One thing seems certain in South Dakota: the wind keeps blowing! In fact, the wind can start out in the morning dead in your face at 12-25mph and turn almost clockwise by late afternoon. It has been slow going for a number of reasons with only about 185 miles of biking in the past three days. As of June 14th we had made it to Belvidere, South Dakota right near the Old Town 1880. This town is a conglomeration of buildings from all over the Dakota Territory brought in to capture the feeling of a homestead and old west town complete with church, blacksmith, saloons, horses and of all things a camel. Lisa and I decided to stroll the town on a another date night after spaghetti dinner with our gang.

While there, we learned about a man named Casey Tibbs who was a 9 time world champion rodeo rider. His quote was: “Do not follow where the path may lead. Go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.” Spoken like a pioneer. I would have probably liked Casey Tibbs.
Here’s a picture of Lisa with her new homestead in the background. Those who know her well can imagine how excited she is with having her very own country homestead in South Dakota no less. 🙂

If you find that story hard to believe then maybe I should stick with the real stories and observations over the past three days.
Impressions of South Dakota: About the land-I have coined my own term for South Dakota after three days: “simply serene”. Some of you will think I have lost my marbles, but I really like both the simplicity and the unique serenity of this region. Friday we rode for 75 miles from near Forestburg to Fort Thompson and the great Missouri River (of Lewis and Clark fame). On one stretch we went 40 miles with no towns. We experienced a captivating combination of rolling hills and windswept constantly weaving grass. As we pedaled over the apex of a string of knolls, we could see for another 15 miles the very road we were going to travel. Often, I pictured myself part of the serene and peaceful landscape and at times wanting to just pull over and spend time in meditation and contemplation out in the middle of one of these immense fields. However, my biking buddies were hitting their own strides during those times, so I just kept pedaling. I have never experienced anything like that ride in my life. About the people-the proud native American heritage is all around. In fact, I am in the mood to watch “Dancing with Wolves” again. Seeing the movie sets at Old Town 1880 sparked that thought. Beyond that, when we step foot into a café or restaurant we get the look like: Who are these guys in “Big Boy” biker britches? That’s with the accent on the Big Boy. 🙂 We get the impression they have not seen too many crazies bucking against the wind across the great state of South Dakota on bicycles. Then there’s the cows. I have fallen in love with the cows. Every now and then you see a herd along the road or in the distance. As we ride by, they turn towards us and watch, in unison mind you, as if to say: Who are these guys in Big Boy biker britches? I decided I’d like to be able to talk to these cows. 🙂 Riding alongside my brother today, he commented that we were being watched again. Sure enough, I glanced right and there was another herd. Every dang one of those Black Angus had turned their heads to watch us pedal down the highway. I waved at them! I know…you think I have lost it.

Today, Fathers’ Day, we rode in the morning and by chance got picked up by our wives who spotted us on I-90. We then decided to take a tour of the Badlands National Park together and end our biking early. All I can say about the Badlands is: incredible! Pictures won’t do it justice, but I will add a few tomorrow or the next day.

Challenges: Yesterday, Saturday, ended up being a 69 miler. We got a late start because of the threat of storms. At the same time, Lisa and I had a travel trailer challenge to solve with the LP gas detector which decided to start beeping early early in the morning. I forgot my phone before the ride, which could be a problem out here, but thankfully two of my traveling companions had theirs. We managed to find cover around noon in a restaurant in the middle of nowhere while a monstrous thunderstorm dropped hail, high wind, and the equivalent of a rain “white out”. This stirred up some real excitement and commotion among the locals for about 90 minutes. Cars and RVs and Travel Trailers were pulling off I-90 into the café parking lot to storm watch and then to have cover in the restaurant. The waitresses even let us bring our bicycles into the restaurant lobby. One waitress said: “You don’t want them blowing through the window.” We knew things were serious then. After too much lunch, some lack of sleep the night before, and a hard morning ride, yours truly can sleep anywhere, even in the middle of a major storm.

