Day 29: Sioux Falls,
South Dakota to Worthington, Minnesota
July 19, 2004
Miles: 79 (9 due to a detour)
Today was one of those days where I wasn't initially "in the mood" to
ride. Nothing was hurting or anything, I just wasn't gung ho to
go. Breakfast was another of those nearly protein free
unsupplemented motel continental affairs. I had two boxes of
cereal and a bagel with cream cheese. I left almost at the back
of the pack, slowed way down while passing Krispy-Kreme but deciding
not to stop. In retrospect, I probably should have stopped at
McDonalds for a breakfast bagel or the like.
Once rolling, my mood batteries were recharged almost immediately by
the route
through Sioux Falls' greenbelt, a wonderful oasis--bravo Sioux Falls.
We left the trails after taking a look at Sioux Falls.
After helping Andrew fix Dianne's first flat, fixing the second myself
and waiting with her until Mike showed up to fix the third (all in the
first 2.5 miles) after about 10 miles, she sagged in for the rest of
the route. I was definitely DFL (dead f___ last). It wasn't
until just before the end of the ride that I caught up with Patricia
and Bill G.
Along the way, we saw an elegant older brick church and then crossed
into Minnesota
Over the last week I've been paying less attention to the scenery
because its been pretty much the same. Things are starting to
improve, though, as we end our time in South Dakota. There are
more farms, closer together, as well as towns.
We took a 9 mile detour around some road construction just before
Magnolia. At the end of the pack, the word was given to us as
simply "turn right at 190th, then left at the first paved road."
What wasn't clear was that the left turn wouldn't be for 5 miles.
About 4 miles after the right turn, Cov, who was riding sweep, and I
were wondering if we'd missed something. We made several cell
phone calls but couldn't raise anyone so we went on another mile and
found the road crew's detour signs identifying the turn. Our Red
support van was in the shop again, this time for brake problems, so we
were a little lean on support. Mike did catch us in a repaired
Red in Adrian, but Cov and I chose to purchase cold water from a market
rather than refill with the warm water on Red.
Eventually we made it to Worthington. I took a side trip to
downtown and found this rather large lake just to the southwest:
Tomorrow starts back to back centuries; the first looks to be pretty
flat. From here until Vermont, Mike tells us that the winds will
be the main variable in the difficulty of our rides.
Tonight's dinner, catered by the hotel, has had the most variety, more
than I could sample. Let's hope that breakfast hits the same high
note.
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