Tour de Kota '11 - Sioux Falls to Brookings

Tour de Kota 2011 started with an unusual late start for me as I didn't hit the road until after 0730. I rolled out alone and after skirting traffic and other bicyclists leaving Sioux Falls I stepped it up a notch as I knew it was going to get pretty warm and I wasn't too excited about spending my day out in the hot sun. I was sporting my USD Coyote jersey to make sure everybody I rolled by, got to be passed by pure awesomeness. I moved on through Brandon as I was just getting my legs warmed up. Garretson was about 25 miles in and by then the hunger pains started taking over so I wandered downtown to find the American Legion serving Biscuits and Gravy, Eggs, Ham, Toast and drink for $5. It’s hard for me to say no to two things: Military based fundraisers and biscuits and gravy.

I had a usual occurrence at the Legion though. I washed my face and in doing so, set my rather old head wrap down. Realizing I had forgotten it, I went back in less than five minutes later and it was gone. This gross, sweaty, old, ratty, head wrap was gone. Somebody was either a) a klepto, b)¬ in desperate need of a head wrap or c) a little of both.

About half way between Garretson and Dell Rapids, I slowly caught a couple gentlemen that I had met from San Antonio and New Orleans. Shortly thereafter they hooked on with me and we pounded a stretch north in the 22.5 mph range and then in the 25-27 range heading west towards Dell Rapids. One fell off and his buddy dropped back to him. Alone again.

I stopped in Dell Rapids and caught up with some friends, including my friend Valerie who I hadn’t been on a ride with since our BRAN (Bike Ride Across Nebraska) days. After a bit of chit chat, I left to move on again. On my way out I rolled into the heard of FAB riders that made me feel like Norm from cheers. Many shouts of “Kevin”, “Brady”, “k-BiLLy” made me feel the love.

On the way to Colman I ran across a few of the local riders proudly sporting their USD jersey as we moved into SDSU territory. Upon stopping in Colman I caught up with the Wynia family and Derek asked if he could ride the last 26 miles with me. I instantly warned him of what happened the last time a young Wynia decided to ride with me for the first time. I was a little more accommodating to young Derek as I backed off a few times to when I caught glimpses that he might be suffering a little.

Derek and I rolled into Brookings with both bagging any ideas of riding the century loop. I pulled off and met Laura and Derek went on to SDSU. After Laura had a couple hours of working her massage magic on a few friends, we headed back to her sister Dulci’s house for the evening.

Stats of the day:

Different College Jerseys that I spotted: University of South Dakota, South Dakota State University, Augustana, University of Sioux Falls, University of Northern Iowa, Montana State University, Kansas State, Nebraska.

Funniest add on to a jersey: Seen strapped to the back of a jersey: “I’m old so don’t hit me. Push me!”

Attention Cyclists With Any USD Affiliation (Past/Present)

June 10th, the last day of Tour de Kota, there is a plan in motion to ride from Vermillion to Sioux Falls en mass wearing this one of a kind, special order jersey. There will be no ability to order these EVER again so you will own part of history.

Requirements you ask?
1. Sign up for Tour de Kota (all week or just the one day)
2. Get me your t-shirt and jersey size via email (bikingbrady AT gmail DOT com). Do this soon as we will be ordering within the next week or two.
3. Ride on June 10th (at least).

Let's have a sea of Coyote jerseys fill the rural landscape!

LATE EDIT FROM USD EMAIL: Team USD members will also have the opportunity to purchase, at a reduced cost, a one of a kind, limited edition USD bike jersey commemorating the event. If you are interested in riding as part of the USD team, please go to http://link.usd.edu/3563 by February 25th to sign up and order your jersey.
****For this you will need a USD Email account. If you don't have a USD email account but would like to ride with USD pride, email me.

2009 Tour de Kota Day 4 – Gregory to Chamberlain

Leaving Gregory you instantly start climbing with some decent rollers. Again I got a late start from camp, but at least I was out by 8:20 or so and I wasn’t the last one to leave camp. I caught many people on the rollers north of Gregory and some were walking a couple of the tougher rolls. If they knew what was upcoming, they probably would have sagged in right then and there. When we turned back towards Platte, the real climbing fun was about to begin. There were a couple of hills before the river that had me in my lowest gear (36 x 23) BEGGING for a couple more gears. Uphill at about 6.8 mph and about 40 rpm’s is not my idea of fun. They were definitely a couple of long challenging hills. The sad part is that it was hard to enjoy the decent on the other side due to the cross winds whipping through the valley.

I caught up with quite a few familiar faces at Snake Creek across the river and rode with Tammy W. all the way to Academy. At Academy I hooked back up with CDV, Triple G, and Duane B. It started to spit a little rain at us again and it was still a little chilly but we found refuge in the middle of a long stretch of lonely highway with a stop on a gravel road that included grilled burgers and watermelon. I fueled up and we were off to Puckwana. We had a brief stop at the side of the road where we were QUITE pleased that one of the ladies there had decided early in the day that it was cold so she grabbed the church coffee pot. A couple cups of coffee and we were off on the last stretch into Chamberlain for the night.

