was trying to wash off the muck with their water bottles. Later at the hotel (mile 92) we were washing the bikes with a hose and rags provided by the hotel.
5. I almost fell on the bike (probably fooling with my GPS) and again in a rest room (wet shoes). Fortunately, I caught my balance both times.
6. While riding in a shorter tunnel a lady is coming straight toward me until my hollering catches her attention.
7. I had a flat – in the rain – on the mucky trail. My hands were so gritty than I couldn’t tell if there was something in the tire or not.
8. I had to retype all of the above when I hit the wrong key on the laptop and lost it all.

Day	Miles today	Feet climbed	Hrs in saddle	Miles so far	Miles to go	Days to go
33	93	1,575	7.3	2,522	1,204	17

ABBN32: Rochester, MN to La Crosse, WI

Yesterday I forgot to mention that Rochester is home of the Mayo Clinic.  Downtown looks like a large city, but the population is only 80,000 – all of the tall buildings downtown are the medical center.  We got into town via bike paths and left via county roads so no traffic in either direction.

Today was much more hilly than recent days.  But it was a beautiful route.  Hills are the cyclists enemy because they make riding difficult but also a friend because they provide variety and often great vistas. Our biggest hill today at mile 75 was 10% grade for a mile. But then we were on Ridge Line Road with great vistas (although corn from above is not much improved).  We could see valleys below – knew this was the Mississippi River but couldn’t see it.

 

Late in the day we arrived in Wisconsin and then very quickly crossed the Mississippi River.

• The Mississippi River is the second-longest river in the United States, with a length of 2,320 miles (3,730  km) from its source in Lake Itasca in Minnesota to its mouth in the Gulf of Mexico.
• The Mississippi River is part of the Missouri-Mississippi river system, which is the largest river system in North America and among the largest in the world: by length (3,900 miles (6,300 km)), it is the fourth longest, and by its average discharge of 572,000 cu ft/s (16,200 m³/s), it is the tenth largest.
• The Mississippi is the approximate dividing line between adequate natural participation (30 inches per year) to the east and lesser to the west.  As a result you will notice a great change in the trees, farming and birds within 50 miles of the river.

We’ve been fortunate in having Versus for the past three days at our hotel so we can catch up on Le Tour.  We’ve had two 102 mile days and a 92 mile ride today; tomorrow is another 92 and people are getting tired.

Day	Miles today	Feet climbed	Hrs in saddle	Miles so far	Miles to go	Days to go
32	92	3,339	6.7	2,429	1,279	18

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Why are there two, some say three, Lutheran churches within a mile of each other?

ABBN31: Mankato to Rochester, MN

As you can imagine, people you meet along the way, weather store clerks or bar tenders or people who just see you riding, are amazed at our undertaking. They ask “Where are you going?” Do we give them tonight’s destination or the ultimate destination?  They can’t comprehend the trip.  They think we’re doing the impossible.  But they REALLY admire us. ‘Haven’t found anyone yet who thinks we’re crazy.  I went to the bar at the Holiday Inn last night to get a glass of wine and unintentionally got into a conversation with a couple from Chicago.  They were full of questions and observations – and admiration.  A fun conversation. We live in different worlds.

The weather gods obviously didn’t consult Underground Weather; tailwinds were forecast but we felt none.  We did feel some headwind however.  Most unusual, we had an hour or more of fog this morning.  See photo upper left.  The ride started with a tough climb (14%) two blocks from the hotel.  And that set the tone for the day; we had considerably more climbing than the past four days; in fact about three times as much.  So the winds and the hills sure slowed us down – another 102 mile day but a much longer one than yesterday.

At breakfast this morning I learned others are having difficulty in finding something worth photographing and Mike told us it will get much worse when we cross the Mississippi River. Also learned I’m not the only one who prefers riding along over riding in a pace line; the other three riders at the table feel the same way.

At about mile 50 we had two traffic circles, very novel for this country.  Which brings out one of my per peeves: stop signs and traffic lights.  How stupid to stop, waste time (I only have so many minutes left!) and gasoline when there are no cars in sight. How did the British end up with a much more civilized and efficient system of traffic circles and we ended up with stop signs and stop  lights. Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!

Somewhere along the ride today I got to wondering how much time I’m spending, on average, in the saddle each day. The answer is 5.9 hours.

Additional B&W photos at end of blog, but shown here are Jerseys of John Damiano, the 80 year old rider. I think he has the best looking jerseys of anyone on the ride.

 

Day	Miles today	Feet climbed	Hrs in saddle	Miles so far	Miles to go	Days to go
31	102	1,981	7.5	2,337	1,368	19

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

ABBN30: Worthington to Mankato, MN

We’re barely in Minnesota when we have a Wisconsin breakfast – cheese to begin with, cheese on the eggs and cheese on the potatoes.  Fortunately no cheese on the pancakes.  What will it be like in Wisconsin? Nothing but cheese?  ---  Once again some rain before we leave – and rain after I’m at the Holiday Inn in the afternoon.  Some of the riders obviously got rained on.  ---  This was the “fast day” we’ve been looking for. Downhill and tailwind most of the day.  I did my first sub six hour (riding time) century. Only one century to go, although tomorrow’s ride is 97 miles.  ---  Smooth roads again today.  The only downside is that a detour routed additional traffic on our road so lots of traffic for a while.  But every car and truck I saw gave us a lot of room.

