Tag: Huron

Perrysburg to Lakewood

Perrysburg to Lakewood

gavscyclingadventures

Tuesday 9th to Wednesday 10th August – Stages 77 & 78.

Tuesday 9th August – Perrysburg to Norwalk (Stage 77).

We decided on a 2 day stopover (rather than the usual single rest day) in Perrysburg because in addition to being a relatively cheap place to have a break, we needed to plot the remainder of our route to the East Coast. We made the most of the couple of days rest & for once didn’t do any sightseeing – it was a rare opportunity to rest the legs! We found an ideal little restaurant just across the road from our motel, where we ate a couple of nights & enjoyed a relaxing beer.

The big news is we now have a specific location to aim for & a date to arrive there by – we’ve chosen to finish in Brunswick, Maine & we have to be there no later than 1st September. We have an Amtrak train booked on 2nd September to take us to The Big Apple for some rest, relaxation & shopping therapy!!! Our return flight to the UK is now booked for Tuesday 6th September & I’ll be back in Bristol on the 7th.

In some ways it’s sad that the end is in sight, but our adventure has to finish at some point & most importantly, we’ll have seen everything (& a whole lot more) that we set out to see & experience. Sean & I couldn’t see any value in us riding to places for the sake of extending the trip. All good things must come to an end & Brunswick by 1st September looks like the best time & place for that to happen.

We’ve built in a couple of contingency days in our route, so we may well be in Brunswick between 30th August & 1st September. Now lets carry on enjoying our adventures on the bike!!

The weather forecast said to expect light showers today, but I watched Michael Fish say just before The Great Storm of 1987 “Earlier on today, apparently, a woman rang the BBC and said she heard there was a hurricane on the way. Well, if you’re watching, don’t worry, there isn’t!”. Anyway, here’s a couple of videos of what I watched from my balcony yesterday & why I’m a little nervous about today….

We left Perrysburg at 9am under overcast skies with everything crossed we wouldn’t experience anything worse than showers. Once we’d left town, we joined the familiar long straight roads with their intersections every mile. The first 38 miles of today’s ride only involved 90 degree turns – it’s out there now, I won’t mention it again in today’s post!

Our first treat of the day was watching what I now think is a crop duster doing his thing over a couple of fields directly in front of us. At the time I thought it was a pilot just enjoying himself, but we both think we saw the same plane later in the afternoon about 50 miles away & that one was definitely dusting crops.

Our second treat of the morning came when we stopped at Ideal Bakery in Gibsonburg, after about 26 miles. Tracy was running the shop & she was really friendly & interested in our trip. She also shared some of her travels to date, which is always good to hear. Recipes have been handed down for 100 years & the shop is now owned by the 4th generation of the Schell family.

The bakery also stars in the film Gibsonburg, which is based on a true story where a high school baseball team has a regular season record of 6 wins vs 17 losses (including a 13 game losing streak), yet wins 8 games on the bounce in the post-season to win the state championship – the first team to do so with a losing record.

I’ve included a couple of the newspaper articles that are framed in the shop – I could have sat there for a couple of hours reading them all & eating more of their cakes & pastries!!! In the end I stopped after the cherry turnover & chocolate chip cookie, both of which were delicious.

Kathi & John – if you read this, please could you also let Tracy know how much we appreciated her time & interest when we stopped by.

Gibsonburg also came up trumps with its water tower – a unique colour that appears to also attract the turkey vultures. In addition to the birds roosting on the water tower, we saw a solo bird on a telegraph pole & just across the road were 3 more (so a committee) perched on a barn roof.

3 treats in very rapid succession & there was more to follow. When I saw purple flowers calling out for an action shot I gave it all I had & managed not to fall off as I demonstrated my “look, no hands” skills! We also spotted our first non-ninety degree corner of the day & then soon after saw ospreys & egrets fishing as we rode into Fremont. This was our 2nd Fremont, as it’s also where we saw the water-skiers when we were in Wisconsin.

