It’s strange to think about, but this bike trip forces all 28 of us into a very vulnerable position on a daily basis. For the most part, the team is totally dependent on the generosity of people for our basic needs (food, shelter, water, directions to where we’re headed). Without the kindness of people, we’d be going up the figurative hill without a pedal, and today that was very evident.After a long day of uphill biking into Newcastle yesterday, the team awoke a little earlier to take advantage of some breakfast compliments of The Old Mill Inn, a local diner in Gillette (thanks, Shawn!). Hot pancakes, bacon, fresh orange juice and biscuits were a definite and welcome upgrade from the standard bowl of cereal that usually powers the first 20 miles of our day. The team feasted to its heart’s content, and as a result discovered a new gear for biking — digestion gear. Let’s just say that speed isn’t a characteristic of said gear.We rolled along the eastern plains of the Wyoming, slowly but surely making our way toward Gillette. Though the terrain didn’t present much of a challenge to our now seasoned team of bikers, the heat, wind, and some rough roads made up for the lack of elevation change. No matter, the team biked on. Three ambitious riders even decided to extend the 78-mile ride to 140 miles in order to visit Devil’s Tower.Once temperatures reaches the upper 90s, one team of riders sought refuge in a small gas station on the outskirts of Gillette. Ice cream and Gatorade were consumed. As luck would have it, we ran into the County Commissioner, who helped us spread the mission of our ride throughout the county. Later in the day, we were treated to a fantastic dinner by some members of First United Methodist Church, our stayover for the night. We dined on burgers, hot dogs, and vegetable shish kebabs, and later took advantage of some showers (and an indoor water park!) at a local rec center. The team will go to bed tonight well fed, showered and ready for the ride to Buffalo tomorrow morning thanks to the generosity of the people of Wyoming.So to everyone who helped us out today, thanks a lot!
Westbound Trains
As we are now safe and sound in Wyoming, it's safe to say we are riding through the west. We left South Dakota after riding through the Black Hills and checking out Mt. Rushmore, and already I miss that state. Riding through South Dakota was just as amazing as last year, the rolling hills and far reaching views made me wish Illinois was just as awesome. I can't quite put my finger on the reason for my affinity for South Dakota, but its tough to leave.One thing that I have been looking forward to in the great state of Wyoming is the Big Horn mountains coming up in a few days. I struggled up the mountains last year, but I'm really excited to do it again this year.We're getting to that part of the trip where you might see less blog posts than at the beginning of the trip. Do not be alarmed that it is because we aren't doing well or that we are completely exhausted, this pattern happens every year. Traditionally we don't have as much internet access out west, and there isn't usually a Starbucks around the corner that we can use for connectivity. I will try my best to keep my blog up to date, but until next time...
Gillette, WY 06/30
Fantastic morning! We started the day at a diner in town for a delicious breakfast of pancakes, biscuits and gravy and bacon (: After taking off anticipating a slow start from full bellys, we caught a hearty tailwind coasting myself, Syzmon, Jordan and Shea along around 23mph. This lasted for a smooth 8 miles until we saw a sign that read "Milled Road." "What's a milled road I asked?" 3 seconds later, I 
discover that a milled road is a super bumpy one. GOOOOD MORNING I4K! A few miles of that and we were back to smooth sailing. Our discovery of the morning was the difference between South Dakota and Wyoming. No knocking SD but Wyoming is so much prettier. Everywhere you look is just natural beauty... no billboards or tourist attractions, just gorgeousness. We even rode through the "Best Town on Earth." Jordan has a sick pic from this sign... I'll be sure he gets it posted. I actually had so much fun at this sign that I left my cell phone there... luckily Nate, Pi, and Max decided to have their own route today (...more to come) and were at mile 27 to pick it up when I realized I left it 20some miles ahead. The other photo was once we rode into Upton...
[[Some cool photos from the day: Shea, Jordan and Syzmon riding ahead... and some of the I4K ladies at lunch.]]Arriving into Gillette, we were hooked up at the rec center for swimming and showers. THIS POOL WAS INSANE. So awesome. Water slides, a lazy river, lilly pads, a diving board, hot tub, sauna, steam room, new BFF Anna... a group of us spent hours playing like spoiled rotten children. Just what we needed after a long day of riding in 90 degrees of heat. As if the day couldn't get any better, our arrival back at the church was filled with the smell of burgers on a grill. No more than 15 minutes after I walked into the church, my tummy was filled with gloriousness.I think that is all for today. We're still waiting on the arrival of Pi, Max and Nate (...it's 9:30... we all arrived around 2:30)... Rumor has it they rode an extra 60 miles, 30 t0 and from, in order to see the Devil's Tower. Rumor also has it that their total milage for the day will be 140 compared to 78. But who knows if these rumors are true... I can tell you one thing, those boys are silly.