Laura had called me on the road somewhere after Academy telling me that she was sick of being cold and wet on this trip. That, and remembering how cold the wind could be at the campground in Chamberlain by the river, the thought of camping didn’t excite her. Taking the hint well I told her to check into rooms at Chamberlain. She found a Best Western that had reasonably priced rooms and would take our little dog and….wait for it…had a hot tub!! Sold. We picked up a room for CDV as well.
When we pulled in we got unpacked and headed for the hot tub to get our core body temperatures back to normal for the first time all week. After getting comfortable in our room, CDV and I discussed that we too were sick of the rain and cold. Looking at the weather it appeared that more of the same was on the way. There was talk that if the weather was bad in the morning of forgetting the rest of the tour and going home. Luckily the weather was better, albeit cool in the morning.

The funny story of the day was when I walked through the lobby and noticed that the breakfast room didn’t open until 6:30am. Knowing that many bikers would be getting up early and be gone by that time due to many people choosing the century (100 mile) route to Pierre, I called down to the front desk to ask the possibility of opening a little early due to the fact that most of us would be gone. The kid at the front desk seemed less than willing to make a command decision, or work at all for that matter, and said that it would be better if I talked to the lady who came in at 10:00. So I did.

I called down at 10:00 and explained our plight and she said that nobody would be in until 6:30. I thought all was lost. Then she said the most amazing thing to me: “…but I can just give you the key to the Breakfast Room if you’d be willing to set a few things out and watch over the place a little and drop the key off at the front desk.” That’s right, somebody delivered the key to the Breakfast Room to me. If I’m ever in a need for a room in Chamberlain in the future, guess where I’m going! Many bicyclists got a chance to eat before taking off and it was a super cool gesture on the staff’s part.

2009 Tour de Kota Day 3 – Wagner to Gregory

After the tent fiasco of Day 2, I was pretty drained. I woke up somewhat early, but heard light rain outside. I rolled over and went back to sleep with the family in our new (Wow I’m not wet!) tent. Then when I finally did arise, my motivation to move quickly and get on the road just wasn’t there.

I was beginning the thought process of getting on the road when Laura said she would like me to help take the tent down the first time to make sure she could do it on her own after that. That process is a long one when you have to get the kids up and motivated to help pack the van. By the time the van was packed and ready to roll, I was the last one out of camp…by a long ways. It was 9:20.

It wasn’t until the Ft. Randall Dam that I finally even caught of a glimpse of another bicyclist and I was hammering along pretty good to catch up too. A couple tough climbs started bringing a few people back to me so I didn’t feel deserted. Sometimes solo days are good days to have as I just did my own thing most of the day. I did catch up with the world famous Dr. Spiderman and his wife and rode with them a bit. It wasn’t an easy catch either. Once I had them in my sights, it was a good five mile catch at 20+ mph to run them down. They are good strong riders and it was fun to share a little road time with them. I probably would have rode into Gregory with them, but I stopped off at Burke for a piece of Strawberry Rhubarb pie, my personal favorite.

Gregory was another stop that the whole town seemed to show up to greet us. Food everywhere, a plethora of local entertainment, and people who seemed fascinated by the variety of bikes that they got to see. Triple G – Gregg Drube – provided the local kids entertainment as he let them set in his recumbent trike and he pushed them up and down the street.

2009 Tour de Kota Day 2 - Yankton to Wagner

Better late than never. It's been a couple busy weeks so I'm trying to catch up on my blogging about Tour de Kota and other things. Thanks to my wife driving to Bike-A-Palooza in Sioux Falls today, I was able to catch up on a couple days of Tour de Kota blogging on the way. Here is day 2 of Tour de Kota, also known as the crazy tent day.

Waking up with water in far too many places in our tent was just the beginning of an eventful day/ride for us. No matter what I tried, I could not get my Garmin Edge 305 to turn on. I was devastated to think that my new Garmin had just bit the dust. I put it on the bike anyway and met up with Cycling Cathy, Ride Vermillion, and Jim Wynia at Hy-Vee for a large order of Biscuits and Gravy and some Starbucks coffee.
After breakfast we rolled out of town and it was very evident that it was going to be a pretty decent headwind on the ride. As we dropped down by Gavin’s Point Dam I noticed that The Owner was assisting another cyclist on the side of the road so I handed him my Garmin, explained the situation and rode off to catch my contingent. I caught them on the big climb back to Hwy 50 and suffered along with them during the climb.

On the road to Tabor for their world famous kolach’s , The Owner went by us on the road and pulled over ahead of us. He held up my Garmin and had it working again. Apparently it’s a common issue as it was the number one hit on Google. So, if you ever have issues with a Garmin not turning on, hold down reset, mode, and the power button to reset it. Tip of the day. You’re welcome.

After Tabor – and eating kolach’s and getting to see the Czech Day’s Queen -- we rolled into Tyndall where there not much was going on as far as welcoming the TdK into their town. There was even a report that the owner of the DQ refused to open before his appointed opening time even though there were many bicyclists outside and he was there anyway. Um…DUH!

We received the opposite reception in Avon where it seemed that half the town was in the park to welcome us in. Food vendors everywhere, reusable grocery sacks made special for the TdK, and people everywhere striking up conversations. The only issue was the temperature as we had worked up a decent sweat by now and the cold wind was definitely making our body temperature drop quickly.