Fremont is also where we picked up the Northern Coastal Inland Trail (NCIT). It runs for 65 miles in total from Toledo to Elyria on the abandoned Toledo, Norwalk & Cleveland Railway. We rode the 13 mile paved section from Fremont to Bellevue & had the trail almost to ourselves as we passed through wooded areas & farmland.

As we neared the end of the paved section we came across a pumpkin field – a reminder that although we’re still in August, Fall is only just around the corner! I missed a turning in Bellevue, so it took us a bit longer than it should have to get across town. Once again, good came from this error, as we arrived at the railroad crossing just in time to watch the freight train pass through.

This was also where we picked up an unpaved section of the NCIT – the surface varied between crushed limestone, mud (which was a bit soft after yesterday’s storms) & gravel. I’ve come to really enjoy riding on the off-road trails, now that I’ve learned how to handle a fully loaded bike off-road. The 10 mile section took us all the way to Norwalk, where we were staying this evening.

It was another epic day in the saddle, where we stayed dry – the forecast rain never arrived! We had dinner at Bob Evans Family Restaurant & I had a really good portion of fish & chips, followed by a delicious slice of apple pie, topped with caramel sauce & whipped cream. The perfect end to the day.

Stage Stats – 71 miles, 384 feet of climbing. Highlights included a crop sprayer exhibition, plenty of different birdlife & the Ideal Bakery stop in Gibsonburg!

Wednesday 10th August – Norwalk to Lakewood (Stage 78).

It was another overcast start to the day as we set off from Norwalk. I saw signs for Berlin Heights, Birmingham, Peru & Brighton, so I shouldn’t have been surprised when I saw we were going to Milan. It’s the birthplace of Thomas A Edison, inventor of the incandescent lightbulb, motion picture camera & the phonograph. He’s also credited with improving the telegraph & telephone.

We continued North on relatively quiet roads as we headed towards Huron, which nestles on the South shore of Lake Erie. We’ll be tracking the lakeshore for the next 5 days as we make our way ever Eastwards – fingers crossed we find something interesting at the end of the lake!

We’re following the Lake Erie Circle Tour & Coastal Ohio Trail, both of which are road routes (with one or two sections of cycle paths). I’ll briefly mention that this section as far as our coffee stop included long sections of roadworks & relatively busy roads – never anything to be concerned by, but after 15 weeks of having the road to ourselves, we had to concentrate a bit more.

Having said that, we still found a few overlooks & turnouts where we could get good views of the lake. We also saw a group of birds perched in a tree – they had the shape of a heron or egret, but I have to confess I have no idea what they actually are. I just enjoyed stopping & watching them.

Our views varied every time we saw the lake. Sometimes it would be a sandy beach, then it would be a rocky outcrop, then next time it might be an outlet from a small river.

Lake Erie is the fourth largest of the five Great Lakes by surface area, but the smallest if measured by volume, with a maximum depth of 210 feet (62 feet average depth). However, it’s still the eleventh largest lake in the world by volume! It’s 241 miles long (East – West) & 57 miles wide, with a coastline of 872 miles.

While Lake Michigan takes 99 years for water to leave via the Mackinaw Straits, water only stays in Lake Erie for 6 years. Lake Erie has more consumable fish than the 4 other Great Lakes combined!!

Lake Erie also has its own monster – Bessie is her name. Legend has it that she’s a mutation of missing cows from the town of Lorain in 1894, or more likely she’s a large sturgeon, which can grow up to 20 feet & weigh 300 pounds. A bit like her Trans-Atlantic cousin Nessie, everyone loves a good Lake Monster story!

Where was I? Oh yes, heading along the shore past Beulah Beach, where I spotted an osprey flying over a park. By now, the grey skies were beginning to give way to sections of blue.

Arriving at Vermillion, which proudly declares itself to be Ohio’s Best Beach Town, we saw a few of the houses & boats which certainly suggest Vermillion has money, even if it’s lacking in humility! Roadworks were a theme along this stretch of road too, but at least there wasn’t much in the way of traffic.

