58 miles ridden – 2116 feet climbed.

I’m not quite sure how to describe what we saw today. I will post some pictures but they cannot do justice to the majesty of the landscape in the Badlands National Park. We spent about 3 hours cycling the 27 miles through the park taking pictures and marvelling at what we could see. No one even complained about the hills – not many but short and steep – although some were concerned about the sign below

We had been warned about careless drivers who were concentrating on the scenery especially as the roads in the park are narrow without a shoulder but we had no problems. It’s quite a contrast from our normal riding to be deliberately stopping every mile or two for pictures but it was a short day so no one was too bothered.

We had a leisurely SAG stop just before we left the park and then climbed up into a headwind which we had for about 8 miles until we turned west to head to Kadoka. Just after that junction was the Museum headquarters of the Minutemen Missile silos located in the area – what a contrast between natural beauty and wonder with man-made destructive power.

The last 20 miles or so into Kadoka we were back on dead straight roads in wide open spaces but we had a decent tail wind so made short work of it. When I first saw these open spaces I was captivated as I don’t think there is anywhere in the UK as empty, open and flat as these but now we are all a bit bored of them and just want to cycle through asap to get to something interesting which is just as well because I think we are on the above road for 114 miles tomorrow.

Kadoka has a population of 614 and although we have so far only seen 2 petrol stations, two hotels, and a Subway, our hotel, despite comments last night to the contrary, seems to have the best internet since Boise. 

At some point tomorrow we cross into another time zone and more importantly (I think at around 50 miles) we pass the halfway point of the trip which is amazing. We have all lost track of what day of the week it is and different hotels in different cities are a mixed blurr. Still I remember thinking on day 3 that I wouldn’t make day 6 let alone complete day 24 -I hope I remember what I have learned about myself.

Last night I did not give my bike a full check over and I paid the price when this morning I found that my back tyre had a rip in the sidewall. Luckily Jim (one of the mechanics) was on hand and had the tyre changed very quickly but I will not make that mistake again. We have to check our bikes a bit more carefully now as the distance we are covering is beyond the life of most components.  I had to get a new chain a few days ago and we have to be aware of wear and tear to rear gears, brake pads, and cables as well as obvious things like tyres. Very exciting…….