Leaving Avon into the wind, we tried to keep a pace line together but young Master Wynia was out front and soon looking back our line was down to three. A couple more miles in, Bald-n-Surly said he was going to back off as well, leaving me to get dogged by the youngster. We took a quick break at the last rest stop before Wagner and fought our way into the wind through the last eight miles.

Now for the drama of the day. Laura called me as I told her to check various places in Yankton for a better tent since ours definitely seemed far less than rain proof. I received a call saying that nothing really met what we needed for and wanted for a family tent. I told Laura to just come to Wagner and I’d go to Cabela’s in Mitchell and get a new tent for us once she was there. And so I did.

The lady at Cabela’s was really good at explaining the tent features and after discussion found a Cabela’s tent that worked for exactly what we were looking for. So it was purchased. I noticed a set of poles in plastic on the outside of the tent box and while I found that strange, I didn’t put much thought into it. Back to Wagner – about a 150 mile round trip – to put up our new buy.

While putting it up, the excitement was mounting. The tent seemed so huge compared to our old one. Down to the last couple poles we realized that the poles seemed really long. CDV and I determined that they must be the top poles so we replaced the poles we already had in place and started to stand it up. Um…something is wrong here. There is no way these poles are going to fit in their appropriate notches. We tried to bend it to make it work, being the manly men that we are, but we realized that the poles were simply the wrong size. Almost on cue, as we looked puzzled at each other…. RIIIIIIiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiipppppppp went the seam that the pole went into.

I called Cabela’s and explained my quandary. It ended up being that some of the first boxes of this tent were minus a set of poles and that’s why they put them on the outside of the tent. After some discussion, I was offered the “opportunity” to meet them half way, which initially they wanted to be Parkston (about 25 miles from Mitchell) and I quickly offered a point considerably closer to halfway (Tripp).
I’m happy they righted the issue, but I have to admit, I was a little more irked when the lady (whom I DO appreciate) showed up with a single box with no poles on the outside. Now tell me, if you have a tent you know has everything in it, wouldn’t you sell THAT one first? I understand wanting to rotate inventory, but this little mix up cost me another 70 miles of driving and about three and a half hours of frustration. While their customer service to make it right was stellar, I’m not sure I got the best end of the stick on this problem.

Back in Wagner, the tent went up perfectly fine with the right poles, and I had time for a couple quick beers and conversation before crashing for the night.

The day from my Garmin, starting a good distance in due to my Garmin issues noted above. This chart missed out on the good early climbs leaving the river valley.

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.

Tour de Kota - Day 0

The packing process has begun and Oh Great and Powerful Steve (aka the Ford Freestar) is in the process of being filled up. The dogs are getting their baths in preparation for the week. Buddy is going to Grandma Brady's and Deeohgee will be partaking in the Tour de Kota festivities with us. Marissa and Carson will be coming with so the number of bikes the Brady family will be bringing is 5 and a 1/2. They will not be riding the route, but the plan is to get a few "bonus" miles in during the tour.

This is probably the worst part of the week -- packing and getting ready. Let's get this show on the road!!

Tour de Kota '08: Day 6 - Brookings to Sioux Falls

List of excuses:

* The weather sucked pretty much all week.
* Big storm rolled through Brookings last night
* It was 55 degrees at 7 am
* Winds were out of the SW at about 20 mph (we were heading South)
* I've ridden these roads many times on MS Rides and various other times
* I have nothing to prove to anybody
* The bikes looked all snuggly on the roof rack
* I hadn't had a morning latte all week
* I hurt feelings of some by telling them the rules of the road this week
* The other half of Team Man Tandem wasn't around all week
* Nor was Cactus-Eyed Joe
* I wanted to spend quality time at Falls Park with Laura
* I already made Patrick Lalley's Blog
* ..and the Argus Leader on Ride With thE kErnEl Day

End result: I bagged the final 68 miles that I heard from various riders ended up being around 77. Windy and cold until about 12:30 too.

There is some serious debate about next year's ride. Some hurt feelings amongst those who served on the committee this year as well. More to follow on that in a future post I'm sure.

Tour de Kota '08: Day 5 - Huron to Brookings

Good weather FINALLY! Not much to say about the day other than I slept in, started late, and said "On Your Left" a bunch today as I averaged over 20mph for the day.

I said hello to a bunch of guys that included the guy I cornered in Highmore a couple days ago. He didn't say hi back. There's a part of me that hopes he gets over it and there's a part of me that doesn't care as long as the lesson is learned: Get your butt to the side when cars are coming.

Now I'm filled with Pizza Ranch goodness and heading back to the campsite. One more day and it will all be another great memory!

5 mile splits for the day:

Tour de Kota '08: Day 4 - Highmore to Huron

Picture poached from the Argus Leader. I'm second in line proudly wearing a wet CiTyBiLLy work shirt.

We had an official "Ride with thE kErnEl Day" today and we left way later than I would normally leave (8:15ish). In retrospect, I should have talked them into leaving LATER than that. I looked at the weather forecast and knew the wind was going to change from East to West around noon, and we were heading east. Before we even got going, it started to rain slightly and it was chilly and windy. But we headed out and as soon as we turned east on Highway 14, we realized how bad it was.