We were heading to Lorain for coffee & cake, passing the city beach & crossing the river on the way! The shipyards closed in 1981, after the William J DeLauncey was launched. It was & remains the largest freighter on the Great Lakes at 1,014 feet in length. The fourth photo below also includes one of the first boats to be built at the shipyard in 1898, the 450 foot Superior City which was the largest steel ship built on freshwater.

The building itself has been renovated & is now an event centre, with a coffee shop – another gem of a find, I could decide between a cherry Danish & an apple & caramel slice, so had them both!

Throughout the day, views of the lake were quite rare, I’ve probably included a photo from most of the places I stopped. As with Lake Michigan, shorefront property is highly prized & sought after. I’ve included a couple of the smaller places that I could see, there were many others, hidden away behind gates & protective shrubbery.

I stopped at Bay Village as there was what appeared to be a lighthouse. It transpired that it was in fact a pump house from when the park was in private ownership. It enabled water to be taken from the lake for a swimming pool many years ago! It’s now a concession stand selling food & drink.

This was also the first beach to offer views of the city of Cleveland way off in the distance – hopefully I’ll get some decent photos tomorrow.

We cycled the final 5 miles to our motel, had a rest & got ready for dinner – a small little Italian pizza / pasta place that fitted the bill. When I ordered the rigatoni with sauce & Italian sausage, I was expecting it to be cut up! While some people (Andreas) would seriously mark down the food because of presentation, I’m guided solely by taste & it was a good 9 out of 10. We toasted another great day exploring a Great Lake!

Stage Stats – 56 miles, 823 feet of climbing. Our first view of our second Great Lake.

Huron to Redwood Falls

Huron to Redwood Falls

gavscyclingadventures

Friday 15th July to Sunday 17th July – Stages 59 to 61.

Friday 15th July – Huron to Oakwood Lakes State Park (Stage 59)

Today marks the beginning of a 5 day block of riding with the aim of reaching Minneapolis next Tuesday. The plan is to then enjoy 2 of days of Rest & Relaxation off the bike for the second time on the adventure (the previous occasion was Helena on 15th & 16th June – just before we set off for Yellowstone National Park).

We woke up to blue skies, with cotton wool clouds & from our rooms it looked like perfect riding conditions. When we stepped outside at 9am we realised it was over 80 degrees fahrenheit already (at 9am) & for large parts of the day we’d be riding into the Easterly headwind, plus it was humid. I hadn’t slept well overnight, but you simply have to get your head in the right place & enjoy the day – I could be at home working, instead of having the adventure of a lifetime!

Leaving town, we took the same route as the railroad, crossing the James river along the way. The route missed the World’s Largest Pheasant, so I was glad I got my photo opportunity in yesterday!!! The first 20 miles on Highway 14 were Easterly into the wind on a long, straight road, taking us past the big Grain Elevator Building at Cavour.

Reaching Iroquois (population 266), we took the chance to stop at a gas station to top up our water bottles, enjoy a cold sprite & wolf down a Hostess Cherry Pie (not worth a photo, it’s a mass produced, processed pie). Iroquois has even come up with its own motto – Small Town, Big Dreams.

After our brief stop, we took Highway 39 North for 8 miles, giving us some respite from the Easterly headwind. Occasionally there were stands of trees to break up the fields of wheat & maize – there were quite a few farmers out on the road, move their equipment around. The majority continues to be John Deere, always easily recognisable by the green & yellow paintjob. We also crossed the railroad, although I’m still unclear which is the right & wrong side of the tracks when we’re this far from civilisation!

At the 28 mile point we turned right for what I knew would be a 32 mile stretch of road that would be straight into the headwind – I chose not to tell Sean how long the road was, as I didn’t think it would help to know that the next 2 1/2 to 3 hours were likely to be seriously draining.

