Day 25: Miller to De Smet, SD

The weather report was calling for afternoon storms so we woke up at 6 AM hoping to get an early start. When I pulled back the window curtain to check out the weather, it looked as though the window was all fogged up. I thought it was the air conditioners' fault fogging up the windows, That was until I opened the door, it was solid soupy fog outside.

Since fog and riding do not mix, we decided to go back to bed for an hour or so. The fog started to clear up around 7 . We packed up the bikes and headed down to the local breakfast joint, The Ranch Cafe. There were lots of cars in the parking lot, always a good sign. And we were not disappointed! First of all the tea came out piping hot and was probably the best cup of restaurant tea that we've had. Secondly, they had pie! After my delicious breakfast of cheesy hashbrowns and eggs, I had a slice of Chess Pie. It was the best pie I've ever had. It was sort of like a lemon bar poured into a pie crust with whip cream on top. OHHH Yum!

This is the pie I've been dreaming about. (Well that and my mom's strawberry pie.)
After a hearty breakfast (I think Marc polished off 3 eggs, 3 slices of bacon, a huge portion of hashbrowns and 2 slices of toast), we were off. The weather forecasters were calling for rain and 20-30 mph headwinds. We were lucky as it was fairly calm in the morning and we cruised along at about a 16 mph average for the first 30 miles or so.

As we approached the town of Huron, the winds picked up and we could only ride about 9 mph as we cranked our pedals into the fierce headwinds. In Huron, we decided to stop at a picnic table to eat or packed lunch. As soon as Marc unclipped his foot from the pedal about 35 mosquitos swarmed him. I barely stopped pedaling until we were out of there. We opted instead for an inside restaurant. As we pulled into the parking lot of the Taco John, an older man in a pickup truck stopped us and told us that there was a big storm approached with hail. He told us that there was a truck stop about 1 mile out of town and that would be his choice of locations to wait out the storm.

We quickly left the Taco John and rode down to the truck stop. About 4 minutes after we got inside, the storm hit! It was a big one with thunder, lightening and golf ball size hail. It did not last very long - about 15 minutes or so. We watched the winds follow the storm to the East but then about 5 minutes later they switched back to the intense Westerly flowing winds that plagued us on the way into town.

The last 47 miles to De Smet were pure torture for me. The 20-30 mph headwinds forced us to pedal as hard as we could with little output. We were now averaging 9 mph. Headwinds beat down your spirit and can drive you mad if you let them. As I plugged along, I tried my best to think about something other than the driving winds. Instead, I thought about how to describe the winds in my blog. To humor myself, I thought of some analogies to describe what I was experiencing. If you've never had the pleasure of cycling in 30 mph headwinds, its like pulling a rickshaw full of Fat Albert and the Gang, or riding a tandem bike with an elephant as your partner, or riding straight up the side of Pikes Peak. UGH!

About 15 miles from our destination, it started to rain again with lightening around us. We pedaled on, hoping to ride it out. But with the winds, it was impossible to get anywhere fast. We finally stopped and just turned our backs to the wind as the rain was coming down in sheets, making it impossible to ride.

This storm passed quickly and we were able to grunt it out to our destination, The Cottage Inn in De Smet. The motel owners were so glad to see us. I had called ahead yesterday to make a reservation and I told them that we were biking. They were nervous about the storms and tennis ball sized hail that they had. They actually drove a few miles out of town to look for us. They were so sweet. They offered us their car to us to run errands if we needed and they gave us a huge room with three beds in it. We ended up talking with them for about an hour about our ride and the town's sites.

The storms seem to have cut all the internet connections so this blog will post a day late. I am looking forward to exploring the town in the morning. It will be fun to see Laura Ingalls Wilder's home and surroundings from the "Little House on the Prairie" book series. Photos to come.

Tomorrow's weather promises NW winds (tailwinds) and sunshine. Keep your fingers crossed for us. I could use an easier day of riding. South Dakota has been rough on us with all the high winds and hot weather.

Marc's stats: (Marc thought I should include our stats for the bike geeks)
79 total miles
6.5 hours of riding (actually saddle time)
12.2 mph average
Headwinds 20 mph with gusts up to 30 mph.