Day 21: Kadoka to Oacoma

Today's 113 mile ride to Oacoma (on the west bank of the Missouri River) was, for me and many others, the toughest of the trip so far.  We pedaled east on frontage roads adjacent to I-90 into a southeasterly breeze of 10 to 20mph for the entire day.  And as much as I enjoy the South Dakota landscape it never changed.  No matter when you looked around, things looked pretty much like they did the last time you looked.  In combination these factors made for a very challenging day mentally - the little voice in my head saying things such as "why are you doing this", "is it ever going to end", and "why don't you just quit".  I think all endurance athletics have these thoughts at one time or another during an event (this one lasts 45 days) and all you can do is just suck it up and finish - which I did.

I rode all day with CD Smith, the pediatric surgeon from Charleston.  He rode strong today as we alternated pulling each other through the wind.  CD, who is 73, was really challenged by the long, steep climbs in the western mountains, but now that we are on flatter terrain he is doing much better.  I think CD and I (the septuagenarians) will be riding a lot more together.

We crossed into the Central Time Zone near the town of Murdo so it was after 5pm CDT when we finally arrived at our hotel - a very long day even without losing the additional hour. We will get to sleep in a little bit longer over the next few days, since being on the western edge of the time zone means the sun does not come up until about 7:15 - and we are not allowed to start riding until after sunrise.

Tommorw's ride to Mitchell is a relatively short 76 miles and the weather again is forecasted to be good - except for winds blowing 15-20mph from the south. When we get off our bikes in Mitchell we will have reached the key halfway milestone - 1,862 miles traveled and 1,842 to go.

Steve