We both remarked on the huge grain silos in the far distance – they were enormous! I’m stood on the bottom of the ladder in the second photo, you may just be able to make out my pink jersey.

The road was perfectly straight & we could see every undulation in the road laid out in front of us. In that time, we saw one house of note & I managed to find a few roadside flowers to get a photo. Other than that the view was constant for the hour it took us to cover the 11 miles.

As we reached Spirit Lake, the road took a couple of small twists & turns – as if that wasn’t enough excitement, we also spotted 3 mule deer in the field outside a house & then saw 2 pelicans on the lake. Suddenly our wildlife cup was overflowing!

It was a brief interlude & normal service was restored as we continued eastwards into the wind. We were getting very low on water, to the point that we were getting more than a bit concerned, as we hadn’t seen a town of any sort since Iroquois, almost 40 miles previously. I knew there was a bar in Badger, but I didn’t know if it would be open at 2.30pm on a Friday afternooon – there was only one way to find out……

James gave us a friendly welcome when we pushed through the door of Paul’s Place. He topped up the 3 water bottles we were both carrying – there was a couple of sips of warm water left in my final bottle! In addition, we had a refreshing coke & Paul brought over some freshly made, warm popcorn. It may sound like a small thing sat at home, but these are the sort of things that can restore your morale in a heartbeat when you’ve been battling a headwind for the last 32 miles. James also asked where we were headed, when we said Oakwood Lakes, he said to look out for Charly at the local bar.

We thanked James for his generous hospitality & set off for the final push to Oakwood Lakes, 18 miles away. Our spirits were lifted by James’ kindness, the sugar in the coke & the right turn that meant we would be heading South for 4 miles! As we reached the left turn to head East again, we were also hit by the realisation the next 4 miles were going to roads be on gravel – a reminder of how fragile our morale really was!!! A gravel road into a headwind after 64 miles was draining physically & mentally, but we made it & re-joined the paved highway for the final 10 miles to Oakwood Lakes State Park. As we made our way to the Visitor Centre, we passed a lake where 5 egrets were perched, hunting for their dinner.

We set up our tents & then had a horrible realisation that we would have to cycle 3 miles back to The Wagon Wheel, to get some food – our only other option was to not eat & as you’ll already know, we’ve both lost a lot of weight already & can’t afford to lose much more. The first photo was taken on 26th April & the second one on 14th July.

Still in our cycling kit (we swapped shoes), we set off to The Wagon Wheel – what a great decision we made! We were clearly exhausted as we walked into the bar & sat down. “Excuse me, what IPA’s do you have?” It’s my icebreaker question, as it immediately signals I’m not from round these parts & generally gets a conversation of some sort started.

It wasn’t needed this evening as we were clearly smelly cyclists – Don, Joel, Vicki & Sharon wanted to know where we’d started (we have a stock answer which was Huron today & Seattle back on 30th April) – they all belly laughed & said that’s a long ride in the this weather! We’d made friends within 5 minutes when we said we’d stopped in Paul’s Place in Badger – Charly & James are buddies.

Let me introduce to our new friends – Charly (the owner) & Karie (our barmaid) are with Sean & me in these two photos.

From left to right – Sean, Joel, Don, me, Vicki, Sharon, Charly & Karie. A big thanks to Allen for taking the photo of us all. We’d known everyone for less than 90 minutes at this point!!

We had a great evening chatting & making friends with everyone. We also found out what a Wagon Wheel Token is used for (thanks for demonstrating Joel, Don & Sharon) – it entitles the holder to a free drink & we seemed to be permanently in possession of one each – we still have them as souvenirs! Thank you Vicki for buying our pizzas – Sean & I so much appreciated everyone’s kindness & generosity. I made sure to buy a round too, I didn’t forget my manners!

This had been the best night of our adventure so far & then it got even better – Joel & Vicki invited Don, Sharon, Sean & me on a boat ride on the lake as the sun set. We had to say yes & we had a wonderful time watching the sun go down with superb company. Here are a few of the photos I took.

