July 19, 2018 Watertown SD to Montevideo MN

I don't know it was a billboard along the highway. I just had to stop to take a picture. 

The giant storm cell which was building over Watertown hit about 10:30 pm last night. While we did have some earlier thunder the real action started much later. There was also a major thunder and lightning show and a major down pour at 3:45 AM.  There may have been some others but I slept through them. 

This morning was a pretty gloom looking crowd as there were a number of riders who had decided they were just going to sag all day.  To be honest the weather forecast looked bad.  Ken T and I were the only two who were saying it wasn’t going to rain until much later in the day. 

Auzzie Bob and I set off together and set a blistering pace.  The road was wet from last night’s downpour and the clouds were dark and heavy but the rain held off.  The wind was none existent, and we had a nice road surface to help us on our way. 

By 9:30 AM the wind had picked up considerably and was almost straight out of the west which gave us a great tail wind as we were headed due east. Out of South Dakota and into Minnesota.  A quick photo of the sign post commemorating the occasion and we were on our way.  It would be criminal to waste a tail wind.   

Travelling along at 20 + mph brought up picnic at the 43 mile mark pretty fast and we are eating our second big meal of the day by 10:00 am.  Shuli had picked up sweet corn and had it on to boil when we got there.  It was great!  I had a couple of cobs and could have stayed for more but the wind was blowing. 

My bike odometer gave up and looked like the battery was dead.  You could see the numbers if you looked real hard or shaded the screen.  It wasn’t a big deal as I had spare batteries in my luggage and keep the pedal down.

By 12:00 Bob and I have arrived in Montevideo completing today’s 83 mile ride.   Never got rained on and had I great day with a tail wind and in cooler temperatures. 

The batteries I had turned out to be the wrong one as the odometer takes some odd ball size I had never seen, so I change the odometer to a new one I had purchased before I left but never got installed.  As I am installing the odometer the promised downpour starts and I have to run for cover, but it doesn’t matter as I am in camp with my tent set up.

What a fun day dodging rain storms, flying down the road with a great tail wind, and gorging on sweat corn. 

Terry hot biker