Today was a long and eventful day. We started out leaving a little later than usual due to some extra time needed to pack the bounty of food provided by Main Street Market last night. In some ways you could say that our route could be broken into four very different segments. The first segment, from Rapid City to Mount Rushmore started out as fairly foggy, but that eventually lifted as we made it to the monument. This segment also marked our entrance into the Black Hills, it's been quite some time since we've seen hills of this caliber, however I think we all made it over them without too much difficulty. In addition, on the final climb up to Mount Rushmore, a driver going in the opposite direction stopped and cheered for us, it was just the encouragement that some of us needed to climb the last half mile.
We reached Mount Rushmore just in time to see Greenpeace protesters rappel down the side of Lincoln's head and unfurl a banner commenting on Obama's environment policy. It was a little disappointing that their protest had to be at the expense of all those trying to enjoy the monument. While we were standing around watching the Greenpeace spectacle, we happened to meet a young boy who had been diagnosed with cancer at the age of three weeks. He's now been cancer free for nine years, and is a healthy kid. We invited him to be part of our team photograph, which we'll try to get up as soon as we can.
Our second segment led us to the town of Custer. While we continued to wind our way up and down hills, we had an added challenge of a headwind. Because of our late departure and the long time we had spent at Mount Rushmore, our lunch stop ended up being much later than usual, leaving many of us very hungry. Thankfully we had more than enough food to leave everybody more than satisfied for the third segment of today's ride.
Our third segment was best defined by a sign we saw along the way warning "NARROW WINDING ROAD NO SHOULDER". At first that seemed like a very scary proposition, however the traffic on US-16 at that point was fairly minimal and also had to slow down enough that riding with traffic was very possible. Along the way we had some amazing views, some great climbs and descents, and was easily one of the coolest stretches of road that we've seen thus far.
Our last 20 miles into New Castle was dominated first by a long series of downhills that took us all the way into Wyoming and a few miles past. During this stretch of road many of us rarely went slower than 20 mph, and at points some of us exceeded 40 mph. Unfortunately the downhill was not the only thing we encountered on this portion of our ride. As we descended further and further we could see a large storm starting to brew over the Black Hills. While we managed to avoid getting wet, we did hear the tornado sirens go off and encountered some pretty nasty winds.
Thankfully we managed to avoid most of the storm and made it safely into our destination where the church ladies provided us a wonderful meal of lasagna and a variety of salads. I think most of us would agree that today has been one of the best, and certainly one of the most exciting days yet.
One Last Stop in South Dakota
Today we had a relaxing rest day in Rapid City, our last stop in South Dakota. Tomorrow we ride through the Black Hills and past Mount Rushmore. I have to say, I will hate to see South Dakota go, but I am excited to see Wyoming. So far South Dakota has been great, we have met the nicest people all across the state, and today we got a ton of food donations. I am not even sure how it is all going to fit in the van. South Dakota has also been a very scenic ride, from the plains, to the rolling hills of the Missouri River Valley, to the Badlands, to the Black Hills. I have also seen numerous deer, pheasant, and prairie dogs, as well as a few buffalo and antelope. The Badlands have been the coolest part of the trip so far, everyone had a great time climbing on the formations and taking in the awesome views. More to come from Wyoming.
Day 38/39 - President City
Wall, SD to Rapid City, SD
I had to drive today since I hadn't in a while and it was my turn. It was fine, since the ride was a pretty boring 60 miles and I didn't feel bad about missing anything. We did meet an awesome rancher, Gus Aus, on the way who took us around his farm and showed us his mini rodeo bulls. The bulls may have been mini, but they were still pretty huge from what I saw, and he also showed us the hilarious mannikin that he painted a bikini on and put next to the highway to distract drivers.
The next day was a rest day, and we explored Rapid City, which is really cool. There are president statues on every corner, so I got a bunch of pics of those, including a pretty awesome one of Nixon. There was also a graffiti wall which was awesome, and even had a TWLOHA reference, which I had to take a pic of for Mav. After that, I picked up my care packages, and was delighted to see how much I got. Many many thanks to my Mom, sister and Grandma Dawn, who sent me so much food that I don't know how I will be able to fit it all in my backpack tomorrow! I also got a pro FLickr account, so I can put all my pics up now, without waiting. So check that out, I put up all my pics from Wisconsin on, there are a ton. Here is the link: http://www.flickr.com/photos/8300819@N03/ Tomorrows ride is long, but we see Mt. Rushmore, and also enter Wyoming, which I'm pumped about, it feels like we've been in SD for weeks. See ya in Cowboy Country!!
