Today was described by some riders as one of the easiest, if not the easiest day of the ride thus far. We rolled through more South Dakota farmland with tailwinds ranging up to over 20 miles per hour — every tired cyclist’s dream. Along the way, we ran into some weather, visited a tractor museum (woot woot), made a friend, and got to our stayover earlier than we have in weeks. We’ve spent our half day here in Chamberlain, SD resting and relaxing before a few more days of riding into our rest day in Wall.
Ride Overview
Mileage: 71.3
Elevation: 1,258’
Ride Dedication: Andrea Dion, Lucas’s mom, a breast cancer survivor.
Points of Interest: South Dakota Tractor Museum and More, Bean Box Espresso, Angela’s Bakery, The Smoking Mule, St. Joseph’s Thrift Store
Quote of the day
“If I don’t eat a pound of fudge right now, I’m going to cause a forest fire.”
Tales of the Trail
As much as we love South Dakota, we have to admit, this state is tiring us out a bit. After so many consecutive long rides, we got a bit of a groggy start to our morning but were perked up by our daily activity. Claudia had us each share a positive moment from yesterday, and we all chose something either relating to one another or the one and only Corn Palace. We were sad to say goodbye to our beautiful stayover, but we know we’re leaving it in good hands as the Texas 4000 will be rolling through and sleeping there as well tomorrow night.
The Midwest beats anywhere in the world with its sunsets — and provides a gorgeous backdrop for morning van packing.
We rolled out under gloomy skies, and appreciated their keeping us cool until it started pouring at our first rest stop. We were only delayed for about an hour due to thunder and lightning, and used it to spend time inside a truly lovely Sinclair’s gas station, as well as our beloved van. The thunder left us quickly, but the rain kept pouring on, although it was thankfully on our backs. While we all got very wet, we enjoyed being on the road as opposed to riding through mud, and appreciated the free shower for both us and our bikes.
Joey tries to enjoy breakfast while waiting out the rain, but seems a little unnerved by this moose friend.
A rainy selfie from the road.
Olaf, Anthony, and Lucas explore an abandoned train near the road.
Our second and final rest stop of the day was at the South Dakota Tractor Museum, where we enjoyed looking at the assorted historic tractors of the Midwest. A big thank you to the Tractor Museum for keeping us out of the rain until it stopped for good! We appreciated being able to stay dry and see one of the great attractions of South Dakota.
Olivia and Joey take shelter from the weather outside the Tractor Museum.
Upon leaving the museum, one of our groups ran into another cyclist out on the road named Ed. Ed is on a cross country bike ride like we are, heading to Eugene, Oregon — one of our stops later on! — to visit his sister. Ed is doing this ride a bit more traditionally than we are, traveling with all of his gear on his bike (a good reminder of how grateful we are to have SAV by our side carrying our luggage for us). He took us into Chamberlain before wishing us good luck, and we also wished him well. Ed, if you’re reading this, thank you for sharing your story for us and joining us on a bit of our journey today. It was truly the highlight of this week :)
Kev, Maaike, Logan, and Neal take a pic with Ed before sending him off on the rest of his journey! Until we meet again!
Rolling into Chamberlain, the landscape around us steadily turned gorgeous. The rolling hills and wide fields of South Dakota are giving us a sneak peak of the beautiful views the West has in store for us later on our trip. Despite some chaotic crosswinds as we entered town, we made it into Chamberlain at record pace and were left with plenty of time to explore. We visited nearly every local business, including the nearby St. Joseph’s Thrift Store, the quaint Bean Box Espresso, and the incredibly delicious Smoking Mule for lunch. We loved meeting so many locals — everyone immediately recognized we weren’t from the area — and trying so much delicious food. Chamberlain has been a lovely gem of the Midwest, and we’re so excited to see what other lovely surprises the state of South Dakota holds for us :D
Today, we crown Tommy as the king of backpack carrying (current record: 5 backpacks).
Emma and Neal found a good place to sit! We’ve learned to truly appreciate any chair that isn’t a bike seat.
Jack, Joey, Anthony, and Michael enjoy a movie night back at the stayover.
Cyclist’s Corner
Today’s Rider: Logan Maurer
How are you feeling today?
I’m feeling good! I’m feeling very tired — we had two one-hundred mile days not too long ago and I’m still recovering a bit from those. Today was very rainy for almost the entire day, but the riding was really easy so I’m feeling good and looking forward to some sleep tonight.
You’ve fundraised thousands of dollars for our cause. What has been the most impactful fundraising experience you’ve had?
I did a fundraising event for one of the basketball games. We did, I guess you would call it, running tables, at the basketball game and it was really fun! It was very early on in the year so I was just starting to meet the people on the team and getting to spend time [with them]. So I very much enjoyed having that experience, and it was also fun getting to see some of the games because as a freshman I had not seen a whole lot of sporting events.
What keeps you going when it gets difficult to put in all of those miles or even to get on the bike?
We typically break it into 20-mile chunks — that helps a lot because it’s good places to stop for food, to refill bottles, so that has been very helpful. But, I think it’s really been just talking with people that gets me through tough days, because all of our groups are different everyday and the people you’ll be riding with all have different personalities. Some groups you’ll talk maybe a little bit, some groups it’s singing songs, some groups it’s, like, non-stop talking or playing “My Cows.” It’s just a lot of different things to do and it’s just fun to hang out!
Do you have a favorite accessory to wear with your ride uniform?
On my bike, hanging from my saddlebag is a little tag — it’s my dog’s collar tag, so I like to think she’s riding with me and it’s nice because I’ve been missing her a little bit. But in terms of things I have on my body, I really like my sun sleeves, they’ve been nice. I never really like applying sunscreen, so it saves me a big chunk of time.
What’s your rest stop routine?
My rest stop routine is usually grabbing snacks first, filling my pockets, and then eating a little bit... From there, it’s usually putting on sunscreen or grabbing water, but I usually forget to put on sunscreen and water and do that at the very end. I don’t really have a set routine, I just kind of hit all those things.
In the remaining portion of the ride, where are you looking forward to visiting the most?
I haven’t thought a whole lot about this. I’ve said Crater Lake in the past, because I know it’s a lot of past riders’ favorites and I’ve seen pictures and it’s beautiful. I think it’s also going to be a very big milestone just to hit the Western side of the U.S., the ocean. So I am looking forward to that as a big milestone.
(A reminder that any unfamiliar terms can be found in our handy I4K dictionary.)