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.