2009 Tour de Kota - Harrisburg to Yankton

On Sunday of the Tour de Kota, the tradition of rIdE_wIth_ thE_kErnEl Day was kept aloft on day one of the 2009 Tour de Kota as many folks met up at the Casey’s in Harrisburg at 8:00 am – thE kErnEl is not one to get on the road too early – for adventures in biking and camaraderie. As was going to be the norm for the week, it was chilly, overcast, with spots of rain. The beauty of the day was that the winds were out of the northwest and we, thankfully, were headed southeast.
After a “Premium” Grain Belt at Worthing, we rolled towards Beresford at a decent clip and then the fun began: A tandem came by and kicked up the speed to the 25-28mph range. Many fell in behind the tandem and we zoomed along clicking off the miles. Doug from Pierre was wheezing so loudly behind us that he had us worried that he was in cardiac arrest. He decided that the pace was a smidge fast so he dropped off a bit and caught up with us at the breakfast stop in Beresford as did many others.
After the breakfast stop the large contingent of riders broke into smaller groups and we enjoyed the wonderful tail winds as we pressed onward to Yankton. First up was a quick stop at Hub City, hosted by Pastor Kwen Sanderson (fellow Lane Hog) and congregation. From there we soldiered on to Volin where I got a piece of my favorite Strawberry Rhubarb pie at the Volin Café.
We made quick work of the remaining miles to Yankton and without even pressing very hard we averaged 20 mph for the day. However, once in Yankton and the tents were up, the rains started in. By morning we realized that our tent wasn’t going to cut it anymore due to its inability to keep us and everything dry and we would need another one if we were going to continue. That story an more in the Day 2 of Tour de Kota posting.