Long Time, No Blog, Or: The Serenity of Passing into My Grandmother's Land
Wyoming is a terrific state. Admittedly, I already miss South Dakota, but with a positive look to the West, I'd say we're ready for the desolation of the true West.You'd be surprised how much a loofah in the mail in Rapid City, South Dakota means when you're cycling across the country. Thanks, Dad.
Newcastle, WY 06/29
Ahh the ride through Mt. Rushmore: Quite the challenging m
orning for me. The Black Hills can be beautiful and unforgiving all in one... so gorgeous, so many climbs. I rode with Erik, Mary, and Steve into Rushmore and we had quite a lovely time. Sweet downhills and sick views made up for those crazy uphills... and four gentlemen awaited our arrival at the top of a hill. Looking at this trip as a whole, I'm starting to realize how many awesome places I'm getting to visit... places I may never have packed up and vacationed to but that I have always wanted to see. 
Hanging out in the National Park, the craziest thing happened to me... a butterfly landed on my head... a little symbol that everything is going to work out just fine ;)After Rushmore, the team rode through Hell Canyon... appropriately named based on the scenery... dead trees, sharp turns, and a hill or two... or ten... But still an amazing sight. 
Later in the day I lost a contact... With a lovely -8. 25 perscription, I eyepatched the rest of the day. Entering Wyoming, the team caught a sick tailwind all the way into Newcastle. The church we stayed at was lovely. I hit the hay around 9 knowing that an early wake up lay ahead.
Rapid City Rest Day and off to Wyoming
Cycling a short 58 miles from Wall to Rapid City, SD might not seem like the most strenuous ride, and indeed, the ride itself was relatively straighforward. However, after biking two centuries in the past week through increasingly mountainous terrain and high heat, our group was more than happy to take a rest day in Rapid City.We rode in to our stayover (thank you Bethlehem Lutheran Church!) and were greeted with more than enough sleeping space as well as a washer/dryer and full shower across the street. Showering truly has become a luxury on this trip, and it is always a treat when the entire team can take advantage of high water pressure and hot water.Perhaps even more remarkable was the fact that a Dairy Queen was situated no more than half of a block away. It is safe to say that the entire team indulged itself on ice cream for the next day and a half thanks to the geographic convenience of the DQ.Much of the team took advantage of the rest day by sleeping in the next morning, but five team members took an early morning trip to a local cancer treatment center, thanks to Megan's effort to set up a tour. After spending the rest of the day at Buffalo Wild Wings and the local library as well as just roaming around Rapid City, we all got a good night's sleep and prepared to cross yet another state border in the morning.The ride into Wyoming was beautiful. The hot and bright morning led to a gorgeous view of Mt. Rushmore, where the entire team interacted with tourists from all over the country, spread word about our mission, and even received a few donations from curious and supportive people at the monument.After spending nearly two hours resting at Rushmore and just soaking the iconic monument in, we headed off through the winding mountain roads carved out of the Black Hills. The scenery was incredible and the climbs were gradual enough to be challenging yet not uncomfortable.As luck would have it, the wind was at our backs for nearly the entire afternoon, and the last 40 miles of the 80 mile ride felt fantastic. As we neared the town of Newcastle, a group of four riders took a detour on an adjacent dirt and gravel road and discovered a hidden lake amidst the mountains. The water was crystal-clear and felt refreshing and affirming at the end of such a hot day's ride. Finally, everyone rolled into Newcastle by dinner time, and we were happy to see that the day's cooking crew had prepared plenty of hearty food for the entire team.Now, off to sleep before heading out to Gillette tomorrow!
Ellsworth!
