Day 25 - 84 miles from Pierre to Chamberlain, SD

Today we finally got hammered by the wind and it began at the onset. Consequently, we decided not to ride the tandem; so, Michael took the Cervelo. The gusty headwinds ranged from 15-25 mph. We did not get the opportunity to have any tailwind all day. It was sunny and temperatures in the high 80's and mid 90's.

John and Kathy Schneider, this wind was an experience similar to what you experienced on your ride in WY, that is, if you held the bike by the top tube, it would fly out nearly horizontal with the wind. I had a hard time keeping the Cervelo in a  straight line due to the sideways gusts of air. Good thing I rode alone as it would have been too dangerous in a draft line.

To say the least, the group is not happy campers tonight as all the talk at dinner was how bad it was. As I told them, you will remember this.

The wind did not make it conducive to stop and take pictures; however, I did stop for some so here they are.

Other than the wind, the BIG news of the day is that we reached the HALFWAY point of the the tour.

This panoramic view shows how it was much the same as yesterday.

With the exception that we rode the latter part of the ride parallel to the Missouri River. I did not know this river is so beautiful. It is actually blue and not brown and muddy like the Mighty Mississippi River.

Here is one of the 3 climbs that were short in relative terms to those in OR, ID and WY, but steep at grades of 7.5, 8.5 and 8%, respectively. 

Into the wind, as this flag shows, the climbs felt like 4% more!

It 7 pm and I'm ready for bed! What a day!

Tomorrow, we ride 71 miles to Mitchell, SD; hopefully, the winds will calm down some. Regardless, we will ride the tandem from the only SAG stop at the halfway point.