Light rain doesn't necessarily bother me. Winds 15 mph and under I can live with. Adding them both together can bring the heartiest of riders to tears. There would be no tears in thE kErnEl's peloton however. There were many smart aleck comments, a few jokes, movie one-liners, and even and occasional song or two. The priorities took over. Bar stops. The first of which took place in Miller.

We found a bar, which I didn't even look at the name, and Patrick Lalley tried the door and it was locked. He looked in the window and said "There's movement!" He pounded on the window and in his best voice of utter alcohol desperation said "PLEEEEEAAAASSSSSSEEEEEEEE!!!!!". Low and behold, the door came open and we were invited in. Patrick just made the jump to the good friends list. After conversation, a couple of mugs of Blue Moon and some bar popcorn left over from the night before we were on the road again.

As we stepped outside the bar, we noticed that the wind was finally starting to shift from the west a little more and the rain had pretty much run its course as well. The paceline formed once again as we hammered the next 14 miles to Wessington gleefully after dealing with the rain and the wind for the first 26 or so. Only problem for thE kErnEl crew in Wessington was that the bar was not open at all. We ended up having to circle back to the Cenex and grab a 24 ouncer from the cooler. The line was long so we started drinking it on the way and was promptly scolded by the cashier. It didn't really stop us from continuing however.

We rolled on to Huron with a few miles of crosswind, but for the most part nothing but tailwinds for a change. thE kErnEl tried to lead out thE mUsclE for the intermediate sprint points for the city limits sign into Huron (hard to explain to you non-cycling folks) but as thE mUsclE and I were probably topping 30 mph on our sprint we laughed as there was no city limits sign to be seen. With no sprint points to be won in Huron, I captured all the intermediate sprints for the day, although only one was truly a contested race by thE kErnEl himself, but my competitive nature couldn't let him win it, even on Ride With thE kErnEl day.

We found a bar in Huron (shocking!) that also served food. Laura joined us and we enjoyed a beer and good food. We parted ways after a great day on the road, regardless of the weather. Friends old and new further cemented their bonds. Many of the CiTy BiLLy's (Northern chapter) were on the ride so we paid homage to the other founders from Lincoln, eDLoNNie and eDBiLLy by making a phone call to eDLoNNie with a "wish you were here".

Tour de Kota '08: Day 3 - Chamberlain to Highmore

Although it was a chilly day by June standards, it was a beautiful day to ride after being completely brutalized by the wind yesterday. The only problem, for those of you who know the Chamberlain area, is there are a couple of monster hills to deal with early on in the ride. After getting to the top you have the joy of all joys though: cannonballing at breakneck speeds down the other side.

I got into an aero-tuck position and decided to see what I could top out at going down the hill. Then a weird thing happened: I was flying along, catching a guy rather quickly and the whole front of my bike started to shake violently. I seriously thought that either my headset was loose or the tire was not on right. I was trying to brake fast but carefully. I seriously had the feeling that I was about to go down and it wasn't going to be pretty however. Luckily I got it back under control, but needless to say that I feathered the brakes all the way down the next hill which is shorter but steeper. I came to find out at the campsite that others had the same issue on that hill, so apparently it was a speed/road/wind combination or something of that nature. All I know is that I haven't been that terrified in a long time with a "non-cager" incident.

Hitting Ft. Thompson seemed way too easy after the windy day from hell just encountered yesterday. Laura was going to meet me there but was just leaving Chamberlian so I told her just to go on to Highmore and I'd roll on. I downed the rest of my Sugar Free Amp (yes Amp, another plug to your greatness, now where is my sponsorship?!?!) and after a brief chat with a local kid on his Walmart-special bike that was in awe of my "rad ride" I was on my way.

Leaving Ft. Thompson is a hill. Not a bad hill mind you, but a hill that you seriously questioned when the top was going to happen. It seemed to go on endlessly. After that were some pretty decent rolls all the way to Highmore and it was a good, short, but hilly ride today.

My rant of the day is a little more pointed however. I left a little late for me (7:10ish). I noticed I've been doing that a lot more on this tour and I'm sure part of it is that it has been a little colder. Anyhow I was getting increasingly annoyed with people I could see ahead riding 3 or more wide on the road, but not collapsing at all when there was traffic behind. When I could I was yelling "CAR BACK" to try to get them to move over which only worked with one or two set of riders. Even when I went by with an "On your left" was I rarely granted more space to pass them, often going out into passing lane to get by them.

After clearing most of the slower riders things seemed to be getting better. As I was picking up the pace with about ten miles to go I notice that there were three guys up ahead, all riding a decent pace as it took most of that ten miles for me to catch them and I was clipping along pretty good. Understand that this road is pretty much constant rolling hills and the guy in the outside seemed oblivious or just didn't care when a car would come up behind him while climbing a hill. I was getting increasingly upset as car after car had to wait behind them, whereas if they would have collapsed, these cars could have still given them room and passed safely. This was probably a motivational factor for me catching them because I needed to share my displeasure. As I was catching them just a couple miles out of town I realized that I knew the guy and decided that I would wait until I got into camp to talk to him, hopefully in private if possible.

