Day 27 Gee Brief: Cue the Buttes!!!!

July 17th

Kadoka, SD to Rapid City, SD

In the film The Truman Show, the director gets to say something that EVERY stage and or film director wishes they could say and actually make happen. He says, "Cue the SUN!" And when he says that, the sun actually rises!

On today's ride, I was thinking of that movie, because, about 5 miles or so after I left Kadoka, VOILA! there suddenly were HILLS!!!! 

                         

 I haven't seen a hill, I mean a REAL hill for many, many days. At first the hills (buttes)were only to be found on either side of me. They were LOOKING at me, silently murmuring the ominous ruminations of the Wicked Witch of the West...."I'll get you my pretty!!!" Of course, they were saying this in the plural, because they were everywhere around me...and then it happened. They were directly in front of me! It was very similar to the rolling hills of upstate NY, only  thethese were much, much, longer. I thanked them, knowing they were only trying to prepare me for the actual MOUNTAINS that lay ahead! The buttes were indeed Butte-i-ful!

Another difference I noticed was that the grass lands were made of actual GRASS. They had the fuzzy tops like the wheat fields I had previously ridden through, but instead of the brown colored wheat tops, these were a light shade of green. I tried to take a picture of an entire field of the stuff, but failed miserably. This close-up gives you the idea.

Before I broach the next topic, make no mistake...I LOVE Jenard. The Domane 6.2 has proven itself over and over again as an AWESOME machine that can handle incredibly lousy road surfaces and still leave my body intact. HOWEVER, there is one small design flaw: The dust cover which you see pictured here is just so slightly protruding outward. As I was enjoying the lovely South Dakota view, I suddenly heard this "flapping" and looked down to realize my shorts had caught on the edge of the dust cover and were pulling it away from the bike. 

Jordan

 Simultaneous with this event, J pulled up in the truck, having just caught up with me. I got on the phone with Biker's Edge and they let me know the dust cover was not a major problem, but to have it remounted at the next Trek shop I encountered. As I was about to take off, a good Samaritan by the name of Jordan pulled over to see if I needed any help. Jordan is on his way back out to school in Utah. He attends BYU. He told me that he is training to run a HUNDRED MILE race!  I told him I would rather bike 3,500 miles than WALK ten feet, let alone run 100 miles! Thanks for the offer of assistance Jordan and good luck back at school!

Speaking of problems on the road, I cannot speak highly enough about the Specialized Armadillo tires I've been using! In my biking career, one thing I've been VERY good at is getting flats! Well Armadillos, which are made using Kevlar, have prevented me from getting flats on three different occasions: The first time was about 7 days ago when SOMETHING slashed my rear tire down to the inner core, but it didn't make it to the tube, and I didn't get a flat. The second two occurrences happened today, when I heard a rhythmic metallic slapping noise against my frame. I pulled over to discover a metal wire STICKING INTO MY TIRE! The tire had picked up the wire off the road, and the wire had attempted to plunge itself into the tube....but once again FOILED by the resilience of kevlar!! Remember, this happened TWICE: the tires are fine, and the tubes have no clue they were ever in danger. Long live Specialized Armadillos!

Along the way, J and I have been seeing about a million signs for Wall Drug. The signs are similar in tone to the Pedro's South of the Border signs you see on I-95 heading south to Florida. These Pedro's signs are the closest I've ever come to actually HATING an inanimate object. As you drive by them in a car, they remind you of how far you haven't gone, and how far you still have to go!

Cycling is a different story. Signs like these are one reason I enjoy the interstate much more than the back roads. On a bicycle, I LIKE knowing exactly how far I've gone and how far I have to go. It helps me ration out my energy. The mile markers do this job quite well, and the Wall Drug signs provide a little entertainment. J and I just happened to pick the exact same sign to highlight in our post, so I put in another one. There were many more, but I had to draw the line somewhere.  We stopped there, had a lovely lunch and strolled around the grounds. When I saw the giant rabbit, I just HAD to get a picture of me sitting in the saddle. However, as soon as I decided to do this, the South Dakota public school system decided to simultaneously give EVERY kindergartner the day off and send them DIRECTLY TO THAT RABBIT.  I settled for a pic of me hugging the darn thing and left.

The livestock is a bit bigger in South Dakota.

That evening in Rapid City, we had a wonderful Pho dinner at the Pacific Rim Cafe. Pictured below you see shots of their aquarium which has some wicked cool golden angel fish.