My evening in The Wagon Wheel is imprinted in my memory & I won’t forget it in a hurry – we were at a very low ebb when we walked in the door, yet we’d made new friends by the time we wobbled back to our tents on our bikes less that 5 hours later! Thank you xxx

Stage Stats – 78 miles, 2,011 feet of climbing. A naughty headwind for the majority of the day. A sunset cruise & new friends made.

Saturday 16th July – Oakwood Lakes State Park to Marshall (Stage 60)

We were up bright & early, with our camping gear packed away by 9am. Today we’d be on the hunt for breakfast, as there wasn’t a shop open when we left. As we left Oakwood Lakes, we took one last look at the egrets fishing for their breakfast & one flying away to try another pond.

For the early part of today’s ride it was overcast, but the humidity was high – it made finding stops on the ride even more important. Our first hope of a stop required a small detour into Bruce after 8 miles, but everywhere was shut. Back to the long, straight road we went & passed some cows having an early morning dip.

Our next hope was the small town of White on County Road 6, but again we were out of luck for breakfast. We did find a small gas station where we could top up our water, but they didn’t even serve coffee – there were slim pickings this morning. I did manage to find a packaged blueberry muffin, but the processing stage removed the flavour!!!

As we left White, we knew our final hope for food was now 21 miles away, so we were hoping for some distractions to take our minds off food. There was an unexpected change in scenery, as we entered a 30 mile corridor of wind turbines – they were in every direction & there must have been a few thousand of them in total.

We did have one other moment to savour, as we crossed from South Dakota into our 6th State – Minnesota. The North Star State & Home of 10,000 Lakes are just 2 of its nicknames. We’re looking forward to seeing what it has to offer over the next week or so. Early indications were that maize & wheat will be regular riding companions for us.

After 42 miles of riding & surviving on a muffin, we finally found a gas station that was open & had a sandwich counter – Ivanhoe had come to the rescue & I was going to enjoy a 6 inch chicken salad sandwich for lunch! The lack of food up to this point had made the cycling hard work, so it was time to regroup & prepare ourselves for the final 28 miles.

Our luck had changed for the better, as we picked up a slight cross/tailwind & the road very gently tilted downhill. I was able to sit on the front & churn away at 16 miles an hour, which meant we made significantly better progress that we expected on the way into Marshall.

The road in took us past the town baseball pitch & also the Veterans Memorial. The earlier than expected arrival at the Travelers Lodge gave us a chance to wash & dry our kit this evening, while we tucked in to Bourbon Chicken & Mashed Potatoes.

Stage Stats –70 miles, 1,499 feet of climbing.

Sunday 17th July – Marshall to Redwood Falls (Stage 61)

We were up & on our way by 9am, as we wanted to do as much of today’s ride as possible before the temperatures got too hot – it was already 85 degrees when we started & forecast to hit the mid-90’s later. There didn’t appear to be many water stop opportunities either!

Leaving town on Highway 23, we had the road pretty much to ourselves for 14 miles as we headed North towards Cottonwood – it was fields of maize, wheat & potatoes all the way until I spotted a lake off to the left, with some impressive houses on the far shore. I also saw an understated sign advertising guns – we’re already weighed down with kit, so I didn’t stop!!!

Turning right onto Highway 9, the road stretched ahead of us as far as the eye could see – for 6 miles it didn’t deviate from due East. There was one photo opportunity where some yellow flowers gave me a chance to set up a colourful interlude!

The road twisted around Tyson Lake, where a couple of Pelicans were fishing for breakfast. Then we were back on an arrow straight road through Echo (the name reminded me of the Jack Reacher book Echo Burning) – this was one of two potential water stops, so it was disappointing when the only gas station in town was self service, with no shop. By the time we made a right turn, we’d been on Highway 9 for 16 miles & it had offered up just the one slight change of direction!