Unfortunately he was by the beer wagon with other people by the time I loaded my bike on the van, but I didn't back down, I went and had a little discussion as calmly as I could. I told him that I like him a lot, but I needed him to understand that as we continue to fight for cyclist rights on the roadways with organizations such as the South Dakota Bicycle Coalition, that the damage he was doing to our reputations on the road is not helping to gain a "share the road" attitude. He didn't say anything at all, but I hope it sunk in a little. I really do like the guy and he is a strong rider for being fairly new to riding and I wish him well. I do need him to use his head a little better and that was my point. There was a TdK rep from the Argus there as I was talking and I discussed the need to find a way to make a safety briefing mandatory like the do on BRAN (Bike Ride Across Nebraska) to discuss such things. We'll see, I know that advocacy-wise that the TdK hasn't heard the last from me on this subject. There is another subject to follow that has quite a few of us upset as well (TdK-wise), but I'll save that for a later time. It will be quite the rant as well.

In other news, tomorrow is "Ride with thE kErnEl Day" so we are not leaving until 8 am and hitting a bar in every town. If that doesn't have disaster spelled all over it nothing does

5-mile Garmin splits:

Tour de Kota '08: Day 2 - Mitchell to Chamberlain

Outside of day three on TdK #1, which by chance I went back home the day before to work that year, I am pretty sure a windier day has never been ridden into on TdK. My Garmin, which pulls weather from weather.com is way full of crap on this day. It says the winds averaged 19.1. Maybe for the first 25 miles that was true. After that it was easily a sustained 25 with gusts of 35. Ask anybody who rode it (and didn't sag in).

I rode solo today because I most of my regulars I ride with were not here and others I trust tend to get out too late (yeah, that's you FAB boys). So, I'm choosing to be a non-social rider for the most part. From Mitchell to Mt. Vernon I had vision of grandeur of still completing the century loop. By Plankinton, the century loop was off my brain completely. By the time I hit White Lake I was thinking that this was a perfectly fine place to call it a day. After hanging out with Laura for a bit I decided to soldier on to Kimball (14 miles) and looked for the first mile marker out of town. I believe it was mile marker 373 and so the countdown began...373...372...371...370...what?? Damn this is a long mile. FINALLY another sign....368...whew..it was 2 miles since the last sign. When I hit a crossing highway I could see a water tower in the distance and the sign said "5 miles to Kimball". What it should have said is "this will be the longest, slightly uphill, five miles of your life. You should consider stopping now and forgo all this pain and suffering". I swear that water tower looked like it kept moving further away instead of getting closer. But finally it did and I made it to the world famous tractor museum in Kimball where Laura awaited me with the sport drink of champions: a quart of chocolate milk.

It is quite possible that a quart of chocolate milk has never disappeared so fast in the annals of history. Although many of your stomachs are probably turning right now, as usual it did the trick and I was ready to finish the ride. I hit a rest stop manned by staff from Cedar Shores from Chamberlain. Not only were they passing out 180 energy drink, they were giving free adult beverage coupons for when we got into Chamberlain. They were put to good use at Cedar Shores along with a couple beverages after that.

I barely remember the trek to Puckwana (home of "Puk U" Bar and Grill) and on to Chamberlian, but I was dang glad to see the campground upon arrival. I was even more amazed to hear there were a handful of people who did the century loop. I figured I have little left to prove with my cycling and there will be many more centuries in my life. Today would have just proved that I'm a stubborn old fart who has a death wish. Especially on a day when a good chunk of people didn't come close to completing 75 miles.

As you can see by my total Garmin time, I took long breaks. Laura will even go as far to say that I was looking for excuses to NOT get back on the bike at a couple of stops. If you can keep a secret, she's right (as usual).

Below is the 5 mile Garmin breakdown. You will notice SLOOOOW speeds in the middle of the ride. I was a fragged puppy.

Tour de Kota: Day 1 - Sioux Falls to Mitchell

After surviving my nephew's wedding and a trip to Monk's House of Ale Repute with Snakebite, Hellimat and his girlfriend on Saturday night, we drove out to the starting point of the ride. The sky was filled with lightening and we barely got the van situated for sleeping arrangements when the sky started to let loose. As we cozied up in the van we were thankful that we were in a "leak proof tent" that we didn't have to take down in the morning. It rained about three times on and off during the night and the morning was cool and humid, but it ended up being a nice day of riding.

The plan was to rally at the Irish Pub in Montrose with Snakebite and thE kErnEl in the morning. I left solo from Sioux Falls and hammered at a pretty good pace. When you leave a little later, this becomes a sporting event as all the slower riders who got out early become excellent bunnies for you to chase down.

My frustrations mounted when people were riding four abreast, up a steep hill, with cars behind them. I was literally screaming "CAR BACK!!" at the top of my lungs as they merrily went on their way, not moving over. I was so torqued off that as I rode by the one group I said "YOU guys are part of the reason that motorists hate bicyclists". It may have been rude and I'm sure that they took offense, but I had to tell them how I really felt about their lack of caring. Just because you are on a tour does not give you the right to be a complete ass and act like no "laws of the road" apply to you.

Life was much better once that traffic was cleared. I bypassed Hartford dreaming about a cold brew or two at the Irish Pub in Montrose, conveniently owned by my brother and sister in law (for the next month anyway). I caught up with Dave H. and Brent A. (fellow MS Bike Tour riders for Team Road Kill) and decided to hang with them for a bit. Snakebite called me when I was hitting the McCook County line and said he was in Hartford and I said I was nearly to Montrose and would wait there. A couple miles later, Laura called me and said that the Pub was still closed. Apparently the wedding was too much and they couldn't find anybody to open. Bummer. So we ate at the high school where they were raising funds for the pool and headed on our way. The breakfast burrito was way good gals! The hard boiled eggs were good too, but the Coke/boiled egg burp I produced down the road I could have done without.

