Head for the Hills

Made the Capital Journal!

With Grandpa and Norma.

Thursday we woke up to another windy day in the great state of South Dakota. We took our time that morning because we only had to get to Pierre that day. Everyone warned us about the "Blunt Hill" that we would hit right outside of the bustling town of Blunt that morning. The hills west of the river are much worse than that little 100 foot climb was, I promise. We survived it.

With Grandpa and Grandma Galinat.

With Great Grandma Cooper.

At mile 17 we stopped at the Junction truck stop to get lunch with Aunt Kristen and her family one more time. Grandma Galinat and Grandma Cooper came over from Harrold to eat with us as well. We filled nearly all the tables in the place, but it was nice to have some company again. The miles to Pierre, though few in number, were still tough because of the winds. We arrived about 2:30, and set up at Great Grandma Stirling's house. After a shower we were met by David the Capital Journal newspaper reporter, asking for an interview. We chatted with him for a while. He informed us that there was another cross-country bicyclist in town that night, but he was raising money for the rotary club. The other guy's story made the front page, but our story was included with it. We picked up a copy the following day. After that interview, we had to go down to the radio station and do a recorded interview with a guy down there. We're practically celebrities.
That night we had the necessary dinner at the Cattlemen's Steakhouse and dessert at the Zesto, completing our visit to the capital city. We did 35 miles that day.

With Great Grandma Stirling.

Friday morning we left Pierre and entered the Middle of Nowhere. It's bad news when you're on a bike and pass a "No Services" sign. Thankfully we had stocked up on emergency granola bars and beef jerky in Fort Pierre, so we made it to Midland without too much of a problem. Not being able to stop sure makes the arrival time sooner. The mostly dead town of Hayes did have a "roadside stop" so we sort of picnicked at a crappy table there. Norma gave us a bag full of cookies before she left, which were definitely a big help in getting us to Midland.

Shelby's cookie selfie.

We had headwinds the last 21 miles to Midland. Riding was getting really difficult, so much that we were stopping every 7 miles to take a break. For those of you who don't know, Midland is famous for its natural mineral baths, now located at the Stroppel Inn. Due to lack of showers in the city park, we sprung for another hotel room with the cash discount. Dad even took a complimentary mineral bath.
When Dad was making a gas station snack trip, he took my bike so he wouldn't have to pull the tandem around. He flatted the back tire in an instant, also busting the tire. There went our one spare tire.
The lady running the place let us know about the Friday night farmer's market in the park, so we headed to that for dinner served by the local 4H Club. We also got some fresh cucumbers and radishes to have with some banana bread that we picked up for breakfast. Midland was overall a great place to stay. 62 miles total that day.

 

The weather forecast claimed Saturday would have an East wind, with gusts up to 20 mph. We made big plans to push over 100 miles to Rapid City that night.
The morning proved the weather guys wrong, unfortunately. The wind turned out to be a strong crosswind, making us stop in Wall instead only 58 miles in. On our way, we passed through Phillip, home of the Scotties, and were interviewed once more for the Phillip ReviewThis left lots of time to kill at Wall Drug at lunchtime, which was kind of fun.
Just two miles out of Wall, my tire went flat. Very flat. We pumped it up and I rode it to Wall Drug, but as soon as we got there it was flattened again. Turns out I had run over some sharp metal thing. Thankfully the tire was okay this time, but my bike was definitely struggling in the wheel department.
We took the 6-foot Rabbit and Jackalope pictures at Wall Drug, then were off to find a campground. Thankfully the one we stayed at had a pool. It has sadly been heating up the past few days, so any body of water is much appreciated.

This morning we woke up to more crosswinds and lots of hills. We've been on Highway 14 all across the state, but now had to take I-90. The interstate wasn't as bad as we feared because of its huge shoulder. We made it to Rapid about noon, 52 miles into our day. We stopped at South Dakota School of Mines and Technology, and a bike shop to restock our spare tubes and tires. Now we're just killing time, eating ice cream, drinking tea, making good use of the Main Street Square Splash Pad, waiting and hoping for cool evening weather. We plan on getting to Keystone tonight, pushing out of Rapid around 6.

