Day 20 -July 22 - The Dakota winds were benign and helped me across the Missouri

Day 19 - July 21 -  Lemmon, SD  to Mobridge, SD- 100.1miles (161.1 kms) - total so far 1523.4 miles  (2450.7 kms)

Distance: 100.1 miles (161.1 kms)

Total time: 9hrs07mins (including  lunch, a long chat with a curious boy, and dinner) 

Average Moving Speed: 14.0mph (22.5 kph)

Maximum Speed: 34 mph (54.7 kph) 

Calories burned: 4704

Elevation gained: 2283 ft (695.9 meters)

Weather:  Sunny and cool in Lemmon in the morning with temperatures about 60 degF (15C). Sunny and relatively cool all day with temperature at 77F (24C) when I arrived in Mobridge.  Wind mostly from the North and so it was a crosswind all day with a  bit of a tail wind for the last 30miles as the route turned more to the south.  

Powered by:  Breakfast - 1  banana, 1 muffin,1 Danish roll,  1 large bowl of Raisin Bran, yogurt and a lot of orange juice; Modest lunch of a liter of chocolate milk, many Fig Newtons (Fig Rolls) and 2 bananas; 1 Protein bar; 2 liters of water and 2 liters of Gatorade, and my old temptation, a Mississippi Mud Pie.

After the cool front passed through overnight, the winds switched to the North and remained quite noticeable.  Luckily for me, my planned route headed east for about 50 miles and then turned southeast to cross the Missouri river at Mobridge.  Unluckily for me, about the time I turned southeast, the wind died down.  It was a cross-wind therefore for much of the day but was not too bothersome except for the constant howling in my ears.  The landscape did not change much over 80 miles but when I approached the Missouri river, its bluffs came into view - a sharp drop down to the  Grand river (a tributary) was, of course, followed by a long climb on the other side.  

Lots of old 1950s cars in this junkyard - some rehab possibilities here

When gold was discovered in the Black Hills in the 1870s,  a stage road was built to Bismarck  from Deadwood and here is a post marking the route

The road had little traffic and  I retract what I wrote yesterday about the shoulders (margins) in South Dakota. For most of the 100 miles,it was wide enough and relatively clear of debris.  Highlights of the day were the to-and-fro pattern across the road of a crop duster spread foul-smelling chemicals, many herds of cattle who found me amusing, and non-galloping horses.  After staring at me for a bit, cattle like to gallop along the fence line as I ride on - and then get bored. When one of the herd gets the idea to bolt, most of the other cattle join it for about 100 meters and then they seem to think collectively "why are we doing this?" and stop.  They then go back to chewing the cud and contemplate their inevitable trip to Burger King or Mickey D's. (Or whatever it is that cattle think).  I thought that horses would be more likely to gallop but they seem to consider that beyond a day's work. 

This crop duster plane was no more than 100 feet (30meters) over the road

The chemicals smelled foul and the strong North wind blew them across the road

Another 4% grade conquered - many of them today.  The route was hillier than I expected.

It's a long boring day for them when my passing provides the highlight

McIntosh, SD at midday

Another set of beasts who found my pedaling to be of interest

What the Dakota winds will do to an unoccupied house

It took a long time for this coal train to pass which provoked the high school algebra question: "If a bicycle is traveling at 15mph and a train that is half-a-mile long is traveling at 30mph, how long will it take between the front and the end of the train to pass the bicycle"?

McLaughlin, SD - vegetarians unlikely to be welcomed

I stopped in a couple of towns on the Standing Rock Indian Reservation.  They show evident signs of    lack of upkeep of both buildings and infrastructure (roads).  Many of the cars seemed barely road-worthy.  At a mini-mart in McLaughlin, a young boy rode up on a decrepit bike and was fascinated by mine.  He asked a lot of questions about the derailleur and how it worked, the GPS and what/how it recorded, and even the drop-down bars.  He seemed puzzled by my trip asking if I had come from Little Eagle, a nearby town.  When told that I pedaled all day everyday, he asked the obvious question: "where do you go to the bathroom?".   He did not ask the other obvious question - why are you doing this trip?

I thought that I was finished with Lewis and Clark - but here they are again on a plaque memorializing Sacagawea (their interpreter)

Crossing the Missouri again after about 10 days since near Helena, MT

Bridge about a mile long across the Missouri - hardly any traffic

I just lost an hour's sleep

The last 20 miles were quite up and down and even included a hill with a grade over 7%.  Finally, I crossed the long bridge over the Missouri river that is part of a very long narrow lake Oahe from a dam further south.  Only two cars passed me on the mile-long span and I rode a bit around Mobridge to push the odometer for the day over 100 miles. If the winds are kind, it will be another 100 miles tomorrow to Aberdeen.