States traveled through:14(NY,NJ,PA, DE, MD, DC, VA, WV, OH, IN, IL, WI, MN, SD)
Distance today: 0 mi
Total Distance traveled: 2351 mi
Day 37 - Have You Dug Wall Drug?
Murdo, SD to Wall, SD
The ride today was awesome. It was another long one, finishing at 102 miles, but we saw everything in between. The ride was pretty straight forward for the first 55 miles, although we were unlucky with flats, and Cady and Adam both had to change multiple tires. Suddenly, the ride opened up and these amazing hills came out of nowhere. We were in the Badlands, and they were awesome. We made it to the gas station at 60 miles, and waited for everyone. I had a buffalo hot dog, so I can now proudly say that I have eaten buffalo, and it was pretty good. We went into the Badlands Park, and it was amazing, the buttes were amazing, we could climb all over them, and we could see for miles. The ride though the park was 30 miles of amazing views, cool climbing, and tough hills, but we made it through and saw some really funny prairie dogs near the end of the park. This was just the beginning of the day thought, we still had to go to the infamous Wall Drug. This is a famous thing around here, its basically a drug store with free ice water and 5 cent coffee, they advertise all over the place, like every 1/4 mile here in South Dakota, as well as in London, in Time magazine, even on the moon. It was entertaining inside, they had a huge jackalope, a dinosaur, and tons and tons of souvenirs.
States traveled through:14(NY,NJ,PA, DE, MD, DC, VA, WV, OH, IN, IL, WI, MN, SD)
Distance today: 102 mi
Total Distance traveled: 2351 mi
South Dakota is the best.
Riding into Wall, South Dakota was such a great day. Although it was a 100 mile day, it was so awesome. We rode through the Badlands and they were beautiful. Riding through them and climbing all over them was so much fun even though it was really hot and there were some surprising climbs. It was probably the most beautiful place we've been so far.
We rolled into Wall and immediately went to Wall Drug, Wall's claim to fame on an international scale. After about a thousand billboards, we just had to go. We got some free ice water, 5 cent coffee, and homemade donuts (as advertised). For a town of 800 people, it's surprising and a little strange how huge that store is. It's a lot to take in.
The ride into Rapid City was a good one too. It was only 60 miles, with only a few turns (South Dakota makes our cue sheets extremely short). There are a lot of awesome things about Rapid City:
1. Dairy Queen is right next to the church we are staying at.
2. The downtown area is really cool: fun shops, presidential statues at every corner, good bagels, etc.
3. Post offices are good for packages/ cookies
3. The laundromat is right across the street, so my clothes are clean for a while.
4. It's a rest day: full of exploration and relaxation.
Good stuff. More to come from Wyoming!
Fourth of July and Bad Lands
The Illini 4000 on the Fourth of July didn't miss a beat. A couple of our riders lit a field on fire, but luckily the people in the town didn't seem to mind and nothing was damaged. We also saw some great fireworks in Murdo, and Brad lit his bike with sparklers and rode around the block.
The ride after the fourth was a 100 mile ride that went through the Bad Lands. I have to say, the Bad Lands topped the ride through Everitt. Even though there were some big climbs, everything about the Bad Lands is absolutely amazing. We ended the ride in Wall, where we visited the infamous Wall Drug. Ever since we entered South Dakota, there have been signs advertising Wall Drug- "5 cent coffee" "Free Ice Water" "Homemade Donuts and Ice Cream!" How could we resist? Wall Drug was definitely not what I had expected, in fact I found it pretty overwhelming. There was stuff everywhere. Regardless, Wall Drug is definitely an example of how successful advertising is.
