On the Road... with Phil
July 14, 2007 Rest Day - Rapid City, South Dakota (0 miles) Happy Bastille Day to you all!!! This was a fine day to rest as it was hotter than ever and the dorm was air conditioned. I watched the Tour de France live this morning at 7:30am and saw the blowout ride by the German rider from the T-Mobile team. This was the first day in the Alps and it was daunting to realize the steep climbs they were making and speed with which they did them. The winner flew over the top and then raced down the last 10kms to the finish. Sometimes on this Big Ride we can muster up some adrenaline or deep desire to burn up a hill or straightaway, or wrap up the last 10 miles on this Big Ride. But I and other riders, including the fans at the Tour are in awe of those performances. Later Brian and I did some exploring of Rapid City while we did errands to the local bike shop for some needed gear and to mail some cold weather gear home. We found a great brew pub… the Fire Station in Rapid City’s old town. It was an old fire station converted to a “watering hole”. They brew a great IPA and Stout…maybe more but we stopped at two. The old town has been nicely restored with power and phone lines moved off the street and many renovations of 1920s and 1930s era buildings. Another interesting thing they have done is to place full-sized bronze statues of presidents on the street corners. A great way to “learn” your presidents and nice art as well. Lots of people on the street at 4pm…I’m searching for (ex-U.S. Senator) Tom Daschel. With Dave, our mechanic, we switched out a rear brake cable mucked up with grit, and I cleaned and oiled Jean Blu for our 4th century ride tomorrow to Kadoka, SD.
July 15, 2007 Rapid City, South Dakota to Kadoka, SD (101.7 miles) This was one of the most spectacular and challenging rides so far. We started the day with a cool ride out of the city and into farmland of grains and cattle. We dropped into the Cheyenne River Valley basin where the river was rimmed with trees and the land was green. We were being “trailed” by a spectacular electrical storm off to our northwest. As I rode with Brack Hattler, we contemplated how we should react should the rain and more importantly any high winds or funnels appear. All I could think of was getting into the ditch with my bike atop me…or if no rain, crawl into a culvert… We got some sprinkles but nothing of consequence except welcome lower air temperatures. With Brack and later, riding with Bill Harm, we considered all the rolled bales of hay rotting in the fields and wondered “why”…I thought it might be a result of govt subsidy payments to grow it whether it was needed or not. Others thought it was to ferment to “please” the bovines with some “juiced up” hay on the weekend. I later learned from Iron Mike, who grew up farming in Texas that this was probably straw, not hay and that the former is not digestible; perhaps the stems of harvested wheat. So much for the musings of city boys.
A couple of hours later at our first water stop we came into the “Badlands” of South Dakota…and the village of Scenic, S.D. See photos…while unique, I could not help but recall a film my sons had shared with me: Army of Darkness… a zombie horror flick set in a desert town…oh thank you Hollywood for such “imagination”! Actually the other scene going through my mind was the one of Butch (Bruce Willis) in Pulp Fiction when he gets hijacked into the underworld beneath the gun shop….okay, so it’s the Badlands and we’re thinking weird thoughts and marveling at the landscape, which seems so unearthly. Actually, it is the ancient bottom of the ocean with the sediment made up of calcareous creatures coloring the landscape. I caught some pics but could not do it justice.. You really should visit Badlands National Park…an absolute natural marvel!
Early the afternoon we got into Kadoka and met Harry the town Mayor, who welcomed us and opened the supermarket (closed on Sunday as is most everything) for the staff to re-stock. We made use of the pool and camped at the city park. I met a local leader of the Lakota Sioux (Tom “has a knife”) who asked us about our ride and answered my questions about life on the reservation for Sioux and other tribes. It turns out that Pine Ridge Reservation, where my son spent some summer service projects was but a few miles away. But the life on the Rez is worlds away from ours. As Tom put it, “The white man put the Indians on land they didn’t want, gave them blankets with disease germs and promised to provide them with food.” So, for those you didn’t die, food is provided, but life is bleak and there is need for leaders to help people rise out of poverty, addiction and dependency. I hope that Tom Has A Knife is one of those leaders, and I told him so.
