TDK Day Two: Extended Version

After a chilly night and a 4 a.m. wake up call, people were starting to move around the camp ground pretty early on Monday. Cycling Cathy and I had heard that the wind wasn't going to be ideal on the way to Chamberlain. We had hoped to beat some of the wind by getting out as near to 6 as possible.

I ate a banana before we got going, but didn't take the time to go through the line in camp. Generally that's an okay thing, it's not a huge deal to make it 10-15 miles down the road. No biggie.

We headed west to Chamberlain after pausing at the Corn Palace. As soon as we turned west, and it was a straight line for the rest of the 70 miles, we were greeted by a headwind that was fairly brisk already. Weather.com says it was over 20 mph, gusting to 25 or 27ish. I lost Cathy quickly. That's not such a big deal. Plus, I thought that she'd likely make an attempt at the century. I rode with Brittany from Sioux Falls for most of the way to Mt. Vernon. Pacelines were the only way to survive the day well, but they make me nervous. I hadn't even ridden that close with the Lanehogs this year, so I wasn't in practice. And even with people you know well, crashes still happen. I didn't want that to happen to me and I didn't want someone to crash off of my rear tire either. So, I just plugged away.

After 12 miles, I was hungery. At the first stop, there was a huge line for both food and to pay. I couldn't wait to pay, so I grabbed two chocolate milks and a slice of breakfast pizza. I inhaled all of it and presented their empty carcusses to the cachier. I saw Cycling Cathy at that stop, she said she'd see me in Plankington. Cool. And as I got going on the road, just ahead of Brittany and her family, I soon discovered that my front wheel was flat. Some people said that Spoke-n-Sport had just arrived at the gas station. I rode back to the stop to get it fixed. That quarter mile was a very pleasant ride. The night before when I pumped up the tire, I noticed that it took a lot of air. I'd hoped that would be the answer to my slowness, but no. It still really sucked to ride that day.

So, I just worked my way pit stop to pit stop. At the next one, maybe another 12 ish miles away I was still prepared to continue with mini goals, pit stop to pit stop all the way to Chamberlain. A lot of people were lining up for the SAG wagon by that point. I'm like, "BUt you have all day..." And yet, something in my head snapped between Plankington and White Lake. I saw lots of cars passing with bikes on the back. I started looking at them much like a dog follows the piece of food from your plate to your mouth.

I wanted very much to enjoy my time in Chamberlain and actually relax there a little bit. But, after doing the math it was taking me about 6 hours to get even half way (including stops). I decided it wasn't very much fun any more that day. Still, quitting isn't generally in my vocabulary and I was feeling very bad for considering it. But, I was trying to make a sensible decision and making it my choice. Not something that I had to do either way. That day was the optional century day, I had already decided to scrub those 25 miles anyway. I figured that my minimal training miles didn't warrant trying to achieve 100 miles so early in the tour.

I get to Plankington, the half way mark. I saw a bike nearly identical to mine right away (out of hundreds, or maybe dozens, there) and knew that Cycling Cathy was still there. So I was very very happy. She had been watching for, me and was worried about me back there by myself. Silly me, I also thought of calling her, but didn't have her phone number either. I told her that I had been contemplating saging in and she said I should. She and two other ladies had discovered that there was actually a waiting list for the SAG wagon. On the way in to town I saw several bikes at the bar. I said maybe a person should wait for the SAG wagon there. That seemed fun.

Cathy, plus two ladies from Watertown: Bonnie and Mary Jean, had explored other options apart from the SAG. They had met Joan, a local lady working at the lunch stop, who said she would drive them if they paid for gas. There was room for me too. So, that was the end of that. I'm not generally big on the idea of 'fate' as a strict guideline for things. I couldn't really argue that that was as good of a sign as any to end my ride with 30 miles to go. The lady was really nice and fun to chat with during that last stretch into town.

PLUS, the lines were short for the showers. I had energy to set up my tent. They had kuchen at the campground and we went across the street to acquire beer. A tomato beer was my recovery beverage that evening. Only 15 ish people completed the century that day. Alot of people bagged at least a portion of that ride.

The chamber treated us to a complimentary taco dinner. And students from St. Joseph's Indian school demonstrated some dancing for us. We had a good time. 40 miles, 4:42:58 ride time, 8.5 mph average speed. Yikes.