Later in the afternoon, I ran over some asphalt chunks on the side of I-90 and had a flat to fix on the road. I have determined that four hands are better than two in changing rear flats. Thanks Craig! Besides all that, I ate too much hamburger and fries with split pea soup for lunch and regretted it the rest of the afternoon. If I would have only listened to the cows. Faintly in the background, amidst the rush of the wind in my ears, I could hear them say: eat more chicken! All this, made the ride Saturday afternoon longer than it needed to be.

Stories along the way: On Friday, we pedaled into Woonsocket about 9am or so in the morning and noticed an electronic billboard outside a quaint little café called the Way Station: “Root Beer floats for Gary for less than $10.” I had to turn around to take a video of the sign. When that happened one of the waitresses came out into the parking lot and noticed us and inquired: “Where are you guys riding to this morning?” We responded Seattle….and she laughed: “you are pulling my leg.” I then asked her what the float for Gary was about. She shared the story of a frequent customer named Gary Stechen who owns the auto mechanic shop across the street. He was in the café on May 23 to get something to eat then went back to his shop and was badly burned in an explosion and is being treated at a Burn Center in St Paul MN.

The owner Kim, wanted to do something to raise money for Gary and his family, so she offered root beer floats with the proceeds going to a $1000 fund for the family. We found out they were a little short on their goal and the spirit was prompting me to give. Since I only had $20 in cash on me (I am not carrying a wallet and cards with me on these rides for various reasons), I decided to borrow Craig’s credit card and make a donation. Craig also donated. Kim and Jenn posed for a picture for us.

They asked us if we wanted a float. We responded it was too early, but about 3pm in the afternoon they could deliver us one about 75 miles down the road. 🙂 They laughed. After leaving the Way Station and heading west about 3 miles out of town, we noticed a car pass us and pull over in front. Out popped Jenn with a camera. She shared that we had taken their picture, but they failed to get ours. The owner Kim told Jenn: “Go find them!” We have continued to pray for Gary and his recovery along the way.

Lisa shared a story from the RV park. There was a couple in a fancy AirStream parked by our caravan at Al’s Oasis for a day. After we, the bikers, had left for the morning, this lady came over to Lisa and said she wanted to share a couple things. First, “You are all woman! I am so impressed that you three ladies set up and take down these RV’s and Travel Trailers. My husband always does it for us. If it were me, I would forget to do something because there are so many steps involved.” Then she said her brother was a big biker and was interested in what the guys were doing. She asked about our story, but also wanted to tell him what kind of bikes we had. So Lisa does her best. She says….I don’t know the name of my husband’s bike, but I think it is Italian. Then she explained that she thought Alan’s bike is Belgian. And Craig…well, it’s something that starts with “S” and it is special, and probably pretty expensive.” The lady responds…that’s great! You explained it in language I can understand and my brother will be happy to know that. 🙂 We all got a chuckle over that one at dinner the other night.

We are taking the next two days off to tour Mt Rushmore and the Rapid City area. We need a break and it is a great place to take a break.

Before I sign off, I want to say something about Father’s Day. Lisa asked at lunch today what my Dad would have to say if he were alive today about this trip. I responded I did not know what he would say, but probably not a whole lot. That in itself speaks wisdom. Having thought more about this question, I came back to a guide from the Word in Ephesians 6:4 for fathers: Fathers, “do not exasperate your children….”. Dad never acted unreasonably towards me at any time in my life. He never told me I could not do something even though there was risk in failure. He never put obstacles in the path of a journey in the use of my own gifts and skills even though they were not necessarily similar to his. He was never critical nor sarcastic nor did he, like so many people do to others, try to tell me what to do, but instead gave me freedom to explore and journey where God would lead me. Would he have been concerned? I believe so, but not in discouraging a pioneering spirit. So today I am grateful for my Dad, who passed away almost 9 years ago. In the same way I am grateful, privileged and blessed to have three sons (Jon, Brad and Ryan) whom I so proud of for who they are in Christ and their journey in life. I love them dearly. Happy Father’s Day to all you Dads out there!