On difference: we’re seeing is more towns, closer together.  But some of them are damn small; I saw a sign yesterday for a town with population 6; who’s going to be mayor this year?

A week ago Mike told us “When you road into Casper (120 miles with headwinds) you demonstrated that, physically, you can do any ride we throw at you. From now on it's mental, getting up every morning and getting on the saddle.” In OVER THE HILLS David Lamb had thoughts on the physical vs the mental:

“The challenge was no longer physical, it was mental. My body had started to respond obediently, like a machine, pedaling on and on, day after day, week after week, through valleys,across plains, up hills. It did whatever it was told to do. Bicycling six or eight hours a day was simply what I did.”

So far my feelings are more like David's, I don't have a problem being in the saddle day after day, it's what I expect. In fact, I'm sure I'll miss it when it's over.  And I will be taking a break when it’s over; three days after I return to Dallas I’m having knee surgery and will be off the bike for a while.

 

Day	Miles today	Feet climbed	Hrs in saddle	Miles so far	Miles to go	Days to go
30	102	670	6.2	2,235	1,468	20

ABBN29: Sioux Falls, SD to Worthington, MN

Sioux Falls was about as bad as any city I’ve tried to cycle in but leaving town this morning was a pleasant surprise.  About a half mile from the motel we got on a 10 mile bike path which took us out of town along the Sioux River.  We cycled in a nice park along the river and at the end found Sioux Falls themselves (photo on left).  They were more impressive than I had imagined.

We’re soon out of South Dakota and into Minnesota.  My initial reactions were not good:

 

• The Welcome to Minnesota sign was not only way off the road, it was on the left hand side – really  dumb unless you’re in the UK.
• The shoulder disappeared and we had no where to ride except where the cars drive.

I later realized that the road we were on, CR-4, is a county road, and I don’t expect shoulders on county roads.  In fact, it was quite wide for a CR.  A couple of miles out of Magnolia, CR-4 turned into CR-35 (In a new county?) and CR-35 may be the smoothest road we’ve experienced in four weeks!  It also has a narrow shoulder.

I haven’t mentioned the weather today; we had a heavy rain about 30 minutes prior to departing.  I dug through my bag and pulled out the Gortex, still in the backpack.  ABB delayed the start for 20 minutes and the rain went away, although the roads were wet and clouds threatened all day.  I carried the Gortex in the backpack all day to prevent the rain. But you couldn’t prevent the wind today; it was from the SE and we were going east.  -- Anyway the cloudy weather along with the silos and barns called out for black and white photography – see below.

Day	Miles today	Feet climbed	Hrs in saddle	Miles so far	Miles to go	Days to go
29	71	769	5.2	2,133	1,570	21

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

ABBN28: Sioux Falls, SD Rest Day

Time will start flying now. In the first four weeks we’ve crossed four states (Oregon, Idaho, Wyoming and South Dakota). In the next three weeks we’ll touch seven states (Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, New York, Vermont, Main and New Hampshire) and Ontario, Canada.

So how do you navigate across the country? In the old days, you’d get maps and a compass.  With today’s  technology there are a lot of options. If you use Adventure Cycling maps (best in the business), they provide GPS data along with their maps. So it’s almost as easy as using the GPS in your car. ABB doesn’t supply GPS data but each night we get route sheets, a map and an elevation profile for the next day’s ride.  The last two of these are not very useful but the route sheets are dead-on accurate, maybe even better than mine!  In 4 weeks and 2,000+ miles, only once have I been unsure where to go – that was on a bike path coming out of Astoria on the first day. So I have the route sheet in the map holder on the handlebar bag and my GPS (Garmin Etrix Vista hCx) and bike computer (VDO MC1.0+) close by.  I use the GPS as my prime computer because it is the most  accurate.  But it has been giving me problems (turning itself off, losing sing data) so the bike  computer is primarily a backup. I also use the bike computer on climbs to tell me the percent grade. Incidentally, I prefer this computer over others because of the amount of information displayed on a single screen (speed, trip distance, elevation, grade and temperature).

The amount of technology I’m carrying is maybe excessive; it surely adds to my allowable weight (35 pounds + a carry-on, which in my case is my laptop). In addition to the bike computer and GPS, I have a voice recorder to make notes during the ride, a cell phone of course, lap top and digital camera.  And the accessories to all this: cords and chargers and batteries.

