Like Yesterday, But Better

Last night was a pretty great night to be in a tent. Yes, it rained for much of the night but that rain came with another light and sound show in the form of lightning and thunder. The lightning seemed to last forever with constant overlapping flashes. And the thunder rolled right along with it. Sure, the memory of the storm while at Assumption Abbey was still fresh in my mind but since my tent wasn’t being assaulted by strong winds or shredded by hail I assumed (pun intended) I was safe. I drifted back to sleep as the light show continued.

As has become a bit of a trend, the rain that fell through the night gave way to a beautiful sunny morning. I once again was awake at 5:30 AM and on the road shortly before 7:00 AM. And there was another kind wind that came along for the ride. There was also a bit of backtracking needed this morning as I pedalled back east to Highway 79. It was actually a bit strange to see the sun in front of me as I pedalled at that hour.

Backtracking aside (it was only 6 km, after all), I have to say that I really enjoyed today’s ride. Yes, the wind helped but I found the scenery to be beautiful. However, my photo attempts to capture the vast views really weren’t doing said views justice so I just admired them for myself and pedalled on. At times the landscapes reminded me of parts of Africa (minus the zebras and giraffes) in that they just seemed to go on forever. It was beautiful.

My destination for the day was Newell, SD. A 100 km ride. As rides go, this one was sort of a practice run for some of the rides that I anticipate are coming soon. Practice in the sense that it was a somewhat remote ride.

As I turned onto Highway 79 I was greeted with a sign informing me of a lack of services for 33 miles (53 km). I pedalled on and hoped I wouldn’t need services. Spoiler Alert: I didn’t. In fact, the ride to Hoover ended up being really easy and I made really good time. A good tailwind has that effect. And when I reached the “town” of Hoover I stopped for the aforementioned services. I say “town” but it looked too small to be a town. It was kind of a strange but interesting place that looked more like a farm homestead. And reaching said homestead required pedalling down a somewhat lengthy gravel hill. Good times.

There was a small general store there. A farm. Some sheep. A few houses. I couldn’t figure out if it was just a family that lived there or a few families. Either way, the general store had bananas so I was able to have a bagel with peanut butter and banana and red high fructose corn syrup … uh, I mean, Strawberry Fruit Spread for lunch. Interestingly enough, there was a room beside the general store which clearly featured at least six card/poker tables. So, while Hoover may be small they clearly have a significant card-playing clientele in the area … not bad for a place 33 miles from anywhere.

After pedalling back up the gravelled hill to the highway, it would be another 33 miles (53 km) without services to get to Newell. As it happens, I made really good time there too. So much so that I arrived in Newell by 1:00 PM. Once again, I was in a small town with no plans for accommodation. It was still very early in the day and the wind still in my favour. Not hard to tell where this is going. So, after refilling my water bottles, eating half a CLIF protein bar, and making a quick Dollar General detour, I decided to carry on with the wind again. Side note: Dollar General always makes me smile – and frequently makes me stop. They just seem to appear out of nowhere and where you least expect them.

“Carrying on with the wind again” meant setting course for Belle Fourche, SD. It was only 40 km away and it was yet another very easy ride. As a bonus, the wind had conveniently switched from the north to the northeast … just in time for me to turn east. I have no doubt I’m going to pay for these few days of kind winds but for now I’m just enjoying them and trying to ride them for as far as I can. Clearly I wasn’t planning another 160 km day but when you’re on a trip that goes against the prevailing winds and those prevailing winds take a day or two off … well, it’s best to take advantage of those situations.

When I arrived in Belle Fourche, I was seriously considering getting a motel but surprisingly most were full and/or seriously overpriced. This turned out to be a pretty good thing. In lieu of a motel, I headed to the Riverside Campground which ended up being a really pleasant surprise. The owner of the place was super friendly and accommodating. I ended up setting up my tent next to a couple of covered picnic tables where I somewhat-covertly had access to power outlets. And I not-at-all-covertly had WiFi. All for just $10. Oh, and yes … there were actual washrooms and showers. Take that Regent RV Park.

The strong winds which had pushed me this far today continued well after I had set up my tent – and actually got stronger. As such, I opted to eat out tonight – while I love my little alcohol stove, it doesn’t do so well in high winds. Sadly, there weren’t any All-you-can-eat buffets that I could shamelessly take advantage of so I had to settle for some fast-ish food. And far too much junk food for dessert. But it was tasty junk food – funny how that works.

Today’s totals:
Distance: 161.21 km
Ride time: 6:50:34
Average speed: 23.55 km/h
Maximum speed: 58.85 km/h