SDSM&T

Roadkill Report: Frog, Frog, Bird, Bird, Bird, Bird, Bird, Deer, Bird, Cat, Bambi, Turtle, Turtle, Bird, Frog, Mouse, Turtle, Turtle

Great Faces, Great Places

At the Laura Ingalls Wilder museum.

Saturday morning we woke up to 100% humidity in Sleepy Eye. Not the rain variety, just fog. We braved the elements on our way out, riding despite the inevitable rain. It started only about 7 miles into our ride, just sprinkling at first, then downpouring - the kind of rain that stings when it hits. Thankfully it quit only a couple miles later, but it rained enough to completely soak us. We changed clothes in the next town's laundromat and had some coffee to warm up.

Shelby in the corn...

We are incredibly lucky to have done this tour during one of the coldest summer weeks of upper midwest history. While we've always imagined sweating through the hot and humid plains, the past few days have actually been quite pleasant for riding, even requiring us to start out wearing sweatshirts.
Saturday we also went through Walnut Grove, MN, home of Laura Ingalls Wilder and featured in her book On the Banks of Plum Creek. We hit the town just in time for the annual pageant weekend, so there was a big celebration going on in the park.
We spent the night in Tracy after 50 miles. We were suffering some headwinds and general exhaustion. Though we thought about continuing another 12 miles to a campground, apparently the hotel we had called to hold a room for us in Tracy was going to charge us for the room whether we stayed there or not, being that it was pageant weekend and all. The hotel had a pool though, so that was a bonus.

God's Country

Sunday morning we got up and headed to Aunt Mary's in White, South Dakota. More headwinds, especially in the afternoon, so riding wasn't exactly easy. When we crossed the state sign, a couple who lived across the street offered us some water and took our picture for us. About 5 miles later, we were greeted by cousin Jason and Aunt Mary from the other direction, flying American flags and pinwheels out their window for us. As we got into town, they led us in parade-style.

With Jackie, Ted, Jenna, and Kellen Quinn

Aunt Jackie, Uncle Ted, Jenna, and Kellen were in Brookings for Jenna's swim meet, so they drove up to White to meet us as well. Jason's family came out, as did Allison and her fiance Cory. Kellen got a ride on the tandem, which was definitely a highlight of the night. Uncle Bruce grilled us up a great meal, and all around our little family reunion was a great time. It was 67 miles that day.

With Jason, Lacey, Brooklyn, and Aylah Roberts

With Allison and Cory

With Mary, Bruce, and Adam Norman

Post-crash.

Monday morning we tried to get up early to avoid the wind, but it was no use. By 20 miles, we were already exhausted, fighting up to 30 mph crosswinds from the North. Each pedal stroke was a struggle to keep the bike upright. So by Arlington, 10 miles later, we were all about ready to call it a day. Only a mile outside of Arlington, I got sucked into the draft of the tandem and hit the back wheel, then fell off the main road onto the shoulder, then ended up crashing to the pavement on the side of the highway. Thankfully I was okay, just a few scrapes and bruises, but Mom screamed and swore when she saw me fall, and a couple of the good people of South Dakota stopped their truck to make sure I didn't need to be hospitalized. Between the crash and the wind, Arlington was our stopping point, so we set up camp in the park and spent some time at the community library.

My most prestigious university tour yet.

The next day we rode into Huron. Passing through De Smet for lunch, the waitress asked if we were part of the Cycle America group. Turns out, there was an oncoming group of about 50 riders riding coast to coast from the west in 9 weeks (don't be too impressed, they had vans to carry their gear). For many miles we saw cycle tourists on the other side of the road. It's always nice to know that we aren't the only crazy ones out here. Once in Huron, we set up camp at Memorial Park, then met up with Jackie Steward and her family, another NDSU friend. We had dinner at the Prime Time Tavern, a place that only had filet mignon on the menu, but it was delicious.

With Jackie, Joel, Julia, and Jessie Steward.

