We’ve been warned for weeks about conquering the state of South Dakota. Today, we understood why. Despite riding almost 90 miles, today almost felt like a rest from the days prior, with cross-tailwinds accompanying us almost the entire day. Rather than an extremely difficult physical challenge, the day proved to be much harder mentally, as we spent over 60 miles of the day riding on one road in a completely straight line. As teammates, we’re growing stronger and more unified than ever, from supporting one another on the bike to candidly sharing our bathroom activities. Let our week in South Dakota begin!

ride overview

Mileage: 88.9

Elevation: 2,619’

Each day, the team takes a moment in our morning circle to dedicate the ride to someone who has experienced, or is currently experiencing, cancer. Riddhima and I have decided to begin including these dedications in the daily journals. If there is anyone you would like us to ride for, feel free to leave a comment.

Ride Dedication: Molly McDermott, the sister of a friend of Claudia. Molly was recently diagnosed with Ewing Sarcoma, a form of bone cancer.

Points of Interest: Triple View Drive-In, Sioux Falls Bicycle Company, Sioux Falls

quote of the day

tales of the trail

When we began our cross country bike ride, our teammate Neal was constantly singing a song from a movie he watched before leaving for New York, Smokey and the Bandit. It goes a little something like this:

East bound and down,

Loaded up and truckin’,

We gonna do what they say can’t be done.

We’ve got a loooong way to go,

And a short time to get there,

I’m east bound, just watch ol’ Bandit run.

We chugged up and down the Appalachian mountains along the East coast, and without fail, Neal could not stop singing this song. So, we did what we had to do — and watched the movie. Now, all eighteen team members can sing “East Bound and Down” from heart, and it’s become a team favorite, even if the movie wasn’t exactly a cinematic masterpiece.

So why do I bring this up, when we are very much rolling West, and none of us are planning on future careers as truckers? Believe it or not, we feel that this earworm represents our journey across the country fairly accurately. The van is loaded up and truckin’, we’ve got a looooong way to go  — and a short time to get there, if we want to get enough rest for the next day of riding. But most importantly — we’re gonna do what they say can’t be done. There are days where this trip is daunting. Seeing a 90 mile day, following a 101 mile day, which was preceded by a 95 mile day, was daunting. But, like the endless cancer patients and survivors we ride for, we’re gonna do what they say can’t be done. Boy did we push today.

Luckily, we had a fairly uneventful ride compared to the adventures of yesterday’s century. Our morning started with an activity from Logan, who hosted a fix-a-flat presentation, demonstrated on his own bike with his brilliantly pink tubes. Logan’s expertise earned him a round of applause from the team — we truly don’t know where we’d be without our trusty mechanic. We rolled out to six miles of Spirit Lake, and then turned on to State Highway 9, a road we would soon get to know very well.

The battle of rerouting around flooding was much less intense than the day before. We hit one small ocean early in the ride, but thankfully found very few problems after that. The water may be a small issue for us on our bike trip, but the flooded farm fields that steadily rolled in and out of our field of vision reminded us of the huge impact they have on people's lives. The damage we’ve seen has left a mark in our memories, and while it may drive us to a ride a few extra miles, this is little compared to the other issues they are causing. We’re thinking of the people in the Midwest who have seen damaged property and other problems caused by the flooding we’ve witnessed.

Even when we’re rolling through endless farm fields, we still manage to find little gems here and there. About 40 miles in, we hit one of our favorite food spots on the trip so far, the Triple View Drive-In. We filled up on burgers and ice cream, and pinned ourselves on yet another map of the United States! Huge thanks to the Drive-In for their delicious treats and very reasonable prices. We also rolled our way past the South Dakota state border and got another classic I4K sign picture. We enjoyed our small stay in Iowa, but were somewhat okay with leaving its endless flooding and very long day of riding behind.

We’ve arrived safe and sound at our destination here in Sioux Falls, and enjoyed having some free time this afternoon as opposed to the past couple of days. We stopped by the Sioux Falls Bicycle Company for some spare equipment and repairs, and journeyed to the falls themselves for a little bit of sightseeing after dinner. Tomorrow will be a much shorter day — only 71 miles, yippee! — which our bodies dearly need. We’re looking forward to our somewhat longer stretch here in South Dakota as we get closer to being halfway done with the ride, and thank you again for following along with us :)

cyclist’s corner

Today’s Rider: Kavin Prashaad

How are you feeling today?

Pretty good. It was a good ride. Good dinner. Good nap. I have a headache though, from when I hit my head doing pull ups. But, yeah, good! 

You’ve fundraised thousands of dollars for our cause. What has been the most impactful fundraising experience you’ve had?

When me and Tommy were out on the quad, we sold a bunch of Curtis Orchard donuts and a bunch of Jewel cookies and a bunch of other stuff. We were out there for like literally all day and it was hot that day and I was twirling around a big whiteboard… I don’t think we raised that much, but it was still cool!

What keeps you going when it gets difficult to put in all of those miles or even to get on the bike?

I think about it case-by-case. Each ride is different and my reasons for each are different. Usually, I want to ride and I like to ride when I feel good and I have the energy and I’m motivated or if I know it’s gonna be an interesting route or whatever. I don’t necessarily force myself to ride if it gets hard, because logically it doesn’t make a lot of sense – I’m here to help fight cancer... Whether or not I am or am not riding any particular day doesn’t affect that. If I really don’t want to ride, I don’t push myself to ride because it’s probably not good for my body or my energy or my attitude! So, I don’t know, I just listen to whatever I want to do for the day. As far as what pushes me to want to ride, just in general, I like to ride and it’s usually nicer outside than inside. Also, the mission is important so I think about that – but I also think about that when I’m in the van too, so that’s not too specific or particular to just riding.

Do you have a favorite accessory to wear with your ride uniform?

I don’t have many accessories. I mean, I wear my watch and I wear these bracelets, so I guess just that.

What’s your rest stop routine?

Usually, I take my gloves off, helmet off, hand sanitize. Then, that’s about it. I’ll go inside whatever building that we’re at, assuming there’s a building there, because there’ll probably be air conditioning and that’s nice. Go to the bathroom. Go buy a drink or something. Yeah, there’s not much of a routine past the first 20 seconds! Somewhere in there I’ll fill up my bottle, and then that’s about it.

In the remaining portion of the ride, where are you looking forward to visiting the most?

I don’t even know all the places that we’re visiting! I haven’t checked that since we found out, I’m pretty sure. I was trying to kind of have it be a surprise during the week-of because we usually find out during the week-of… the national parks… the Redwoods, the Grand Tetons. All the nature places! 

(A reminder that any unfamiliar terms can be found in our handy I4K dictionary.)