There are a lot of flags in South Dakota and they all seemed to be pointing directly at us today as we battled a second day of stiff, steady headwinds. Yesterday we had rain to go 
with our headwinds. Today we had heat, hills, and humidity. Also, very rough roads that wound up bouncing us around quite a bit. We were all tired from yesterday’s saga so we were pedaling without much energy. The Locomotive said that he cranked it up as hard as he could go and his power meter showed he was producing only 160 watts. (He’s a data-driven guy). My power meter is in my head and I’m sure it was registering much less than 160 watts. As a result, our average speed dropped precipitously. The good news on the day is that we passed the official halfway point. The company that organizes our trip, America By Bicycle, even painted a small monument on the asphalt. (By the way, the mileage I record is what’s on my odometer at the end of the day — not the official mileage from ABB. I sometimes take detours — or get lost — so my mileage is a bit higher than ABB’s).
The other big news continues to be flooding. We’re following the Missouri River which is
big even in normal times. Now it’s huge and lapping at roadways and the bottom of bridges. The local McDonald’s is not just serving sandwiches but also sandbagwiches. The locals have been very nice to us but they all seem a bit nervous about what might just happen.
Now I’m in Chamberlain which is a pleasant little river town. It’s also the county seat for Brule county. Brule, of course, means “burnt” as in creme brulee. That suggests that we may get a lot more heat and humidity. Oh, joy.
Day’s distance: 84.2 miles (135.5 km)
Average speed: 12.6 mph (20.3 kph)
Day’s climb: 2,500 feet (762.0 meters)
Total distance: 1,930.1 miles (3,106.2 km)