Overnight the temperature reached as low as 48 degrees. We keep wondering "Where are we?" and "What month is this?" Today was a big day, 83 miles all the way to Harrold, the infamous hometown of my father; the "Community of Progress" as the sign reads. On our way we stopped in Miller to have lunch with Carrie Galinat, Dad's cousin, and two of Mom's aunts, Kathy and Sandi.  Harrold's population may have doubled with the crowd of family we drew here. The fire is roaring outside and fireworks will soon be shot off to make up for the lack of them in Iowa over the fourth.

Fun Fact: Huron, SD, is home to the world's largest pheasant, weighing in at 22 tons, and sculpted by an Idahoan. A true work of art.

Roadkill Report: Bird, Frog, Bird, Bird, Skunk, Skunk, Skunk, Raccoon, Bird, Raccoon, Bambi, Cat, Snake, Cat, Coyote, Frog, Frog, Bird, Bird, Bird,

College Tours and College Friends

With Jeff.

On Wednesday the winds had thankfully subsided. We rode into Red Wing, MN, where Dad did a lot of reminiscing of his college internship days in that cute little town. At Red Wing, we got on the Cannon Valley Trail, a paved path that took us 20 more miles into the town of Cannon Falls. At this point we left the Adventure Cycling route to carve our own path across South Dakota. Right as we neared the end of the trail, we saw another guy who looked like a bike tourist, complete with an American flag flying from a back pannier. We stopped and talked with him at the trailhead for a while. He was Jeff, the retired railroad conductor from California. He was also biking coast to coast, although he was going west to east. Turns out we had plans to stay at the same campground, so we got to continue chatting with him for quite a while. He was great company. We were happily surprised to see him right after we had left the ACA route.

That day we only did 58 miles. Its been getting more difficult to find places to stay that are evenly spaced out without our maps to guide us. We stayed at a bug infested campground right on one of the 10,000 lakes.

Thursday was an exciting day. Carter Muench, Dad's good friend from college, came down from the Twin Cities to ride with us for a while in the morning. He met us at the campground and rode with us into Northfield, whose motto reads "Cows, Colleges, and Contentment". He from then on played our tour guide to St. Olaf and Carleton Colleges, which were beautifully built. We had lunch and caught up with him, a great reunion after some 15 years.

With Carter.

With Dana.

Ooops, Derrick went to work. With Jamie and Alexis.

About 20 miles later, we met up with Dana Patenaude, another college friend, on a bike path into Mankato. This ride also included a stop for ice cream, as usual. Distractions make it a lot easier to ride. We did a total of 69 miles that day, stopping at Dad's brother Derrick and his wife Jamie's house. It was great to see them again and be allowed to sleep in their air conditioned house. We've hit a sudden wave of family and friends now that we're entering the midwest, which is great to help break up the monotony of the trip.

This morning we woke up to thunderstorms, again, at Derrick and Jamie's. Therefore we didn't get to leave until 11, still riding into a bad southwest wind and 80% humidity. I miss the desert.

Shelby's view all summer long.

We stopped at Minnesota State University, Mankato on the way out of town. Turns out it was orientation day at the college, so we stopped at the student union building for lunch since it was open and bustling with students. Although the plan was to get to Redwood Falls by this evening, the wind and humidity slowed us down considerably and zapped a lot of energy. So now, we've only gone 54 miles and are in Sleepy Eye, MN, in a hotel. We plan to be in White to visit Aunt Mary within the next couple of days.

Today is officially our halfway point, and we are still a little bit ahead of schedule.

Roadkill Report: Deer, Raccoon, Bird, Cat, Bird, Bird, Bird

MSU

All Creatures Great and Small, Dead or Alive

We spent our 4th in the lap of luxury with the Wyse family. Our day was highlighted by a ride in the go kart, a few exciting rounds of Yahtzee, and visits to the chicken coop. When it got dark, we had some completely legal sparklers to light on fire, since any other type of firework is illegal in Iowa, and we're all rule followers here. We may have transferred to the neighbors yard to watch them blow some stuff up that they had smuggled in from Missouri later in the night.
All in all, we had a great day off with the Wyse family, and much appreciated the hospitality and a chance to sleep under a real roof.

