Biking with Bill

A PLEASANT RIDE IN CORN COUNTRY


It is 100 degrees in this part of South Dakota this afternoon and our cycling group couldn’t care less. We are in Mitchell, SD and have completed the 75 mile ride from Chamberlain. By noon our bikes were in the barn -so to speak-, and we were enjoying the sights of this farming town.

It was a most pleasant Friday morning ride on very quiet farm country roads which paralleled I-90 on a straight shot into Mitchell, SD. The weather was perfect; sunny, no wind, and not yet reaching the high temperatures of the afternoon. I again felt good on the bike; healthy, hydrated, and enjoying the ride, fully recuperated from the previous two days. We really had fun today.

Annie (England) and Lois (CO) caught up with us as we were riding 2 abreast on a country road and passing corn field after corn field. They began singing: “This land is your land, This land is my land....”, it was an amusing yet appropriate reaction to our surroundings.

We stopped for Gatorade and ice cream at a convenience store at the 4 corners in Mt Vernon at the 58 mile mark. A few of the local farmers started a friendly conversation about our bicycle trip and local lore. They strongly advised us to attend tonight’s RODEO in Mitchell for a great cowboy show. Some of us plan to do just that. Photos tomorrow.

Mitchell, SD is famous for the unbelievable CORN PALACE- “the Boston Garden of the Midwest”, named because numerous basketball games , stage shows, proms and graduations are held in this multi-use facility each year. The one square block building hosts 500,000 tourists (like us) each year–because it is a “building covered with CORN”. Truly. Hugh murals–inside and out–are made entirely of corn. It really is “A- MAIZE- ING!

It is Bastille Day in France. On our bikes we had passed through farm land planted in sun flowers–and made reference to the photos of the Tour de France with the sun flower fields in the background. At lunch in Mitchell we watched today’s Tour and applauded the success of Landis, an American, retaining his yellow jersey, and a member of Discovery Team winning today’s stage race.

It was a beautiful bike ride day...and it’s not over yet.

Bill