I soloed the entire 73 miles to Sioux Falls today and really enjoyed it - my mental slump appears to be over. The route was almost entirely on Highway 38 with light traffic and good road conditions, except for an 11 mile section which was closed for repairs. Most of us pedaled right around the road closed barrier and, except for one area where we had to carry our bikes through a large ditch in which a new culvert was being installed, made it through without difficulty. Several in the group took a detour on I-90 to avoid the construction - I'll take a little road construction over pedaling on an interstate highway anyday.
I arrived in Sioux Falls about 1pm and settled into my room in a one year old Hilton Garden Inn located in the downtown area on the Big Sioux River - it is a very nice hotel in a great setting. The bridge on the right in the picture is an historic railway bridge converted to pedestrian/cycling use.
As I walked around downtown in search of a chocolate milkshake, I was really impressed with the look and feel of the area. I've probably said this before, but one of the great pleasures of my cross-country cycling trips is to see and experience some of the really nice mid-sized cities across the U.S. Sioux Falls, which has a population of around 150,000, appears to rank with the best. To those of you who live on the coasts and have not taken the opportunity to see first hand what's taking place in these very livable mid-sized towns of middle-America I encourage you to do so - it will give you renewed faith in the future of our country.
I was successful in my search for a milkshake - and it was excellent!!
The group is on our own for dinner tonight so I think I'll have a burger out on the hotel patio overlooking the river and then spend a quiet evening watching the 1st quarter of Monday Night Football before lights out time - if it's a really good game I might even make it to halftime.
I need a good night's sleep because we have two high mileage days ahead of us. Tomorrow we pedal 109 miles to Okoboji IA, crossing into my home state of Iowa after spending about 80 miles going across the southwest corner of Minnesota. Winds are forecasted to be up to 25 mph from the south with temperatures in the low 80's which, combined with the mileage, might make this one of the most challenging days of the trip. Then on Wednesay we go another 114 miles to get to Clear Lake IA. I've really been looking forward to the ride across northern Iowa, but it's going to be challenging - think of doing Ragbrai (look it up if you don't know what it is) in less than one-half the normal time.
Steve
When we were in Sioux Falls last year, we were on that very patio overlooking the river, having dinner!
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