Yesturday's ride into Rapid City was really awesome. It was a short 59 mile day, and we arrived before 12:30. Rapid City is a cool town, and has a really cute town decorated with statues of the presidents. We can see all the hills (they're called hills, but they look like mountains) that we will be riding into tomorrow. Even though the hills look exhausting, we'll be going by Mt. Rushmore, so that will be cool.
Manifest Destiny (East meets West)
The Fourth of July went out with quite a bang for us this year. A bunch of people on the team bought fireworks which kept most of us entertained for the afternoon, but it was Saebin who brought everyone together for his grand finale firework. There's definitely a correlation between the distance to the fireworks and the fun had while watching them.The ride from Murdo to Wall, SD was originally around 90 miles, but everyone on the team decided it would be a good addition to the trip to include riding through the Badlands of South Dakota, which added 11 miles to the total route making it right around 100 miles for the day. The ride went easily enough, there was plenty of rest stop action, and only a few flat tires to get to the entrance of the Badlands. They definitely made the ride exciting. We've seen a good portion of the country, but this was something else.If you live anywhere within 500 miles of Wall, SD you already know what we did there. For those who don't know, we stopped by Wall Drug and took full advantage of their five cent coffee and free ice water. That night for dinner Caroline "dancing queen" Thurn and Justin "the tool man" Taylor with help from Tim and Christa cooked brinner (breakfast for dinner)for the team. It was met with much appreciation after such a long day in the badlands in combination with the time zone change adding another hour.The next morning most of the team grabbed one more cup of coffee and a doughnut from Wall drug to start off the 60 mile ride into Rapid City, SD. The weather was almost too perfect and the roads were in good condition as we paralleled I-90 on country roads into the city. At the 40 mile stop (lunch!) a group of riders were met by Gus Aus who happened to own a ranch in the near vicinity. The name of his ranch was the "Lazy Heart O" which also corresponded to his brand of a heart on its side above a letter "O". He was kind enough to share some of his time and stories with us, mostly involving broken bones, as we got a new appreciation for cattle ranching.We arrived at our stay over in Rapid City only to find that it was immediately adjacent to a Dairy Queen. Sometimes life hands you lemons, and sometimes it hands you a blizzard... We spent to rest of the day doing laundry and recharging. Today was a rest day which gave the team an opportunity reset and explore the quaint, albeit tourist friendly, downtown of Rapid City. To our fortune there were many kind individuals who donated food to our cause. First, The folks at Main St. Market who pampered us with organic and natural foods including two gigantic watermelons. In addition was a donation from Piesamo's Pacchia of two large, and delicious, cheese pizzas. Lastly, we received an anonymous donation of chips, lunch meat, orange juice, just to name a few. Thank you whoever you are.
Holy Crap!
Warning: Short blog post ahead!The Badlands are so awesome! Seriously, they are amazing. To ride through that park was the greatest experience ever. Even with the 100 mile day that ended up taking 13.5 hours, it was my favorite ride yet!
It was that awesome.
Day 36 - FIRE works
Chamberlain, SD to Murdo, SD
Our ride today was almost as good as it gets, it was a bit rainy in the morning, but the weather the rest of the day was cool and perfect for exercising in. Since today was the Fourth of July, Cady got the Mosher this morning and treated us to the climax speech from the movie Independence Day, which was awesome, and really pumped us up for today's ride. We rode over the Missouri River today, so we are officially in the West now, it was really pretty, but we couldn't get any pictures because it was raining this morning when we went over it.
The terrain today was more rolling hills, and excess cows, as has been the case for the past week or so now. It is occasionally beautiful, but we are more often bored out there seeing the same endless grass and cows over and over, so much so that our most exciting moments of the day today came when we managed to scare some cows into running alongside of us, and we got way too excited to see cows that were not just standing there staring at us as we rode past. The way all the cows stare as we roll by makes me wonder if maybe we are the most exciting thing they have seen in a long time as well. Anyways, yeah, if you're wondering how we entertain ourselves out there, singing and telling jokes can only go on so long, and yes, yelling at cows is the next most entertaining thing to do.