Yesterday was the ride from Wall to Rapid city. After a strange experience at Wall ( I ate three donuts at Wall Drug, a nasty quesadilla that seemed to be made out of canned chicken and was overpriced, and way too much soda. I proceeded back to the stay over and literally passed out and I hadn't changed out of my uniform or even showered yet) I was eager to get to the next stay over and shower and recover from the food I was apparently drugged by. The ride to Rapid city was short, slightly hilly and went a little something like this. Wake up at 5 30 in the morning, hill, downhill, hill, downhill, hill, downhill, saw a fox, hill, downhill etc. On the way to Rapid City, we passed Ellsworth Air Force Base hence the name, we didnt actually go to Ellsworth we went to Rapid City. Ana had a great idea about going on the Air Force base to buy groceries for the team since it is tax free and cheaper, and we both could get on base since we are military dependents. Unfortunately, the grocery store on base is closed on mondays and that was the day we were planning on going.The stay over in Rapid City came close to being one of the best stay overs yet. There are 5 qualifications for best stayover.1. Showers 2. Laundry 3. Food 4. Internet 5. Sleeping areasThe stay over had a shower, laundry right across the street, wireless internet, the sleeping areas were very spread out, and although we weren't provided any food we had a very good meal cooked by the team and many places to eat right around the corner.A lot of bike maintenance was done in Rapid City due to the available bike shops. One in particular was very nice because they looked over several of the team's bikes free of charge. Another event that happened was, heading over to Buffalo Wild Wings to watch the Brazil vs. Chile game. Before the game I went to a grocery store with Jill and we bought food for the day to save some money. However, we ended up buying a lot more food than expected and ended up eating a ton periodically through the day. We ended up sharing some of it with other riders but I must say I was impressed at how much we ate. Now it is 1100 pm and I have to get up at 6 am. However, I have a donut, a banana, orange juice, yogurt all of which is leftover from the mountains of food I bought and the Team breakfast food to look forward to.
Rapid City, SD 06/27-06/28
Oh what a lovely morning. Plenty of hills heading out of Wall but Diana, Shao and I conquered them like the champs we are. I even wrote a song climbing one of the hills: "Just get to the top of the hill; Cause then you'll be at the top of the hill; so pedal, pedal, pedal, pedal, pedal, pedal, pedal; and then you won't have to pedal no more." Diana also sang "Somewhere over the rainbow" to me. Unfortunately that was the only line she knew... so were working on it... Oh and MOM: Look!! I saw sheep!! 
Arrival into Rapid City was nice. Greg and I prepped a chocolate chip pancake dinner with fruit and orange draaank. I then spent a little time on myself... something I don't do often on this trip. I washed, dried, and straightened my hair, put on a face, and head out to B-Dubbs with some of the team. It was lovely.We had a rest day today and in the morning I took a well-needed showered and did some laundry. While waiting on the dryer, I even painted my nails... I feel like a hundred bucks. We head to DQ for breakfast (I probably haven't included this much in my blog but this trip is basically also a Dairy Queen tour across America). 
Check out Steve's breakfast...In order to continue traditional hospital and doctors visits on rest days, Steve and I took a trip to an urgent care. A few weeks back, Steve noticed a small lump on his back... having a history of cancer, this is something that has been worrisome. After contacting his oncologist, we spent part of our morning getting this little lump looked at. After flatting out and turning a 1.5 mile bike ride into 7, good news graced us when a doctor took a look and instantly knew that it was just a little cyst, probably pus filled, and nothing to worry about. Steve is an amazing person and I could not be more relieved to know that our recent prayers had been answered and the worry could dissolve away. I can only imagine how much of a relief it was for him to hear this... (he's right here and says he'll be updating his blogs soon...).
The rest of our day was spent hanging out with the gang, a trip to Subway, a 3 hour nap, and then trying to recall the past 6 days so that I could update my blog. We head out of South Dakota tomorrow and into Wyoming. Should be awesome (:
Wall, SD 06/26
Another straight up driving day for this girl. I declared it 90s day and filled the rest stops with Chumbawomba, Hanson, and Celine Dion. Conor, Steve, and Greg learned how to shimmy and the rest of the team had a great time reliving the memories of the 90s. 
Around mile 60 of this century day, we hit the Badlands. I can't even describe how amazing this 30 mile stretch was. So I won't even try. I'll just share some photos!
Upon arrival into Wall, Megan, Max and I checked out Walldrug. Neato. This was also the first day of Greg and myself's cooking rotation and we amazing the team with some homemade Mac'n'Cheese (: Check out our sweet aprons.
Murdo, SD 06/25
The ride out of Chamberlain was absolutely breath-taking. Starting with a group of 6, we dropped to 3 when Jill and Steve rode back with me for 30 miles. They're both into musicals and singing, so the morning was filled with lovely song.Murdo was an awesome town. Quite different from what I'm used to... you could see both ends of the town from the steps of the school we stayed in. Small town... big ice cream. I spent my afternoon handwashing some laundry and playing a few games of bananagrams. Early bedtime and my day was complete.