Turning right onto Highway 7, we reached the small town of Belview – again the gas station was self service, with no shop. However, the Belview Bar & Grill was open, so we popped in to see if we could get a drink. The barmaid was really friendly & chatted to us as she took our order for a soda & some iced water. We had a refill of the soda & topped off our water bottles & as Sean went to pay, the barmaid said there was no charge.

The generosity of people in American small towns continues to take us by surprise – almost without exception, whenever we stop in a proper bar or restaurant, we’ve been looked after & made to feel so welcome. We didn’t exchange names, but we did make sure that she knew how much we appreciated her kindness.

We continued through town on the 7 & took a left turn…….

…..onto gravel!! This was a surprise to us both, as my mapping software hadn’t shown any off-road riding today. We ended up riding 4 different gravel roads over about 8 miles – they were all slightly different; the first road was thick, loose gravel which was sketchy, there was some dry gravel with occasional piles of loose chippings, a fast section of hardpacked limestone (see the happy faces) & some soft dirt with gravel thrown over it – slow going!

We eventually made our way back to tarmac & within 3 miles we’d made our way into Redwood Falls & found our motel for the evening. We’d made really good time, so were at least 2 hours early, however the owner of the motel managed to find us a couple of rooms that had already been cleaned. He then sorted us out with a microwave meal, protein bar, yoghurt, juice, an apple & some water – we must have looked very hungry & to be fair, we ate everything he gave us!!

Stage Stats –47 miles, 184 feet of climbing. 8 miles of bonus gravel riding!

Murdo to Huron

Murdo to Huron

gavscyclingadventures

Monday 11th July to Thursday 14th July – Stages 56 to 58

Monday 11th July – Murdo to Kennebec (Stage 56).

We had a late start planned for today, as it was a short & fairly flat stage into Kennebec. I went to Star Restaurant for breakfast & feasted on Spanish Omelette, toast & coffee, while Sean preferred cereal in his room. We’re becoming more comfortable doing our own thing when we feel like it, although we still prefer doing things together the vast majority of the time.

There had been rain overnight, but the roads & pavement were dry by the time we met up at 10.45. It was already in the mid-80’s & there was a slight tailwind when we met – happy days! Leaving town we passed the Pioneer Auto Museum – it has over 275 classic cars, tractors & motorbikes, with one of its star exhibits being the General Lee from the original Dukes Of Hazzard TV show.

Murdo is named after Murdo MacKenzie, who led the first drive of the Northwest Cattle Trail in 1880 – there’s a memorial opposite the Auto Museum.

One of the recurring views today was Pepper Pots & Grain Elevator Buildings, as we’re now firmly in America’s Breadbasket where much of the wheat is grown.

In order to transport the vast quantities of wheat, the Pepper Pots are always next to the railroad – this is great news for us, as the railroad generally follows the flattest route available & we were shadowing the railroad! Wooden Trestle Bridges are used to get the railroad over the numerous small creeks & minimise changes to its elevation. Meanwhile, the road was taking us up & down these same rollers – they were never very steep or very long, so it provided an interesting change in landscape for us.

I also took the opportunity to get in some more Hay Bale Surfing training – My mount & dismount needs significantly more work, but I’ve gradually improved my flexibility!

After about 10 miles we passed through Draper (population 66) & continued on towards Vivian (population 87) – while the town wouldn’t have anything in the way of a coffee stop, it has an Entry/Exit ramp to the I-90 freeway & that did have services, it was also at the halfway point of today’s ride (22 miles). Research is everything on days like these! We took a 1/2 mile detour where we found coffee & an apple danish – for freeway services it tasted good.

Temperatures for the last week have been in the high 70’s (24 celsius) when we set off & have risen to the high 80’s / low 90’s (30 to 33 celsius), so staying hydrated during the day is really important & quite a challenge on the remote roads of South Dakota. We used the stop to top up our water bottles before setting off again.

For the next 22 miles we shadowed the I-90, passing through Presho (poulation 411), the self-proclaimed Pride of the Prairie!