July 16, 2007 Kadoka, SD to Pierre, SD (95.5 miles) This was a tough “almost” century deeper into South Dakota with those long rolling hills and strong headwinds. I was decided to rent a motel room that evening as back-to-back century rides at my time in life warranted some more luxurious rest time. It was a great decision as the humidity along the river was high as were the mosquitoes and flies. The ride was pretty uneventful though I made great time. As I gain experience and strength I am also learning strategy about conserving energy and getting an early start to minimize sun exposure and winds. I’ve also come to love the various power aid drinks to fuel and hydrate me. It helped today as the ride was hard but I was able to get in early enough to get in and rent a room for Brian and me. Unfortunately Jean Blu decided that this was the time she would have an injury and so as I was “walking her” along the Missouri River and contemplating the Lewis and Clark expedition, which had passed through here, she “popped” a rear spoke. Switching out was no easy affair as it required removal of my cassette (rear gears) and in this case, serious re-truing of my wheel. Fortunately, Dave, our mechanic, was able to work his magic as I looked on and learned and we have been rolling on fine ever since.
July 17, 2007 Pierre to Miller, SD (72.9 miles) This was a nice and easy ride today and I got a great compliment from rider, David Latner, who passed by at 20 miles and said, “you’re in pretty damn good shape for someone nearing retirement. I’ve been trying to catch you for the last 18 miles!”…As Brack Hattler, a 72 yr old rider said, “we grow older, but we don’t need to get old”. Wind was minimal and I was able to “use the whip hand” to make good time sitting and standing pedaling. It’s always good to make your own breeze by getting up some speed. They say we’re entering the prairie, but all I see are corn and soybeans with some occasional beef cows…not much prairie to be had…methinks the Badlands and its “buffalo grass” was more prairie than this land. We pulled into the junior/senior high school and were offered AC’ed rooms or the football field. I settled in at “stage right” behind a tall curtain in the school’s theater. Brian and I spent the next couple of hours at the local pub drinking Dakota draft, munching popcorn, and talking with the manager about local critters we’d seen and which seemed to be stuffed on the walls and on shelves, and the work people were doing. Agribusiness has clearly taken over and there was some resentment about folks working as “hands” on the big farms and the use of chemicals to fertilize and fumigate fields. Our host recounted that rabbits were wiped out when pesticides were first used in the 70s but that surviving, resistant rabbits were now making a comeback. I think Australia had a similar result when it tried to eliminate invasive rabbits with mixomitosis (sp?) germs. The feeling is that agribusiness funds local universities and hence their philosophy and practices are being taught. He lamented the lack of whole foods that are available. Dinner was at the local lounge…Walleye Pike…not exactly a distinct flavor, but I do recall catching them as a child on trips with my parents to the Midwest.
July 18, 2007 Miller to De Smet, SD (76.7 miles) One of the more dramatic rides today as we lost our second rider in unrelated incidents and experienced our first full summer electrical storm. Brack Hattler “hooked” his front wheel in the rear on another rider and crashed to incur a concussion and a fractured pelvis. He was rushed to the hospital in Huron and will return to Pittsburgh for healing as soon as possible. His wife, Jean Anne, is with him at the hospital. It is sad to lose one this way and our only physician to boot!...there are times when my heart is racing that I say, I hope Brack is behind me in case I go down(!)…His fracture did not involve bone separation, so while he may not be back to ride with us, I am hopeful he will heal soon. Our other rider loss was that of Andy Kosick who ended his BigRide to assist in supporting the riders and his wife, who is our nurse, and who drives an R.V. to staff water stops across the nation. The remainder of us are still “game” to continue, though we are unsure what the future holds. The last 10 miles of the ride today were a “surround sound” of the most dramatic electrical storm we’d experienced. Lightning and thunder all around us and heavy, blinding rain. All I could think of was to keep pedaling and stay on those two rubber tires, rather than get off and make a lightning rod of yourself…As luck would have it, a mile and a half from town a farmer offered me a ride in his pick up…I accepted and we went to the campground, whereupon I asked him to drop me at the local motel. As the storm continued, I rented a motel room and was not disappointed by the hot shower. Later we wandered into town to sample brews…no micros, but Grain Belt Premium was in supply..semi local and “buvable”, as the French say for drinkable. Dinner was hosted by the St Thomas Aquinas Church and was a welcome fellowship with local hosts.