Chamberlain, SD 06/24
Not much to say about the ride this day. My knee acted up, per usual, but with the early arrival into Chamberlain I had plenty of time for rest and activities. Steve accompanied me to a local store to pick up some stuff and our day turned into quite the adventure. We got the team into the local pool, checked out a fireworks shop, hooked up 7 pizzas from Pizza Hut (yeaaa Pizza Hut Chamberlain... thanks so much!), hit the South Dakota Hall of Fame (Bob Barker is from there), and checked out the AMAZING VIEW of the river valley.Since today was the 3rd Thursday in June, Eamon, Diana, and some cooking assistants hooked up an awesome Thanksgiving Dinner of French Toast, Pizza, and plenty of snacks. The team gathered at one long table and all took turns saying what we were thankful for. The church we were staying at had their weekly Thursday mass at 7pm so Steve and I decided to check it out. While this was a Zion Lutheran church and we're both Catholic, the church let us join in worship. One of the best parts of this trip is having so many eye opening opportunities, and while we stay at a ton of churches we rarely are able to attend masses and I'm really glad we took advantage of the opportunity.Post mass, we headed to the pool for a quick swim and shower... I ended up lounging instead, without doing either... lack of sleep caught up with me and I hit the hay. Here's a picture of one of our daily chores... van unpacking, we had a nice assembly line this day... check out Conor's kicking technique.
Mitchell, SD 06/23
And the South Dakota winds come into play. Really not much other than that too say... except we did start off the day with an awesome dance party (see left), courtesy of Eamon's mosher. Upon arrival into Mitchell, we did get to visit a local cancer center. I've never actually toured a cancer and it wasn't what I expected to be honest. I think I found the Chemotherapy room to be the most difficult to be in. Comfy loungers lined up, each with a little television. Not what I expected... the tour was extremely educational and based on the never-ending questions the team had, it's safe to say I'm not the only one who was grateful for the opportunity.
Sioux Falls, SD 06/22
This morning started out quite humorous. Nate has never ridden with Shao and I so he promised he would meet up with us at lunch and ride with us the 2nd half of the day. While he rode off, I guilted him into turning around since he made Shao cry... but she didn't actually cry... Anyways, we had a lovely day riding together. After 80 miles, we came upon one of the most amazing pieces of scenery to date. The tri-state marker of SD, IO, and MN. So amazing. So amazing. 98 miles in, we crossed paths with more of our riders, lounging at a gas station eating ice cream. We joined, obviously... I had some ice cream, and Nate had a 5 course meal of gas station food.My bike has been giving me some crazy issues the past 2 days... basically it just shifts on its own. Examples? Sure. Climbing uphill? I'm going to shift 6 gears so you have no resistance. On a flat? I'm going to shift 4 gears justtt because. Want to shift up 1? How about 3 instead. Want to shift down 1? No. Thanks bike. So across from the ice cream gas station was a bike shop... Pi, Steve, Mary and I hit it up. Turns out my derailleur hanger was cracked... cheap piece, if you have an extra... or a few days to get one in... I have neither. So the wonderful bike shop man at Hanleys (? I think...) found a hanger for a different bike and welded away to make it fit. I completely lucked out to find such an awesome bike shop with generous people willing to drop what they were doing and create a bike part right then and there for me (: (:Heading back to the church, we made it a century day and upon arrival were given some interesting news... CiCi's Pizza was letting us all eat at their buffet FO FREEE. While I was pretty nervous due to a previous CiCi's experience in Florida, I hopped in the van and took part in a fantastic dinner. The CiCi's in Sioux Falls is WONDERFUL. Delicious, clean, friendly, and quite generous.Overall my first day in South Dakota was lovely, and it was the South Dakotians that made it that way.