Saturday we were back at it. We had Russ drive us back to the exact location we had been picked up at, in order to "avoid any asterisks on our trip" as Dad says, "you know, we rode our bikes across the country... *except for that one time that Russ dropped us off a town before the one we were picked up at".

Jed Wyse and Chicken Jane

We took off with a huge tailwind, and found an easy way to cut some miles off of the Adventure Cycling map without even hitting a gravel road, just sticking to the main highway. We only rode 54 miles that day to Dyersville, Iowa, although the map believed we had done 65. Although we hoped to ride the tailwind further, there was no good place to stop further down the road, so we turned in early at a Super 8 in order to avoid an oncoming storm.

That night we met up with Dad's brother Darrin and his wife Anna from Dubuque. They drove down to have dinner with us and we had a great time finally getting to catch up with them and reminisce the good ol' days of working at Cap's Trail Service over some pie.

Downtown Dyersville, Iowa

Sunday we rode 64 miles, still heading north, and with a less noticeable tailwind. We were getting back to the Mississippi River valley, and beginning to climb and descend more hills than we've gotten used to. We finally stopped in a tourist-y town at around 3 that was right on the river. The plan was to stay at Pike's Peak State Park, which was only 3 miles outside of the town. Turns out, those three miles were straight uphill. Though we had a fabulous view of the river from the park, we had to climb a lot more than we wanted to at the end of the day and with stomachs full of bad Mexican food.

Flooded campground

It rained hard in the early evening, but had cleared up by morning. We biked 72 miles that day to La Crosse, WI. Unfortunately, the campground we had hoped to stay at, an RV resort that advertised its prime location right on the banks of the river, was flooded and closed to camping. We must have looked pathetic enough to convince the manager to let us find a patch of grass and use the bathhouse for the night.

Where are we again?

After getting dinner and breakfast supplies downtown in La Crosse, we returned across the bridge on the bike path/sidewalk next to the highway. Cruising the downhill section of the bridge, these two furry river otters pop out from the grass, and begin to scurry across the sidewalk. The first makes it across right in front of the tandem. The second, however, was less fortunate, smashed by the back wheel of the tandem, then left helplessly squirming as I hit it square with both tires. I may have screamed, and I might be traumatized. I have no idea if the otter survived.

It rained hard again last night, but we woke to a cool morning. Unfortunately the winds were entirely from the wrong direction, hitting us from the Northwest at 15-20 mph. Riding was really tough today, so we stopped at mile 15 for second breakfast at the Kwik Trip. That place is amazing. As we left, we met a lady who wanted to know all about our trip, as many we meet do. This lady in particular was very worried about Shelby and how much she was eating. Despite our attempts to explain that yes, Shelby is normally that skinny, and yes, she eats plenty, and no, this trip is not completely child abuse, she remained concerned. While most people tell us we will look back on this trip as the best experience of our lives, this lady told us that we would only look back and say "What the hell were we thinking???"

View from above the Mississippi River

Later on the road, Dad announced that there was roadkill ahead, and a big one. As we got closer, I yelled out, "I don't think that's dead!"Soon we were swerving all over the road, trying desperately to avoid the baby racoon crouched in the road eating a turtle. No one ran over this mammal, thankfully.
69 miles later we're at an RV park in Wabasha, MN. We plan to hit Red Wing tomorrow, then turn west and make our own route across South Dakota.

Roadkill Report: Rabbit, Otter, Rabbit, Bird, Snake, Deer, Raccoon, Bird, Bird, Bird, Almost A Deer, Bird, Bird, Bird, Bird, Badger, Turtle, Baby Raccoon, Bird, Mouse, Bambi, Squirrel, Snake, Frog, Turtle, Frog, Bird, Bird, Bird, Frog, Frog, Frog, Frog, Frog, Frog, Turtle, Turtle, Turtle, River Otter Meg Ran Over

Off The Grid

Saturday was into the wind and raining. We've finally been having some strong headwinds. Everybody we ride by seems to be screaming at us "You're going the wrong way!!!".

Lunch in the rain.