We met some awesome people today, including the Holder family, who we met on their way back home to Sturgis. They were some of the nicest people we have met so far on our trip and even gave us Native American nicknames, Conor was Two Lashes, and Clinton was Pretty Eyes, haha. They also wanted to get pictures of us, which we were more than happy to oblige with, and the kids were all really cute, we are hoping they will send in the pictures so that we can post them up on the site.
We got in early again, and picked up some fireworks for the night at some local stands. Murdo is very small, its hard for me to imagine anyone living here, since the population of the town, 679, is almost the same as the size of my high school graduating class. The Murdo high school graduated only 17 kids this year, it's strange for me to imagine what that's like. Zernyu and Cady cooked up some good spaghetti for dinner, and then we went out to test some of our fireworks out. Cady accidently set a small part of a field on fire, but with the help of the fire department, the fire was kept extremely limited and nothing bad happened, other than Clinton cutting his leg trying to hop a barbed wire fence trying to put the fire out. We were happy to show Sae-bin what the Fourth of July was about(he's Canadian and Korean and this is his first Fourth of July in America), and right in the middle of the excitement, he ran up to me and said, "This is the best Fourth of July ever!!" Needless to say, we are headin out to see some professionally run fireworks just outside town in a bit. All in all, it has been a great holiday, and tomorrow we get to see the Badlands, which everyone keeps telling us is beautiful, so I am super excited about that, even though the ride will be a long one, clocking in at 99.7 miles, on the way to Wall, SD, which is also the home of the world famous WallDrug, which we plan on spending lots of time in!!
Animals seen: Pheasants, turtles, endless staring cows
States traveled through:14(NY,NJ,PA, DE, MD, DC, VA, WV, OH, IN, IL, WI, MN, SD)
Distance today: 70 mi
Total Distance traveled: 2249 mi
Day 35 - Buffalo Rain
The ride today was cold and wet. We rode from Mitchell, SD to Chamberlain, SD, a ride of 75 miles, and it rained on and off for the entire day, but we saw some more interesting things. We rode past a herd of longhorns, and then just past that, a herd of bison ran along with us for a bit, they may have wanted to join in on our ride. I think it may be the first time I have seen bison live and in person, so I was excited about that. We also got lost for a bit today, so added about 8 extra miles to our route, but it was ok, days don't seem long any more unless they are over 100 miles or in really bad weather or rain. Thats the good thing about really hard days, they make the rest of the trip a lot easier to bear. The end of the ride had a really nice downhill into Chamberlain, which is located on the Missouri River, and we are about to begin to see the prettier hilly side of South Dakota.
Animals seen - Bison, Longhorns, turtles
States traveled through:14(NY,NJ,PA, DE, MD, DC, VA, WV, OH, IN, IL, WI, MN, SD)
Distance today: 83 mi
Total Distance traveled: 2179 mi
Independence Day
For the past two days we have been riding in the rain off and on. Today for the 4th of July, Matt Cady did an inspiring speech from the movie "Independence Day." We crossed the Missouri River this morning, which was really scenic, but we couldn't get any pictures because it was raining. Once we crossed the river the terrain became rolling hills which were very pretty. We stopped at a gas station for lunch and got a $100 donation from the Holder family of Sturgis, South Dakota. The entire family was extremely nice, as has been the case with most of the people we meet in South Dakota. It still amazes me how nice everyone has been to us, it is really awesome. I also want to think Marilyn Seymour who helped me bandage my knee when I cut it. Tomorrow we ride through the Badlands, so I am pretty excited to see that.
Independence Day!
It's hard to believe its already July 4th! We are currently in the town of Murdo, South Dakota awaiting the fireworks display that will be starting soon. I am disappointed to be missing my neighborhood's annual display, but at least I am missing it for a good cause.
Yesterday's ride was just about 75 miles entirely in the rain. Fortunately, it was warm out which made the day easier. With the rain coming down, I usually kept my head down and just focused on riding with the group, but kept thinking how beautiful everything would be if it were not for the overcast skies and rain. Then today's ride, which at first seemed like it would be a repeat of yesterday, turned out to be a very awesome ride in the end. After crossing the Missouri River we rode through some continuous hills that made me really love South Dakota even more than I already do. Throughout the route there were very ominous clouds that filled the sky that only made the ride all the more epic in the end.