July 19, 2007 De Smet, SD to Tyler, Minnesota (78.4 miles) This was one of the more pleasurable rides so far…Remember, cycling is fun because it’s like beating your head against a wall; it feels so good when it’s over….I was feeling very strong today and got an early start out…When I got to our mid-way check point in Brookings I came across the local bike shop, coffee/ice cream shop and barber shop aligned together. The first had opened early for us and we were able to chat with staff, make minor repairs and buy needed gear. The second offered us a free cup of ice cream and soft couches to watch the latest stage of the Tour de France. The third offered me an opportunity to trim my chin whiskers to reduce wind resistance and the need for food re-capture. It was difficult to pull out from such as nice spot on such as beautiful day, but alas, that is our “job” for now. I was feeling great on Jean Blu and I was in my “ancestral” home of Minnie Sota. My mother was born here as left the dairy farm in Northern Minnesota for the wilds of California in the late 30’s. My great grandparents emigrated there from Finland and the Gustafsons and the Tans united to become my grandparents. I spent many happy summers on my grandparents dairy farm as a young boy, driving the old tractor, bailing hay and alfalfa, milking cows and just roaming the fields and forests with cousins. We had weekly saunas and family gatherings as many of my 14 aunts and uncles with families still lived in the area.
We were pleasantly surprised to come into Tyler and it’s Danebod Folk School, where dinner (and breakfast tomorrow) was prepared by TuPhat Girls Catering, and where we pitched camp. I had a brief discussion with the local head of the Chamber of Commerce and local Mortician, about the nature of farming. He said that industrialization (lack of diversification of farms with crops AND animals) is the norm and that there is only one organic farmer in the county. It is a problem again to find whole foods, locally grown. We could learn from our Vermont neighbors where, as Bill Harm informed us, some 80 per cent of farming is organic and it is the norm to purchase and consume locally grown foods. One mortician joke from our host, who was cutting up cool watermelon for our afternoon treat. “I used to work in produce but still, as an undertaker, I’m still working in perishables”….he thanked us for laughing at his joke.. Wonderful and welcoming people! No local micros to be had…one surly barmaid, who turned me on my heel and then found a nice lounge with Wisconsin Linnenqugals (sp?) beers.
July 20, 2007 Tyler, MN to New Ulm (87 miles) This was a bit of a tricky ride as we battled headwinds,”tired” support staff who insist on taking seats that spent cyclists deserved, an accident for one of our riders on the narrow highway shoulder and the cruel last hill of the ride to Martin Luther College in New Ulm. Headwinds were not predictable as we twisted and turned, but I realized that they were lessened in the corn fields as it took some of the wind… Pastures and soybeans are not helpful in buffeting winds but I was making good time nevertheless… averaging 16 mph for the first 3/4s and down to 15.5 at the end….I’ll never be a greyhound, but “gentle pressure, relentlessly applied” will usually get you “home” in time for dinner! Bob Dumke had a bad crash in the last quarter of the ride as he got buffeted by one of the many grain trucks into the gravel shoulder. He flipped his bike and ruined his rear wheel and derailer…he was also bruised and punctured but seemed to be ready for more as he comes up on his native Wisconsin…that is, assuming he can effect repairs on his bike.
A non BigRide observation…both here in other low populated states I’ve seen the pro-life billboards out…uplifting phrases such as “your mother was pro-life” or “take my hand, not my life”…I’m not sure if there really is a lot of abortions taking place here, and if there is real moral opposition, or if as I observe so many under populated high schools and perhaps locals simply want more kids to be born. It’s hard to keep them home when the major industry is hiring them as farm hands on agribusiness farms. I’ve also seen the political side of this each January as the Pro-Life community floods Washington DC with young kids (junior and senior high school) in tow with placards for fetuses and slogans to protest the Roe v Wade decision of the Supremes. It’s all so easy when you are a nun or pastor or priest and you don’t have to make the difficult choice when faced with an unplanned pregnancy. But that adolescent facing the problem needs real counseling when she has been raped or made a mistake.
Back to BigRide world…our cruelest irony of today’s ride was the swift descent east into New Ulm and a mile later, a steep climb west back to our dorm at the Martin Luther College. I observed that some riders were simply too spent to make the final climb and I wondered if perhaps there wasn’t a better more direct route to end the trek.
“A bicycle does get you there and more … And there is always the thin edge of danger to keep you alert and comfortably apprehensive. Dogs become dogs again and snap at your raincoat; potholes become personal. And getting there is all the fun.”
-Bill Emerson
Saturday, July 21, 2007
Week Four: Rapid City to New Ulm
