Day 27 Mitchell to Sioux Falls, SD 73 miles with 1400' of climbing

Last night about 20 of us went to the Corn Palace Rodeo and had a great time.  Many of the folks saw their 1st Rodeo.  A good time was had by all.

Today we ate breakfast in the motel at 0600 and loaded the luggage at 0630.  It was 72 degrees when we loaded and the forecast was highs in the mid ninety's.  After starting out I found that my legs were really tired from the fast riding yesterday.  They felt really heavy and I rode by myself for about 25 miles after trying to stay with 2 or 3 different groups.  We had only 1 rest stop scheduled for today and it was at mile 41,  There were many other stores along the way and when we came to one at 24 a bunch of riders were there and I went in and got a chocolate milk and a peanut butter snack.  I felt better after eating something but the legs were still heavy and the humidity was very high and we were having to face a 20 MPH wind from the south and we were heading east with 2 short stretches directly into the south,.  the 1st one was for 3 miles and the other one was for 3.5 miles.  This made it hard to keep going when the legs do not want to cooperate.  It was getting hotter and I was drinking my 2- 24oz. water bottles every 20 miles.  When we pulled into the rest stop I ate some food and filled the bottles up once again.  After leaving this stop I was feeling a little better and just kept pedaling.  The next store was at mile 61 and it was a welcome site and both my bottles were again empty.  I got a Gatorade for one of the bottles and filled the other with water and then it was off once again.

By this time I was finally feeling a little better and kept a steady 20MPH while still fighting the side wind.  There was a log of debris in the shoulder that we were riding.  With about 6 miles to go, Jim one of the staff members that was riding had caught me and I had my 2nd flat tire of the trip.  Jim pulled over and I took my rear wheel off and he took it and pulled the wire out of the tire and I gave him a tube and he changed my tire for me.  Just at the right time Karen came by in one of the support vans and got out the tire pump and aired my tire up for me.  What service, it was like a pit stop in the nascar racing.  I only had to take my wheel off and put it back on then was once again back on the road in a short time.

I rode the rest of the way into town and at one of the intersections Karen was there to warn of a slick corner and to be careful.  I found out after getting to the Motel one of the riders had gone done at this corner by hitting a slick spot of oil or grease.  2 other riders had miss hap's and went down today but nothing serious and all should be OK to ride on Monday after our 3rd rest day tomorrow.

When we resume on Monday we will be leaving South Dakota and arriving into Minnesota.

That is all for now and I did not take any pictures today as all we saw were corn fields and soybeans,