As we were nearly in Salem, Snakebite called again (oops, forgot to call him back) and stated that the Pub was closed. Yup, knew that, moved on. Told him we were about to Salem and that we were going to roll on and I'd hook up in Mitchell with him. We pulled into Salem's park where they had tons of food. However, after just eating ten miles ago, I wasn't quite ready to eat so I waited for Dave and Brent and then we rolled on.

We stopped at a rest area at Spencer where I met up with an old friend from Jaycees. After short pleasantries we rolled on once again. Dave and Brent stopped near Farmer and I told them I was going to roll on and I turned the last 18 miles into a pretty decent hammerfest.

It was a great day of riding as there was very minimal wind which is so rare in South Dakota. I also got to meet up with a friend that I worked with at USD and his new wife and we went out to eat after Laura and I showered at their place. The eating part deserves, and will receive, its own separate post. Let's just say it was a less than impressive story in the history of good customer service.

Tour De Kota Photos - DeSmet

I promised to post pictures of the day I tried to kill "the kid". Well, here they are, with a few others from the Madison to DeSmet day on the tour.

80 degrees, long sleeves, long pants...must be Joe!



Laura brought her massage table along and became an instant celebrity. Here Cathy enjoys a little leg work.



What do you think, does Ashley look like she's in heaven on the massage table?



After dogging poor Jim for nearly a 20mph average for the day, he was dead to the world. During all the massages, he put his hands inside his pillow case and crashed hard.



Saving the best for last. If you blow the picture up, you'll see that the boy is not only in lala land, he's in drool land.

Tour de Kota - Saturday - Lake Kampeska Loop

Highlights:

1. Abandoned idea of trying to ride back to Vermillion
2. Left shortly before we were supposed to, almost beat our "road guard" police officer to his location.
3. Had a police officer escort behind us the whole way so I *sorta* turned the fun ride into a time trial.
4. Stopped in Sioux Falls at Spoke-n-Sport and bought our new Tandem!
5. Sleeping in my own bed at days end.

Day 7 Stats (via my Garmin)
Miles: 28.55
Ave pace: 17.1 mph
Temp Ave: 66.2
Temp High: 69.8
Wind Ave: NE 6.9
Wind High: NE 9.2
Start Time: Jun 16, 2007 6:51:23 AM
Finish Time: Jun 16, 2007 9:04:42 AM
Moving Time: 1:40:18
Elevation Gain 677
Elevation Loss 677
Net Elevation Change 0

Tour de Kota - Friday - DeSmet to Watertown

Highlights:
1. Was going to ride solo and hammer hard all day. Put head phones on and was averaging right at 20mph for the first 20 miles.
2. Caught Craig and Jim and decided it would be much more fun to hang out and ride in with them.
3. Being chased by a BIG, FAST dog who luckily couldn't gain good traction on the pavement near Watertown.
4. Spending the night in the hotel as the rains came pouring in wave after wave.

Day 6 Stats (via my Garmin)
Miles: 72.02
Ave pace: 18.8 mph
Temp Ave: 72
Temp High: 77
Wind Ave: S 7.8
Wind High: S 9.2
Start Time: Jun 15, 2007 6:05:24 AM
Finish Time: Jun 15, 2007 11:00:32 PM
Moving Time: 3:49:21
Elevation Gain 1,793
Elevation Loss 1,766
Net Elevation Change 27

Tour de Kota - Thursday - Madison to DeSmet

Highlights:
1. Craig wusses out - Craig wants to save his legs and ride with the ladies a little. True meaning: he's had enough of me. I'm hurt and still in counseling.
2. Jim however, DOESN'T wuss out. Kevin attempts to kill said child on the road.
3. Kevin Weiss's parents put out signs for me at their farm near Sinai. As the Logue's would say later: "He really doesn't need more encouragement". I stopped and chatted for awhile and then hunted Jim back down for the next 25 miles or so before Oldham.



4. Karaoke in Desmet. Nothing better than singing where nobody knows you!
5. Taking funny pictures of Jim after attempting to kill him off riding.
*check back - have to download those pics!*

Day 5 Stats (via my Garmin)
Miles: 63.42
Ave pace: 19.5 mph
Temp Ave: 66.8
Temp High: 69.8
Wind Ave: SSE 10.1
Wind High: SSE 12.6
Start Time: Jun 14, 2007 5:52:27 AM
Finish Time: Jun 14, 2007 9:55:00 AM
Moving Time: 3:15:00
Elevation Gain 1,719
Elevation Loss 1,682
Net Elevation Change 38

Tour de Kota - Wednesday - Dell Rapids to Madison

Okay, summer is keeping me real busy so I'm only going to hit the highlights of the last few days of the Tour de Kota so I can finish my blogging.