Today’s ride was very uneventful – I’ve used pretty much every photo I took! When we arrived at Kennenbec, we’d been riding for 2 hours 50 minutes, so we were quite early checking in to our motel. We made good use of the extra time at our disposal by popping over to the gas station opposite & buying ourselves an ice cream!

On our trip to the small grocery store I also stopped to add the Welcome to Kennebec sign to my collection.

Stage Stats – 45 miles, 1,056 feet of climbing. A tailwind & a gradually descending profile.

Tuesday 12th July – Kennebec to Wessington Springs (Stage 57).

When we were planning our 4 day adventure from Philip to Huron, our intention was to break the stages up into 4 similar length rides. However, towns with accommodation (or campgrounds) are few & far between. As a result, yesterday’s ride was 44 miles & today’s is 77, so we made an early start. As is the pattern now, we woke to clear, blue skies & the temperature when we set off at 8.15 was already in the high 70’s (24 degrees celsius) & rising. The really good news is that we had a tailwind!

The white tape across the road at regular intervals in the first photo was done last night by a group of very hard working roadmenders – they passed our motel at about 5pm & before dark they managed to seal & protect about 6 miles of road. The scenery started out much the same as yesterday, with haybales at the side of the road, Pepper Pots & long, straight, rolling roads.

After 12 miles we reached Reliance (population 109) & took a left turn on Highway 47 towards Fort Thompson. The road was deserted for the next 18 miles as we rolled up & down along a ruler straight road. While we were still in prairie country, we didn’t see very many fields with crops growing.

The last couple of days have been lacking in wildlife & today wasn’t much different- I saw one deer in the very far distance & it bounded off just as I lined up my shot on maximum zoom setting (sorry for the blurry photo!).

As we reached the top of one roller, we could see there was a break in the horizon & that meant we must be close to Lake Sharpe which was created by a man-made dam across the Missouri river. The Big Bend Dam is maintained & managed by the US Army Corps (this is the same set up as we saw at Lake Koocanusa way back on 22nd May).

There were a couple of boats on the downstream side of the dam when we crossed it.

We were now entering the Crow Creek Hunkpati Oyate Reservation – Fort Thompson is the largest town on the Reservation with a population of 1,282.

We stopped at Lynn’s Dakotamart as our water supplies were low & we wanted a 10 minute break in the shade. About 4 or 5 people came over & spoke to us, they were interested in where we were going & where we were from. Without exception, they wished us safe travels & said we’d enjoy the ride as the scenery is beautiful.

An interesting observation is if you ask someone how far away in distance a place is, you are likely to get a reply back in time, rather than miles – when you travel everywhere by car, time has more significance than distance! If you’re interested, Wessington Springs is 43 minutes away from Fort Thompson in the car, or 3 hours by bicycle – in both instances the correct answer would have been 44 miles!!!

We continued on a road that would be pretty much straight for the next 40 miles (with a few small twists & turns), as it continued to roll up & down some slightly larger hills. Out of the blue & 7 miles from Fort Thompson, the nearest town, we saw a Gentlemen’s Club – one of the more unusual finds on our adventure!

We continued on our way on the empty road, enjoying the big views of the upcoming descents & groaning when we saw the next big dipper heading uphill.

Just after Sean had reached the bottom of a shallow, but long descent, we spotted our first cloud of the day – just the one, all on its own! Up until that point it had been blue sky all day. We were making good progress with the aid of a tailwind, it certainly helped us up a few of the rollers. The scenery was also gradually changing, as slowly, but surely there was more agriculture – maize & wheat fields were appearing again.

In the far distance we could make out Wessington Springs water tower – all the towns seem to have one in the mid-West. We guessed it was a couple of miles away & yet 5 miles later it was still ahead of us! Eventually we reached the edge of town, took a left turn into the commercial district & went to our motel. The tailwind had blown us into town about 45 minutes quicker than expected & there was no-one around.

