July 12 2014 Philip to Pierre SD

When I rode in last night I had a tiny tick in my right quad just above the knee.  Nothing serious but worrisome nevertheless.   I knew that when I got up it would be gone and it was.  However when I got up the wind was howling out of the East. The total ride for the day was 90 miles and it was straight east into the howling wind.   The flag in the court yard was sticking straight out.  There was a menacing looking sky with big black clouds hanging over to the north and east.   Ed had done the routing the day before and he had indicated that the shoulder was very rough for the first 60 miles.  With 90 miles of wheat field and big trucks I wasn’t looking forward to this ride. 

The best way to turn a minor tick into a major injury is the go and beat it up some more so I decided that I would load my bike into the van and ride with Ed up to picnic.  This was great as I have not had an opportunity to visit with my friend in the last 4 weeks of the trip. As we rode along in the router car it was easy to see how the riders were struggling against the wind.  We ran into the first person who had enough at the 8.6 mile mark.  I was really glad to be in the car. 

Picnic was at the 53 mile mark and by the time we got up there the clouds had broken up and the sun was out.  The wind was still pretty strong but it was on the decline.  So I mounted up on my bike and set off.  It was fairly tough going as you couldn’t get any speed on the down side of the huge rollers so you had to grind all the way up. At the top of the hills the wind was just screaming.   I wasn’t in any hurry so I just put it in low gear and spun away.  As I got further along the wind started to drop off and by the time I had knocked off 20 of the 37 miles the wind was almost nothing. 

As I rolled into the dorm where we were staying the manager was just driving up. So she let me and being the first to arrive I claimed the presidential suite.   I lay down and had an afternoon nap. 

As the riders staggered in was I ever glad I took a ride to picnic.

Tomorrow is a rest day. 

Terry