Day 25
Day By Day Notes From The Road
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This document updated July 24th, 2004
DeSmet South Dakota to Tyler Minnesota - 80 Miles
By Erwin:
Today's ride was really pleasant; cool temperatures, tailwind and flats. Lucija and I rode together for most of the day and took it really easy. There was no pressure to go fast, because the high temperature for the day was in the high 70s. Great!
The scenery today was very similar to yesterday; immensely outstretched farmland that seems to go on forever. A couple of things have changed over the last few days however. First, ever since we crossed the Missouri in Pierre a couple of days ago, the weather got almost instantly humid. Also, since a few days more and more towns pop up along the route; gone are the days with as much as 70 miles between towns. Finally, traffic has increased a bit, particularly around towns.
We've been biking for almost a month now and we've entered into a strange state of mind. This state is one of geographic ignorance; no one knows where we are. It is also one of time-related ignorance; I have no idea what day is today or what happened when. I get up, I pick up a route guide (since a couple of days and for a couple of days more it says: follow route 14 East), and start riding.
The question I sometimes ask is whether this ignorance is a good thing or not. On the one hand, our singular focus is relaxing as (usually) the morning workouts on the bike are fun and cleansing. On the other hand, the time-related and geographic ignorance means that time and places are moving by very fast. While the book I am reading about the extinction of many American Indian tribes (called "Bury my Heart at Wounded Knee) teaches me the disturbing history of the states we are riding through, I still wish I had more time to explore the places through which we ride.
Tomorrow a somewhat longer day is on the agenda: 80-odd miles to New Ulm, the location of our rest day (as well as major tension between settlers and local Indian tribes in the 1860s). The weather forecast is for mild, sunny weather: should be another great day on the bike!
By Lucija:
Hooray, the temperature is finally down, with highs in the mid seventies. Super, we love Minnesota!
We are staying in Tyler MN tonight. With a population around 2000 is a "Danish" town. Apparently most of the towns around here still stick with the heritage of the initial settlers. I was very amused to see the Danish flag EVERYWHERE - on the light posts lining the street, on the backboard of basketball hoop, on our napkins at dinner... like I said everywhere. For breakfast the local church fried us up traditional Danish abelskiever (sp?) balls. They tasted like balls of pancake dough. We doused them in maple syrup in true American style.
Speaking of American food... Erwin and I have made a bit of a habit of sitting down to eat something before setting up our tent whenever we roll into our destination town. It is a great way to celebrate the end of the day and get our energy back. Anyhow, in Tyler, we asked someone to direct us to a place that makes "sandwiches"... well, we found the place. It was very cute, very local, and they had about 15 "sandwiches" listed on the menu. With the exception of a chicken burger, and a tuna melt, the other 13 were all various hamburger options!
Another welcome addition to our diet has been fruit pies. Ever since we have started riding they have been plentiful on every menu and so incredibly delicious. I look forward to riding through the Minnesotan Omish country, as I am sure the pies will be just great!
Photos:
A sea of soybeans (in front) and corn (in back). Notice the grain elevator on the right.
We made it to our 6th state - Minnesota!