4:30 am wakeup. 4:35 CRACK (read: thunder). 4:45 rain. 4:55 stopped...take tent down. 4:56 tent partially down, rain some more (dammit). For the next hour or so we hid under one of the park shelters, ate breakfast and cursed our luck. Finally, we decided to just go. It rained for the first hour or so of our journey. We only took two stops all day, once for a church group who set up in the middle of the country with goodies (how can you just ride by THAT?!?!) and once at the lake before Madison at the country club because I had to go wee.

Highlights: We passed the same guy three times. He was with the Air National Guard and he admitted he didn't unclip all day as he didn't want his buddies to catch him. He said they were stronger, but he wanted this one little victory!

Laura shows up!: My wife joined us in Madison for the duration of the trip.

Free Food: Madison made a free supper for the riders and $8 for non riders. It was a good meal and my favorite kind: FREE!

Day 4 Stats (via my Garmin)
Miles: 49.78
Ave pace: 17.3 mph
Temp Ave: 67.6
Temp High: 69.8
Wind Ave: SE 8.4
Wind High: SE 13.8
Start Time: Jun 13, 2007 6:37:33 AM
Finish Time: Jun 13, 2007 9:44:25 AM
Moving Time: 2:52:14
Elevation Gain 1,567
Elevation Loss 1,343
Net Elevation Change 224

Tour de Kota - Tuesday - Lennox to Dell Rapids

Craig and I both woke up about 40 minutes before our alarms were set to go off do to maximum bladder capacity levels being reached. After rectifying the situation we tried to lay back down but quickly realized that it was pointless to even attempt to go back to sleep so we broke down the tent and was packed up and ready to go…..at about 4:35am. At 4:40am we were both in line for to be the first customers of the nice lady making lattes (even though she wasn’t planning on being open until 5:00). We sucked those down and Craig, Jim, Cathy, Ashley and I hit the road at 5:30am sharp (or 5:24:51 according to my Garmin 301). It was 100 miles to Dell Rapids, I had 5 packs of Gu, it was dark, and I was wearing sunglasses….hit it (sorry, had to get my Blues Brothers reference in)!

We rolled into Tea and did a rather weird loop through town that seemed kind of pointless, but whatever. We hit the Kum & Go for a quick breakfast stop and off the road we went. Back on Hwy 17 going towards Wall Lake, the usual close-to-Sioux-Falls-drivers were annoyed with us and a few seemed to take aim at shortening our life span. One truck, with plenty of room to get over, chose not too and was incredibly close to us when he went by. In unison, but with opposite hands, Craig and I waved to him with only one finger so he could plainly see our dislike of his lack of willingness to share the road with another vehicle (yes, according to South Dakota law we ARE vehicles—except of course for DUI laws!).

From there Wall Lake we went to Humboldt for a short pit stop and then Buffalo Trading Post, then west where the real fun (read “wind”) began. A cross wind at first, but then we turned towards Montrose…Head wind central. After torturing Craig and Jim at 20+ in the cross winds, they were none to pleased at the current situation so I did my best to pull them into Montrose by breaking the wind for them. We made it to Montrose and went to the world famous Irish Pub for a Pub Burger….which is a personal favorite and actually has no hamburger! My brother and sister-in-law own the place which is another good reason to shamelessly plug it in my blog.

After filling our stomachs very full we headed east out of Montrose to face a pretty good ascent along with a pretty good wind as well. The wind was definitely picking up and was out of the SE at a pretty steady 15-20 at this point. We battled the wind to Hartford, then had mainly tail/cross winds through Lyons and into Baltic, at which point we had already put in 100 miles for the day. A short climb to the stop sign and then it was tail winds into Dell Rapids for the day.

After getting our tent set up and getting showered, Craig called to tell me that he found a great “municipal” downtown. I wandered down and met up with him and he was right, it was a great municipal. Padded rocking chairs, in the shade, on the sidewalk, with ice cold cerveza, and the willingness to keep an open tab; cyclist heaven! As we had a couple, three, four beers in us, and more cyclists were coming in, we started to encourage them to come and join us for a beer or six by hollering such wonderful slogans as: best beer in town, cold beer!, coldest beer in town. All this for a place that had JUST opened up that afternoon (Grand Opry House for those heading to Dell Rapids anytime soon) and Craig can boast being their first paying customer. After our personal marketing attempts and a few bottles of liquid courage, I told our waitress that she should buy us a round for our first rate marketing campaign and she agreed to do so. A bit of excitement happened as a HUGE flag fell down in between the four of us sitting at the table miraculously missing all of us. The only casualty was one empty beer bottle which died a most ungracious death on the sidewalk. Craig and I figured that we had to have at least seven beers a piece, including one purchased by Cathy Logue, and when we asked to pay our tab our waitress said “$8.75”. We love ye Grand Opry House!

To put a damper on our giddy little excursion however, we received a call that two of our riders, Melissa H. and Angie W. were about to be picked up by the ambulance due to a nasty crash on the railroad tracks outside of Lyons. Both will survive, but Melissa has a broken collarbone and Angie had chipped a tooth and had a nasty case of road rash.

After a few phone calls to make sure that our wounded Lane Hogs were okay, we went out to eat and then finally met up with Melissa and Angie back at the camp to see how they were doing. Melissa’s fiancé Nick came to get her as her ride was over. Her bike was locked up in the trailer and the keys were back in Sioux Falls so we agreed to get her bike back to Vermillion for her. After saying our goodbyes to Melissa and helping Angie determine that riding the next day was a bad idea, we all crash for the night after a long day filled with the best of times and the worst of times. A short 50 mile day to Madison tomorrow will be just what we need.