On a journey of a hundred miles, ninety is but half way. - Chinese proverb

 

Day	Miles today	Feet climbed	Hrs in saddle	Miles so far	Miles to go	Days to go
28	10	0	0.6	2,062	1,640	22

ABBN27: Mitchell to Sioux Falls, SD

If your objective is just to ride a bike’ today was almost perfect  -  smooth roads, pleasant temperature, slight wind, little traffic.  What more could you want?  Well, maybe scenery.  Very little to see or to photograph.  I thought of producing a video showing corn growing but there are more states to conquer so I can’t stay and watch corn. --- One thing I have noticed, and it was very noticeable yesterday as I rode an unofficial route through residential streets in Mitchell from the Corn Palace to the motel, is the towns no longer feel western. I’m not sure why; maybe it’s the trees in the towns.  But whatever it is, they’re feeling more like what I think of as main-stream America.

Tomorrow being a lay-over day (What will I do in Sioux Falls, SD? – particularly since the laundry is done and the bike has been cleaned), it is the end of a segment and the beginning of a new segment.  I know we’re losing 4 riders and picking up about the same number. There are a lot of people who can’t afford the time to ride across America in one year, so they do it a little at a time. Personally, I would not feel satisfied doing it this way. I’m glad I’m doing the whole thing, R.E.F.I.

The six international riders add a lot to the ride.  I find Liz from the U.K. interesting because she is a non-cyclist – hasn’t ridden since her childhood and didn’t own a bike. Her Husband Howie (shown on the left of the photo) and his cycling buddy Richard decided they wanted to do this ride. Howie said “I need to get permission from Liz.”  When he asked, she said “Yes.” and then added “And I want to go too.”  So Howie bought her a bike and developed a training program for her about a year ago.  So here she is, a 63 year old non-cyclist, riding across the U.S.  I asked her the other day if she regretted it and she said “Absolutely not. There have been some difficult days but I’m enjoying it.”  The moral of this story is that most people reading this blog could ride across the country if they decided they wanted to. Yes, you!

Day	Miles today	Feet climbed	Hrs in saddle	Miles so far	Miles to go	Days to go
27	72	695	4.7	2,052	1,640	23

ABBN26: Chamberlain to Mitchell, SD

Internet problems:  ABB sent information on the motels we’re staying in for 50 nights. Only one, the Best Western in Chamberlain, did not have wi-fi. But I checked at the desk when I checked in yesterday and they did have internet; it required a cat5 cable which they gave me. Today, at the Mitchell Best Western, wi-fi worked great for a while.  But then I lost connectivity and no-one was able to help me. Or no-one wanted to. So this July 17 will be posted on July 18.

The main reason you cycle the U.S. west to east is for the westerly winds.  In 26 days, I think we’ve had this for maybe a day.  Recently the winds have been north-west or north.  Although that may  not be helping our riding as much as we’d like, there is another effect (or is it affect, Rita?) and that is cooler weather.  In previous years, they experienced 100 degree days on the way to Mitchell so stated early.  We started late today; the temperature here at 3:00 is 72 degrees!  Brenda has been complaining about Dallas low of 85 so she’ll really be mad at me enjoying a high in the 70’s. The low this morning was 59.  The prior two mornings I started the ride with a jacket on. --- Photo on right is a painting on the side of a building out on the road somewhere today.

People in South Dakota obviously don’t have an exciting social life.  In Wall, there’s Wall Drug, where half the town works, raking in money from tour buses, old folks and Harley riders.  Then there is Pukwana; would you want to live in a town called Pukwana?  Their entertainment and claim to fame is Lawn Mower Racing, big time. Like NASCAR. And here in Mitchell, the central attraction is the Corn Palace. Corny as it sounds, it’s the best of the three.

Although there wasn’t much climbing today, we did have a 3 mile climb out of town.  When describing this last night, Karen asked “Did you see that mountain coming into town?” Well, it wasn’t a mountain, but this raises the question “”What is a mountain?”

According to Wikipedia there is no universally-accepted definition of mountain. In the United States, the following points of measurement have been used and taught in geography classes:

• Flat to 500 feet, base to highest point - Rolling Plain
• Highest point 501 to 999 feet above base - Hill
• Highest point 1000 feet or more above base - Mountain

I’ve talked about rough roads, speculated they were frost heaves but wondered why they’re so regular. Jim, the mechanic, had a theory yesterday which I now believe is correct.  We were on several miles of what looked like “original concrete” today.  Every so often there is an expansion joint. So we believe that asphalt is used to cover the concrete when it gets bad, and when the concrete joints expand and contract, the asphalt heaves and creates the bumps which we’re been experiencing.

Looking at my blogs, one thing  is clear. On a ride like this life is reduced to the simplest things and we focus on the most trivial (What causes cracks in roads, What is a hill?, Where’s my next meal? What room am I in? Where are we going tomorrow? Where are we now? What is forecast for the temperature and wind? etc.).

Day	Miles today	Feet climbed	Hrs in saddle	Miles so far	Miles to go	Days to go
26	73	810	5.1	1,980	1,712	24