Wednesday, July 7, 2021

Day 26 - This ride blows


I have found during our rides through Eastern Montana and Western South Dakota that the winds tend to pick up after noon so I am going to not going to follow Einstein's definition and try something different.  The plan is to leave camp at around 6 am in order to finish before noon.  It was a perfect plan for me as I was up, bike ready and dressed by 6 am, but mother nature had a different plan.  She thought it would be nice to start the Easterly wind at sunrise (reminder that I am heading east) and then threw in a light rain for good measure.  The flags were standing at attention.  


OK, OK, no sense wringing my hands over it, time to get in the saddle and start riding.  Since I quit riding at the beginning of town and we camped at the end of town, I needed to ride back through town to pick up where I left off (that darn continuous route rule).  Fortunately Union Center is tiny and only added a mile to my ride.  I had a good playlist going and a nice cadence (very slow into the wind I might add) when I approached ANOTHER construction zone.  It was early enough that the crew was just starting and let me pass unfettered.  All good until I hit the..... well you'll see.  



The strong headwinds and light rain continued on HWY 34 heading east for about 30 miles until I headed North on HWY 73 to Faith SD.  Going from a headwind to at least a cross wind was a breath of fresh wind, and as bonus for passing her test, Mother Nature turned off the rain and I had a terrific ride the final 30 miles to Faith.

Since I have some catching up to do from the detour for the Badlands visit, I decided ride an additional 13 miles past Faith and we would then return to set up camp.  We are back on HWY 212 which has sketchy shoulders and a lot of truck traffic.  Not excited about that.  

As you know, Cheryl and I like to try out the local restaurants on this trip and today we had a couple interesting situations occur.  For lunch we decided on the 2 R Bar and Grill.  I figured I earned a beer so I asked what was on tap.  Nothing, only bottles and no craft beers.  OK, I'll have a Bud Lime.  THe waitress returned and said, "sorry, either we forgot to reorder, or I can't find it."  Ok no problem.  I'll take a Michelob Golden and here is what I got.

It's also worth noting that I didn't even see Modelo on the menu.  I guess I should feel fortunate that I got a decent beer after all.


After doing some minor things around camp and cleaning up my bike to prepare for tomorrows windstorm (just getting mentally prepared), we decided on pizza.  We walked to Hot Stuff pizza down the street.  The shop is part of the convenience store and I noticed the pizza sign was dark.  "Closed down for the night?" I asked.  "Nope, we haven't made pizza in a while.  Can't get anyone to work." Wow, the tight labor market has hit Faith SD.  Since I didn't feel like another Modelo, we only had one choice left, Kings Drive In.  They had a pizza burger on the menu so I figured I could still scratch my pizza itch so I asked "what's on the pizza burger."  The answer? "Nothing, it's just a hamburger with the cheese in the middle."  PSA....Faith is a nice little town, but the restaurant scene is not it's forte.

Long ride of 80+ miles tomorrow to the Missouri River and Forest City.  I'm going to try the early lift off again since it worked so well today.  


Until then....

5 comments:

  1. So wish I could support you with some better cuisine. You would have liked our pulled pork simmered in the crock pot all day yesterday . . . . piled on taco type toppings. Could Fed X some to you and Cheryl. Dang wind!! BUT YOU two are looking so good and always happy. LOVE those smiles.

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    1. Pulled pork! FedEx it to our next stop!!

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    2. Please FexEx some pulled port to our next stop!

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  2. Rules, rules, rules. First the "you can't ride shorter drive longer" rule, then the "you can't ride IN the pilot car" rule, and now the "continuous route" rule. I suppose there is also a rule that says you can't use an E-bike. Jeez, your making this hard.

    Good luck tomorrow on the long 80+ mile ride.

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  3. I do t remember an no E Bike rule. May need to consider that towards the end!

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