Pictures!! Nate and Shao's 1st date and my 1st Century (This blog just got way cooler)
Blog Catch Up. #1 Albert Lea,MN- Mitchell, SD 6/20-23/2010
This week has been one of very few chances of computer access and exhausting days. Sorry I haven't been able to update as frequently as I have! Here goes.Albert Lea, MN was very accomodating for the team. Meals were provided- something the team hadn't seen for a while. It is nice to be a ride leader when meals are provided because half of the chores are already done and Jordan and I do not have to think about breakfast. The food offered at the stayover was accented by bacon. Bacon in the salad, the eggs, chicken, everywhere! The vegetarians on the team did not leave dissapoijnted for there were mountains of fruit and non bacon products too. The ride into Albert Lea was challenging. A strong headwind and rain made the ride pretty miserable; until the last ten miles where the sun was shining and the heat warmed us up. Any grumpy thoughts were erased when touched by the sun's warmth. I rode with a fast group today and we managed to tackle the day with a good speed in the headwind. The stayover was close to a pool which had a hot tub. Sometimes, we are spoiled.The next day to Jackson, MN was another toughy with headwinds. The day was a little slower than previous because most of the team mixed up their riding groups. My group included Eamon, Pi, Gabrielle, Ana, Diana, Kevin and Michell. It was a very fun day despite the headwinds. About halfway through the day Kevin, Eamon and I got a closer look at a windmill. Amazing. I was excited for Mitchell, SD because the team finally had a hospital visit at a cancer center. The group woke up early to arrive on time for the appointment and to dodge some potential heat for the day. South Dakota is wonderful with rolling hills and lack of trees. Instead of trees, South Dakota has cows and a handful of buffalo. On our way to Mitchell, Shao had not one but TWO flats. The first was thankfully in a beautiful river valley near a drowning cow. This cow was mooing for his life! Funny, the next day I heard on the radio that Hwy 16 (the river valley that we were in) was completely flooded. At least we got through in time! I'm sure the cow made it out safely. Two miles later.... you guessed it. ANOTHER flat from Shao. I couldn't stop laughing. Then I fell asleep as she continued to fix her flat with assistance from Pi. For ONE HOUR. After that hour, the wheel was almost pumped up. A few more pumps... and BOOM. The tube broke. Seeing as we were only a few miles from lunch, we called the van to pick Shao up to fix her tire at lunch. While the van was making it's way back, I continued my beauty sleep on the highway. I slept so soundly that the tar from the road caked on my jersey.The hospital visit in Mitchell, SD was very interesting. The tour guide was very knowledgeable and taught us alot about radiation in particular. It was good for the team to finally get some time in a cancer facility.
Want some Mayo Clinic on that? Rochchester, MN 6/19/2010
Rest day! I did some laundry and starved myself for most of the day. Until... I had a cinnamon roll that was the size of my face and unlimited coffee. I headed back to the stayover to get ready for our visit of the Mayo Clinic.Our visit to the Mayo Clinic cancer library was phenomenal. Here I learned how the Mayo clinic was formed and on what principles the Mayo clinic strives for. I was able to pick up an insane amount of paper work on cancer stats and treatments (of which take up too much room in my bag). One thing that is remarkable about the clinic is that all the doctors in the clinic are paid on salary, not on a patient by patient basis. This system helps doctors focus more on their patients and their specific diagnosis rather than accumulating money. In an earlier post, I disscussed the negative effects of doctors on salary. At the Mayo clinic, these reservations are lifted because the salary is accomodating and the Mayo clinic is leading in research and medicine. I want to work here one day without a doubt. The rest of the day was spent catching up on blogs and planning a visit to a hospital in Mitchell, SD. Not too exciting but I am excited to finally have some visits to hospitals.
I love rest days
Riding through the Badlands two days ago was amazing. The morning started off good, even with scattered thunderstorms. We had a long leisurely lunch before we entered the Badlands together at around mile 60. It was a lot of fun climbing the rock formations (not on our bikes of course), and my arms were aching a little after all that climbing. There were a few big hills in the Badlands, and each hill just got bigger and longer. Towards the end, after a huge uphill climb with ferocious headwinds, we finally came to the top. We got off our bikes and sat the the edge of the cliff, silently appreciating the beautiful scenery below us, and the bison we spotted far away. Even though I enjoyed the Badlands, I was exhausted from battling the relentless headwinds at the end of our 97 miles day. After seeing so many giant billboards advertising for Wall Drug, we finally went there to see what all the hype was about. I think the free water, food and the 5 cents coffee was what made everyone excited. Lauren and Greg made us a delicious dinner of cheese pasta. For someone who doesn't like pasta, I must say that pasta was really good. What a great way to end our long and hard day.Yesterday was an easy ride of 58 miles. The roads were really deceiving though. They look flat, but as you gradually approach them the hills start to get bigger and bigger, and then you begin to wonder when will you ever see the bottom of that big hill in front of you. Rapid City is such a pretty place, surrounded by mountains. A trip to the bike stop, grocery store, another impressive dinner of chocolate chip pancakes by Lauren and Greg, and a team meeting was what concluded my day.I want to really rest on my rest day, so I don't have much planned for today. Other than trying to sleep in, I spent 2 hours cleaning up and working on my bike. Yup that's what rest days are for.
