97 miles and 4,000 feet of climbing! Today’s geography met our expectations from South Dakota: endless low hills and prairie. The empty-ness of this land really is quite beautiful. Perhaps it’s the tree-less and unobstructed view of the horizon, or the slight elevation gain— or maybe just the fact that it’s a another state, unfamiliar and thus exciting. Whatever reason, the scenery energized us and we finished the almost-century around 3 pm Central time, or 2 pm Mountain Daylight time. Yep! We changed timezones today! The perfect day for a long ride.

Wildlife in the great plains greeted us quite closely today. Mule deer pranced through the fields and we even had a white tailed deer leap across the road in front of us and run alongside at our pace! Also keeping us company were the looming clouds of a storm coming our direction on mighty crosswinds. But for the most part we didn’t get too wet, and the distant rain made our photos quite interesting and dynamic.

Abandoned towns were scattered along 83 and 248 (both well-maintained and incredibly low-traffic, perfect!) and we saw some interesting things on the side of the road, like giant metal scrap sculptures, a replica T-rex skeleton, and a really buff bull advertising BBQ.

We showered at the local pool and spent the rest of the evening doing what we do best— no, not biking. Relaxing! Tomorrow is a big day and we need to be ready to explore WALL DRUG! The day has finally arrived! We’re headed to Wall, SD! Free ice water, 5 cent coffee, donuts, and more, here we come! (Not an advertisement.) Also, expect a lot of scenery photos tomorrow as we enter the Badlands National Park! Aah! So exciting!

— Marielle