115 miles ridden – 2864 feet climbed

Today was a very long day. Not just because we cycled 115 miles but we started late for such a long ride – 7am – and crossed time zones so lost an hour. Only 2 SAG stops at 42 and 86 miles challenged us all with regards to food and fuel and to top it all off we were on the same road for 102 miles which was boring!

We had a bit of a tailwind that turned into a slight crosswind but thankfully it wasn’t too hot – probably just nudging 86F/30C as we arrived in town. It’s pretty amazing that I now think 30C is ‘not too hot’. Looks like it is going to heat up over the next few days so we have to enjoy the current temperatures while we can.

Nevertheless today we crossed the halfway point of our trip. We are all elated at this achievement and that single event probably made the day bearable for all of us.

Here’s Darin and I enjoying the moment with the duck. Long story but the duck is now precious to all of us on the trip. Today also saw what might possibly be our last segment on an Interstate (I90E today). None of us are upset about that especially after travelling 3 miles today in a coned off section of a contra-flow with traffic passing a few feet away at 65mph.

Tonight we are in Chamberlain South Dakota which is on the banks of the Missouri River. This river is seen by some as the line where the West begins so having crossed it I guess we are now in the East of the United States. It is certainly an impressive sight:

To date we have cycled a total of 1867 miles and climbed over 68,000 feet – over twice the height of Mount Everest. Sounds a bit unreal unless you were to ask my backside and legs that probably think it’s a lot more than that!

A lower mileage day tomorrow (71) but looks like a bit of a headwind. You can’t have everything……