Murdo to Wall (The Badlands!)
Yesterday morning, we all woke up an hour early in order to prepare for an extra-long day of riding through the Badlands. As we set out on a nearly 100 mile ride, the early morning sun quickly gave way to ominous, rain laden clouds on the horizon and over the hills to the west. Luckily, a strong wind pushed the storm aside before it hit any of the groups too hard.A combination of cool weather, lightly rolling hills, and almost no traffic made the first 60 miles or so go by like a breeze. About three miles out from the entrance to the Badlands National Park, we met at a roadside gift shop / gas station where we finally acquired our new team mascot. Brad, a hilariously happy prairie dog, is the newest member of the Illini 4000! Welcome to the team Brad!From there, we rode to the park entrance and took a team picture before paying $7 to enter. Within a half mile, the scenery was stunning. Land formations unlike most of us had ever seen before spanned the horizon just as the sun decided to emerge from behind the morning cloud cover. After riding only a few miles into the national park on freshly paved roads, the adventurous side of the team took over, and we ditched the bikes to climb on the dusty monoliths all around us.As the sun rose higher and the temperature climbed, we rode through the gorgeous park, stopping at various viewpoints as well as the visitor center in order to take pictures. None of us will ever forget the near-perfect ride through the Badlands.About thirty miles later on the way out of the park, the skies once again darkened, as if on cue. As we neared 100 miles pushing ourselves into Wall, South Dakota, the winds picked up and really tested our strength at the end of the day.Rolling into Wall felt fantastic. We unloaded the van, and many of us walked the few blocks over the (in)famous Wall Drug for coffee, FREE ICE WATER, donuts, and snacks. Lauren and the cooks for the night made a delicious pasta with cheese sauce, and much of the team watched a movie before satisfyingly slipping into a deep sleep for the night.
Helloo Murdo!
Today, we rode about 72 miles to Murdo, SD. There were awesome clouds this morning, some that made us think it was going to rain. But sure enough, the sun popped out and was out for the rest of the day, which was very hot. Lunch break involved the usual peanut butter jelly and some music and dancing along side the road.Some of the team members ran into a man who is biking across the country solo; Seattle to D.C.. His daughter is driving along as his support vehicle. It was very cool to spend a good while sharing stories of what we have seen and will see.The rest of the night went well. We were able to shower :) and made lentils and rice on the camp stove (there was no stove for us to use at the stayover). After dinner, we had a team meeting about safety precautions with snakes and RVs that we might start seeing in the near future.Fortunately, there are 2 ice cream shops across from the stayover. So most of us took the opportunity to enjoy some tasty goodies. Other than that, a few people shot hoops in the school gym and the night calmed down. We are all super excited for the Badlands tomorrow!
Pictures In No Particular Order: WI-SD
South Dakota
Our experience in Minnesota was bittersweet. The weather was rather disappointing in the mornings, it often rained all morning until lunchtime. However, after lunch it almost always cleared up and we got beautiful weather riding into town.Our ride into South Dakota was challenging since it was 97 miles in 90 degree heat. We took a pretty comfortable pace throughout, and we got into Sioux Falls around 5:00pm. Greg and I decided to ride another 3 miles to complete a century, and it was a great near-sprint through town to finish the day. After snacks and a meal from the church, Eamon and Jaime managed to get us all free dinners at Cici's. The food was delicious and in huge amounts, and the owner Neil was awesome.In Mitchell, SD we had a chance to visit a cancer clinic. We had the opportunity to see some of the equipment they use to administer radiation therapy, and it was really impressive. It's amazing how much technology goes into administering the treatment. We slept at Mitchell Christian School, in the huge gym. Mary and I were on wake-up and ended up doing it in the form of a morning announcement over the PA system.Today, we rode from Mitchell, SD to Chamberlain, SD. It was a pretty short day with a crosswind, and I had a great time riding with Jordan and Pi, aka the Riders of Brohan. We had great conversation about good fantasy novels, oldschool RPGs, and the prospect of playing D&D. After lunch in Kimball, SD, we stopped multiple times to look at a herd of buffalo running and some huge longhorn bulls. It was pretty majestic to see such huge animals running around in the fields as we were biking. We were greeted with a gorgeous downhill into town, and a view of the hills that we'll soon be going over.