Day 3 Stats (via my Garmin)
Miles: 106.09
Ave pace: 17.2 mph
Temp Ave: 75.4
Temp High: 82.4
Wind Ave: SSE 12.8
Wind High: SSE 18.4
Start Time: Jun 12, 2007 5:24:51 AM
Finish Time: Jun 12, 2007 1:09:34 PM
Moving Time: 6:09:51
Elevation Gain 3,781
Elevation Loss 3,629
Net Elevation Change 151

Non Garmin Stats:
Lane Hogs Down Today - 2
Broken Collar Bones - 1
Chipped Teeth - 1
People missed by giant falling flag - 4
New Beer Discovered - Leinenkugel's Summer Shandy

Tour de Kota – Monday – Vermillion to Lennox

Five of us rolled out early: Craig, Jim, Cathy, Ashley and myself, determined to get ahead of the heat for this 75 miles day. As would be the norm for the week, a 40 mile trip by car turned into a 75 mile excursion via bicycle.

The trip to Meckling was nice and easy and we all waved at Greg Merrigan who was manning a water stop on behalf of Clay Rural Water. He told us that his neighbor (Cindy L.) was recouping after her big crash the day before but was pretty gimpy.
About 2-3 miles from Meckling, Jim punctured a tire. We think, in retrospect, that the nasty train tracks at Meckling might have been where it happened and it just took that long for all the air to escape the tires. With the help of Willie, who just so happened to have a frame pump, the tire was changed and the pursuit of Cathy and Ashley was on. We skipped going into Volin for a second straight day and we climbed the “Volin hill” towards Wakonda. Right as we turned north towards Wakonda we caught Ashley and Cathy and the Wakonda High Alumni (Cathy, Ashley, and I) all rode in together.

The town (with help from Cathy) put up lots of cute little signs with various sayings between Volin and Wakonda. There were even signs for Wakonda Alumni on the ride which of course was pretty cool for those of us from Wakonda originally.
Wakonda had many cool events planned, but we were pretty early so we spent a little time eating and refilled our water bottles and saddled up. I was so early that I missed seeing my Mom (which she let me know about later!) who was helping with the Sr. Citizens stuff. Cathy stayed behind as she felt obligated to make sure everything was going well in the hometown and I think she was sick of riding at OUR pace and wanted to ride her own.

With the wind at our backs the hills on the way to Irene didn’t seem nearly as bad as usual. On one of the “shotgun” hills (down one side fast and back up the other right away), I was still well over 30mph at the top of the second hill. I waited at the stop sign in Irene for Craig, Jim, and Ashley as I got a little TOO excited with my hill work and was ahead a ways. They stopped and got a freeze pop from the high school girls and then Craig SOMEHOW ran into Ashley who was parked at the stop sign. No blood no foul, but it was a bizarre incident that could have been bad.

North out of Irene the wind was pushing us well. It was when we turn East towards Viborg that the crosswind was a bit brutal. We formed the best echelon we could to break the wind and made it into Viborg in good time. After some time at the high school for further “re-fueling” we were off again. The trip north to Hurley was a blur thanks to the tailwind. We were between 20-25mph without much effort at all. We nixed taking a route detour into Hurley (been there, done that) so we just continued north towards our turn that would take us to Lennox. That last Easterly stretch started to take it’s toll so we dropped the pace a little to keep everybody in the line and protect them from the wind as much as possible. A short little stint north and we arrived in Lennox with thoughts of Pizza Ranch on our mind.

We got our bags, set up the tent, showered, and headed off to our destination: All you can eat at the Pizza Ranch! Okay, I admit, I put the thought of Pizza Ranch on everybody’s mind somewhere between Meckling and Volin so everybody had PLENTY of time to think about it.

After making sure that the Pizza Ranch wasn’t going to make any money on us, we wandered back to camp and enjoyed the company of fellow riders (after I had a short siesta!) as well as a wonderful mocha made right in the park. They informed us that they would be setting up at 4:30am for breakfast and we informed them that we would be first in line. Many of us went to the bar and ate and then back to the campgrounds once again. Jim and I went to the amateur baseball game between Lennox and Irene for awhile, where we met up with James (aka “Spiderman”). After a few innings Jim and I went back to get ready for bed. Shortly after I hit the sleeping bag I heard a baseball bounce close and then *THUMP* it hit the tent right behind ours.

I finally put on my headset as the band was slightly horrible in the singing department (sorry if any of you read this, but you REALLY need a singer!) and finally crashed out for the night. Tomorrow is going to be 100 miles so we are starting EARLY!

Day 2 Stats (per my Garmin)
**Note** I had a brain cramp and missed a little over 3 miles leaving Wakonda by not turning my Garmin back on.
Miles: 70.62
Ave pace: 16.5 mph
Temp Ave: 73.8
Temp High: 80.6
Wind Ave: S 10.9
Wind High: S 18.4
Start Time: Jun 11, 2007 5:59:25 AM
Finish Time: Jun 11, 2007 10:45:17 AM
Moving Time: 4:16:13
Elevation Gain 1,458
Elevation Loss 1,356
Net Elevation Change 101