Today we are scheduled to ride 116 miles. We have been a little fearful after yesterday’s ride. The strong headwinds caught everyone by surprise yesterday. We ate a good breakfast and got an early start. The sky was cloudy, for which we were thankful, and the winds were strong but they were coming at us from the north, at right angles to us. As we proceeded to mile 30, the sky got darker and darker and soon the lightning began. At the SAG stop our leader made us all get inside the gas station store area until it let up. At this point it had not started to rain yet.

After about 30 minutes the lightning let up a bit and Mary, Dan, and I started to pull out. When we looked back we could tell Steve had concerns about leaving. He decided to stay back a little longer. As Dan, Mary and I rode on it appeared we were riding right into the heart of the storm. It began to rain hard and it did not take long for us to be completely soaked. We were also riding on the diagonal to block the wind for each other. We continued to watch the lightning but we never heard any thunder. The conclusion we drew from this was that it was far off.

By mile 55 the rain had stopped, the sky had cleared, and it was beginning to heat up. We reloaded our water bottles at the SAG stop at mile 55 and ate a bit before heading on down the road again. It was now beginning to get very hot. When we reached mile 77 we had to make a right turn. I had to stop and get my hammer gel. I was out of energy and I have ridden enough to recognize that I needed some starter fluid. Hammer gel is like liquid sugar. This provided me energy to make it to the next SAG stop. Mary and Dan were doing fine. We had not seen Steve since we left him at the gas station.

When we reached the SAG at mile 83 we were all about out of water. We went inside a very small store and I drank a 20 oz Coke inside the store and ate a banana and some crackers. We refilled our water bottles and headed to the next SAG at mile 103. This leg went amazingly well. We all felt good in spite of the heat. Barb, our tour leader’s wife and staff member, jumped up on the back of the Rider Truck and pulled down the rear door and asked Danny if he had put the fake bullet holes on the rear door. Danny began back peddling and denied putting them there and looked to Mary and me to admit our guilt. Of course Mary and I seized this opportunity to make Dan sweat a bit. Barb kept inquiring of Dan. Meanwhile, Mary and I had filled our water bottles, eaten and gotten on our bikes to head down the road. By now Danny is yelling at us to admit our guilt. As Mary and I left Dan with Barbara, we rode down the road giving each other a high five. Our little prank had turned out better than we had ever imagined.

Now we knew what would happen next. Dan would come blazing by us on his aero bars, and sure enough he did, and we did not see him the rest of the afternoon. What we did not realize at the time was that Barb had her video recorder going and had caught Mary and me on tape congratulating each other on our dastardly deed.

Mary and I worked our way into Pierre and to the motel. The hostess at the counter said it was 105 degrees outside. We met up with Dan and went to the Dairy Queen to refuel. It was a long day with wind, rain, and fire. South Dakota has not been a kind and gentle place for us.

Click here to see more pictures from today!