We did get to jump on a nice paved trail for a while in the morning to get back on route from our Wabash detour, the optimum way to catch back up. We did not realize, however, that the western part of Indiana would be lacking in services, at least while following the Adventure Cycling route. It seems as though AC was trying a little too hard to keep us out of populated areas, stores, civilization in general. We rolled into Buffalo's little convenience store, the only open store in town, to find some food at about 3pm, all pretty hungry and getting the shakes. It was the first time we had actually run out of food while on the bike, and so have kept increasingly prepared with backup food the past few days. We did 67 miles that day.
On the way we passed by the farm that our friend Ben would be staying at. The family at the barn had painted on the road an offer for bicyclists to get free water and shade, so we took advantage of that as a rest stop.

We spent the night at a mosquito infested campground across from a group of people blasting their country music very loudly until 10:30pm. We ate our late lunch and dinner in the rain, and took cold showers at the campground, then slept in the humidity. Welcome to the midwest!

Shelby stopping for a bathroom break.

Sunday we rode to Illinois. There's getting to be a whole lot of corn in these states. Illinois wasn't very welcoming with a state sign either. Instead, mom and I got chased by a big dog across the border. Dad yelled at the dog and yelled at us to take off, but we could barely outsprint it. When it finally stopped running after us, it ran off to the side of the road and just sat and watched as the tandem rolled by. Dad got out the Mace and tried to spray it, but our headwind caught the spray and missed the dog anyway. All in all, a poor showing.

Welcome to Illinois, post dog-chasing.

Trash can delivery.

We spent the night in the Ashkum City Park after 83 miles, and got the mayor to open the bathrooms for us. Unfortunately there were no showers available, and the night was hot and incredibly humid. Around 4am, we woke to flashes of lightning and thunder really close to the park. Everybody jumped up, unstaked the tent, grabbed a corner, and hauled it under the park pavilion and out of the storm. We had no idea how bad it was going to be, and at one point were making plans to run to the bathrooms in case of tornado. It finally calmed down around 5:30, so we all were able to get some sleep. Only an hour later, however, the city of Ashkum was getting brand new trash cans. And they were all being unloaded right in front of the park. Trucks pulled up with trash barrels stacked 15 high and filled with water, so the workers just knocked them over to dump the water out, sending them crashing to the ground and sounding like more thunder. Good morning indeed.

We spent the next day outrunning an even worse storm, so we got a hotel that night in Streator after 69 miles. We had to go off route to get to that town, because of course the map wouldn't want to take us anywhere with shelter or stores or any sort of traffic. There was some awesome lightning that night, nothing like what we see out west.

Flooding issues.

Tuesday we rode another 70 from Streator to a campground near Sheffield. It was decided earlier in the day that it would be possible to cut off 30 miles and go through larger towns with more services by going off route the rest of the way to Iowa. So we threw the maps to the corn and trusted our adventure to Google Maps. We had to spend a lot of the day on a busier highway, but near the end spent a few miles on the Hennepin Canal Trail, another old towpath like the Erie Canal Trail was, although this one was slightly rougher.

Wednesday we continued on this trail. It wasn't exactly road bike friendly the whole way. In many places it was overgrown and rocky or muddy, but it was still ridable and a nice break from traffic and the wind. This was at least the case until the trail was flooded from all the rainstorms the past few days. That required a lot of re-navigation and wrong turns. The day that was supposed to be in the 50's for mileage ended up being a 70-miler with all of our wrong turns, but we did make it to an Iowa county campground. The Mississippi River has a lot of water in it right now.

Mississippi River

Also no "Welcome to Iowa" sign, so...

Thursday we hoped to get to Lowden, IA to receive a pick up from Jed and Brenda Wyse, our friends from Cedar Rapids. We claimed we would be there by noon, as we only had to ride 31 miles according to Google. What we didn't know at the time was that Google routed us down many miles of gravel roads, a large percentage of which were made up of loose rock. Gravel riding was extremely slow. We were an hour late to our pickup, and rode 38 miles instead.

The good news is that we are safe at the Wyse ranch and plan to spend all of today here, not on our bike. Riding in a car on the way here was a strange experience. Cars suddenly can go so fast. And they have air conditioning. Imagine that.

Happy Fourth of July from all of us here!