Sunday 7-4-10
Well the kids are heading back to home from Cornerstone, so Marta won’t be alone in the house anymore.

Rode today from Pierre to 14ml west of Gettysburg to Bob’s Resort at the intersection of SD 1804 and Fed hwy 212. Did about 55ml with varying head winds as the route took some right turns, enjoyed about 7 ml of a side wind which help a bit. Left at 7:30, got here about 4:30. Stopped and topped off the water at Oahe Speedway and watch some preliminary drag racing heats. Talking with one of the racers, some are hitting 140-150 mph in the 1/4 mile. It was a nice break. Saw a few deer, couple fawns. I think I saw Sugar beet plants. miles of them and wheat. The fields go on forever here, especially when you are biking into a head wind.

Going to explore if there are any short cuts to Bismark. Going the main roads looking at an atlas it looks like it should be round 150 miles. the route looks like about 200 miles.

7-7-10
Monday 7-5-10
Rode from Bob’s Resort to Herreid SD. just shy of the border. Got in 69 miles with little head and a little tail wind until the last 8 miles from Mound City. Had a steady stronge head wind the whole way. Stopped in a lounge in Herreid to learn where I could camp, was told there was one just on the north side of town. It was a field with mostly weeds and gravel, not very nice and a crazy price -$20. What to do? I road up to the C-store just up a little ways from the campground. got to talking with some locals Jim N., I asked if anyone would mind if I camped in back of the lumber yard next to the C-store. He gave me the name of the owner, figuring he wouldn’t mind so I gave him a call and he said fine. It all worked out, I brought him a plate of doughnuts from the C-store the next morning to show my appreciation.

Got up early that day, Tuesday when I looked out my tent window and saw the sky. Looked like it could rain any moment. Got going and managed to dodge the rain for about the first 20 miles and no wind. Then I got the rain and a little wind. Fortunately the rain was pretty light. You could see it coming down heavier to the south west and north east. The rain let up for a while then caught up with me later. This was a little heavier. I made it to Hazelton ND, 49 ml.. There was no where further down the road to go. so ended up stopping around 2:00. Stopped by the city park where they had advertised camping. The sign had a $2.00 with a “1” over the $ sign so I called the number on the sign next to it. Spoke with Hadley Seeklander, before I could say much his wife or daughter in the background told him to have me over for a late lunch (they had seen me biking up from Herreid). We had a great lunch spread of leftovers from the 4th of July party the day before. The company was especially welcome and the hamburger hit the spot. They also said pay $8 if I wanted, that would be fine. The camping fee’s it seems is an issue in town. I paid $10, perhaps a little high but the hospitality made it worth it.

This is Marta’s and mine 20th anniversary, so I made sure to send her flowers and a picture text. She enjoyed them both I think.

Wednesday 7-7-10
Today I made it to Bismark. on the way meet some other bikers doing part of the route.
They are teachers Nat and Deb from New Orleans. Nat is semi retired physics teacher, and Deb is not yet retired history teacher.

Just outside Bismark is the University of Mary, a Catholic 4 year college. Also home to the Benedictine Annunciation Monastery. It is perched a top a bluff overlooking the valley. Beautiful. I caught the tail end of lunch in the cafeteria as well.

There was a bit of squeaking going on (more than usual) down in the crank area so I rode from the General Sibly campground where I will be spending the night tonight in to the Kirkwood Mall where I will be piked up by the group tomorrow. There is a huge sporting goods store there Sheelds (spelled wrong) with a bike shop. Turns out one of my pedals was about ready to fall appart given the bearings were so worn. Hopefully this is it and not the bottom bracket bearing.

Doing laundry now and catching up on the blog here. Tomorrow mostly rest and on to Ft Benton MT..