Tomorrow we are headed to the town of Wall, SD home of the Wall Drug drugstore. On our way, the team is making a worthwhile detour to see the badlands which I am totally psyched for. I have been looking forward to this for some time now and can't wait!
Independence Day
A few days ago we left Minnesota for South Dakota which is an awesome state so far. The first couple days were pretty flat and, thankfully, there was no sign of the wind! It has recently gotten hilly, rolling, which is beautiful- we can actually see ribbons of highway.
The rest day in Mitchell was nice too. I spent it grocery shopping, reading, and my family came up for a visit and we had a nice dinner and I got to sleep in a real bed with blankets and pillows! Awesome, right?
Today's ride was decent: no wind, rolling hills, and tons of flats. Those kind of slowed us down but the milkshake in town sure turned that around. And tonight, Murdo is having a fireworks show just a couple blocks away that the whole team is going to seeing as it is the day of our country's independence. We also probably had one of the funniest adn inspirational speeches this morning: Matt Cady (with a new found mullet) recited with vigor, the speech from the movie Independence Day. That was awesome. Definitely got us through the day and even inspired much singing of songs about America for most of the 72 miles!
Independence Day
Today we started our day with a motivational speech from Matt Cady (borrowed from Independence Day, Thank you Bill Pullman). Today will probably be remembered as the day of flat tires, our total peaked around 10, all of which belonged to just 3 riders. The weather was great and the hills and clouds were gorgeous, but it was great to finally make it to our stayover and be greeted with showers!
Tonight we will all be viewing Murdo's fireworks extravaganza and enjoying an extravaganza of explosives thanks to Saebin's lunchtime splurge.
A special thanks to Pastor Holder and his family for a very generous donation, and the Indiana family for breakfast.
Where the Buffalo Roam
Thought I'd update this now since we will be in some extremely small towns the next couple of days and likely wont have internet.
Today we road into Chamberlain, about 75 miles from Mitchell. It rained all day long, but it wasn't too cold and turned out to be one of my favorite rides of the trip. Just took it slow with a few other guys and made tons of hilarious jokes all day. We saw a herd of buffalo running together today too, which was super cool.
Went for a nice run when we got in. Chamberlain is right along the Missouri river so we ran across that and then along the river tonight.
Zernyu, my new duties partner, and I, were on dinner duty today. We made fifty grilled cheeses and a large pot of tomato soup. I think everybody was impressed by our ability. Zernyu is a good dude.
We need to find fireworks for tomorrow night. Its definitely possible Murdo, SD does not have town fireworks
Little bikes on the prarie
Excitement is running high as we begin to enter the western frontier. While the terrain has not changed much in the past day the next stretch of South Dakota is sure to get hilly, lush and hopefully filled with buffalo. Today was rainy but the teams spirits were still high, I think it was the most chatty we have been while riding this whole trip. Perhaps it had to do with the wonderful rest day we had in Mitchell.
In Mitchell it was a great experience to go to the cancer center there. It is amazing the amount of different information we get at each visit we do even though it centers around the same subject. Also, it is nice to see that our question are becoming more sofisticated and specific. One thing that I thought was really interesting was that the radiation equiptment not only cost 1 milllion dollars but also have to be replaced about every 8 years because of technology advancments. Also, to get the equiptment out the floor and sometimes walls ahve to be demolished. The center we were at sent their old equipment to Brazil for free, which is raelly phenomenal. Visiting the centers always brings a great reminder and connection to the reason why we are doing this.
Tomorrow is the fourth of July so hopefully we will see some fireworks, sing some patriotic songs and have Matt Strick show us how to be an American.
Also, we are supposively close to Laura Engle Wilder's house, exciting!
with love,
caroline
Beware of Dogs
So my updates that were supposed to happen promptly...did not. Since my last blog, I hit a dog, others crashed, Matt Cady got a pseudo mullet (which is currently being transformed into a legitimate mullet by Tim), and we had a rest day.
I hit a dog while riding my bike and It sounds just as ridiculous as it was. I have some cuts and bruises, and a heightened fear of dogs on the road, but both the dog and I pulled through.