We headed over the road to Springs Inn Cafe, where I treated myself to a slice of lemon & coconut pie & an orange fanta float – delicious! We also went back for dinner that evening, where we had a very tasty cod & chips. We also met Don & Susan – he’s cycling across the USA from East to West with support from Susan.

We had a really enjoyable 30 minutes or so comparing notes & sharing stories – we swapped details & now have each other’s blog details. Meeting up unexpectedly with fellow cyclists is good for the morale, as well as having the chance to find out about the route ahead. Pedal strong Don & safe travels – Susan, don’t help him too much 🙂 It was great to meet you both & enjoy your journey back to Lopez Island.

Stage Stats – 77 miles, 2,231 feet of climbing. A tailwind again with rolling hills.

Wednesday 12th July – Wessington Springs to Huron (Stage 58).

Today was another short day, so we enjoyed a lie-in & set off at 11am. There were 6 turns on the ride & every one of them was a right angle! The first turn took us out of Wessington Springs onto Highway 34, descending onto the prairie below. This section of road (like most of today) was long, straight & flat, with one pond to break up the scenery of wheat & maize as we headed to Lane.

At Lane we took a left onto Highway 281, which stretched way into the distance! There were a couple of farm vehicles which looked like they’d been abandoned, although I’m sure it was more likely they’d just taken a lunch break. As we crossed a river, I stopped to get a snap & finally managed to get a photo of one of the warblers that has been chirping at us for the last 2,000 plus miles!

We took a right turn onto Highway 224 which took us past Pepper Pots galore & another small lake. Don had mentioned last night that the small town of Alpena (population 400) had a bar called the Red Hog Saloon that should be open & it was at the halfway point of our ride. We stopped for a twix & coffee, while topping up our bottles with ice & cold water.

There was also a huge factory called Jacks Links in Alpena – I looked it up when we arrived in Huron. It’s where Jacks beef jerky, beef sticks, steak strips & smoked sausages are made. Since I’ve looked them up, I’ve seen their products in many of the gas stations we’ve stopped at. I haven’t yet been hungry enough to buy any!!!

We turned left at Alpena & spotted that an enterprising farmer had harvested the grass by the side of the road & baled it up. While South Dakota doesn’t need the haybales, they are sold to farmers in Minnesota who use it for cattle feed. Although we were on paved roads, we also saw that there were gravel roads every mile that headed off into the distance at right angles. This part of South Dakota is set out on a huge grid formation, but only some of the roads are paved – food for thought when planning the route for the coming days!

We took a left turn on Highway 37 which took us the final 5 miles into Huron. This completed our block of 4 days riding & we spent the afternoon doing out laundry & taking advantage of the hot tub to ease the aching muscles!

I also had a phone signal for the first time since Saturday, so gave Mum a call & wished her a belated Happy Birthday. It sounds like she had a great couple of days celebrating with a surprise lunch with some of her best friends on the Monday. A big Thank You to my Sis-In-Law Nikki, Sarah & Cherry for organising a brilliant spread, Mum really appreciated your hard work!

Prime Time Tavern had a small menu, but what it did, it did well. We had our first steak after 11 weeks of being in the USA – a delicious fillet mignon, finished off with a tasty slice of New York cheesecake. The one disappointment was having to drink a Bud Light, only my 2nd beer fiasco of the adventure!!!

Stage Stats – 38 miles, 305 feet of climbing into a cross / headwind.

Thursday 13th July – Rest Day.

I cycled into downtown at lunchtime, as it was 2 miles from the hotel & the temperature was in the high 90’s. I was looking for the largest pheasant in the world, but on the way I spotted a couple of amazing murals on building walls.

Pheasant hunting is a popular pastime in & around Huron, so the town decided to celebrate & advertise the fact. The local car dealer had decided to get in on the action & was advertising with a huge bison!

I spent the remainder of the Rest Day relaxing, watching Tour de France highlights of Tom Pidcock winning on Alpe d’Huez (the first Alpine climb I ever did in September 2010), catching up on my blog & preparing the route for our next block of riding. We ride again in the morning!