The next day Caroline's front wheel kissed Christine's back wheel and they crashed, but luckily met an emt on the road who cleaned their cuts. The day after that Tim crashed and also met an emt on the road... Coincidence? I think not. They are definitely following us around, and I think we are getting the most out of this relationship.
The mullet explains itself and I'm sure photos will be updated in the near future. But as dashing as Matt is, he won't have anything on the Jan Yourist mullet.
On the rest day we saw some crazy machinery at a Cancer Center and i gained a better understanding of how radiation therapy works. The hospital we visited in Mitchell had a machine that cost a million dollars which is pretty incomprehensible to me. Our guide also told us that a machine like that had a life span of about 8 years before it became technologically obsolete and in need of replacement. Their last machine was donated to a hospital in Brazil which seemed pretty cool. After our hospital visit there wasn't much to do. Mitchell's claim to fame is the Corn Palace, and I would have rather visited the grocery store for a third time than admire corny murals.
Anyway, I was glad to get back on the road today, especially because it rained which meant a lesser threat of dogs on the road and I got to test out my new (actually waterproof) jacket. The night was then topped off with several rounds of boggle and tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches. ~Sigh~
cold wet and dirty in that order.
Today was supposed to be a beautiful day. Nice flat to rollin terrain. Deacent weather. Alas, what we were treated to was more along the lines of a cyclocross race. http://image.examiner.com/images/blog/wysiwyg/image/cyclo.JPG
Today was supposed to be a nice 70 mile day with nice roads and little chance of cues being wrong. but little did we know what we were in for. The temperature was perect the wind was calm. the terrain was awesome. the weather...was well wet. The group i rode with today consisted of Clinton, Zern. Conor and myself. we rode prettyhard for the most of the day until we came across the gravel roads. not sure what to do, we chose the best option at hand I-90. after a five mile stretch on the interstate we arrived in Chamberlain. where wefound hat once we stopped spinning our legs like madmen we got really cold really quickly. all in all it was a solid day of riding. cant wait for another go tomorrow.
Where the Buffalo Roam
A few days ago I passed the 2000 mile mark, signaling the half way point in our journey across America. The countryside has been steadily changing as the miles pass by. Gone are the fields of corn we rode through in Illinois. Gone too are the rolling hills, forests, and lakes of Wisconsin and Minnesota. We have entered a new scene in this American adventure, one populated with cattle, buffalo, grass, and not much else. With these changes my excitement grows. New sites and experiences are all that is left for the next 2000 miles. We head ever westward.
In the next few days we will be heading towards Rapid City, South Dakota and with it the sites of the Badlands and Mt.Rushmore. The Badlands are an additional 20 miles to our route but most seem set on making the addition, since whats another 20 miles or riding on a 4000 mile trip! I am also looking forward to the legendary 5cent coffee and tacky attractions at Wall Drug in Wall. We will get to Mt. Rushmore a couple of days after the 4th of July celebration, which is unfortunate, but I am still very excited to see both Mt. Rushmore and Crazy Horse.
We still see, everyday, random acts of kindness that really put a smile on my face. During our rest day in Mitchell, we met a great guy named Rich Brown when several of us were having dinner and singing karaoke in town. He not only donated to the cause and motivated others to do the same, but came by the church we were staying at the following evening with his grill to cook for use. He promises some incredible scenery as we head further west. I'm looking forward to that promise being realized.
More from South Dakota
Yesterday was a rest day in Mitchell. We had a hospital visit, which was very cool and really educational. We learned about radiation therapy, and in particular the machinery that is used. We had most of the day free, and we took a trip to the Corn Palace. It's definitely interesting to see the attractions in some of the towns we pass through! Every place is so different!
Today was an awesome ride. When we woke up this morning, it was pouring outside. When we finally got around to leaving, the rain had let up some. But when we got moving, we were cruising at a pretty constant pace, and all the riders were in before 2 pm. We're hanging out at a coffee shop right now, which is really relaxing and a nice change of pace.
I'm not really sure what's in store for tomorrow (July 4th). I'm hoping we will be able to see some fireworks, but we're heading to a very small town so it seems unlikely. It's also my turn to drive tomorrow, which is kind of a bummer, but we all have to drive at some point.