Brian Richardson
We are now nine days into South Dakota, and it continues to challenge and bewilder us. The state has an unfortunate reputation among some people as being ‘flyover country’—somewhere you pass over or through but don’t stop at. For better or worse, this is not possible on a bike.
The western part of South Dakota gave us scenery that rivals anything in the Cascades or the Rockies. We were warned, however, that east of the Badlands it would turn flat and boring. I can’t argue that the landscape since then has been as dramatic, but there is a lot to learn and appreciate from this region if you give it a chance. Since exiting the Badlands, we’ve gotten to witness the transition from shortgrass to tallgrass prairie and experience the precipitation levels rise accordingly. We’ve learned that the topography in this part of the state is not flat, but dips and climbs around the Missouri River and its many tributaries—we’re still climbing thousands of feet per day. East of the Missouri, we’ve seen farms and railroads interrupt the sea of grass with increasing frequency. By boring a tunnel from Wyoming to Minnesota, we’re getting a taste of the magnitude of the Great Plains and feeling firsthand the anemological consequences of so much area without forest to block the wind.
‘Flyover country,’ eastern South Dakota
Today, like yesterday, these Great Plains winds were in our face. For the morning at least, the gusts were only 20 mph. We classified this relatively weak headwind as a ‘South Dakota tailwind.’ Combined with a smoothly paved road, this wind allowed us to average 10 or even 11 mph to a lunch break in Wessington Springs. Oblivious to the growing breezes outside the shelter of the town, we took some time to visit the Wessington Springs Shakespeare Garden, a recreation of Anne Hathaway’s Shottery cottage accompanied by over 150 local trees, shrubs, and flowers.
Usher enjoys the Shakespeare Garden in Wessington Springs, SD
By the time we rolled out of the garden, the northeast wind was peaking at 46 mph. For the rest of the day, it was a constant battle for us to maintain just 7-8 mph against it. When traffic allowed, we took up the whole lane in a diagonal line (or echelon), shielding those in the back from the wind. When traffic got heavier, we had to ride single file in the shoulder, each person bearing the brunt of the wind.
20 miles short of Huron is the town of Alpena, home to 261 residents and the Jack Links beef jerky processing plant—literally the largest beef jerky processing facility on the planet. For several miles as we approached Alpena, the headwind was thick with the smell of dried meat. We passed the Jack Links behemoth just as the 500+ employees were ending their daily shift. Given Alpena’s residential population, this meant we would be sharing HW 224 with at least 239 Huron-bound commuters, which thwarted our plans for an echelon during the remaining miles.
Usher takes a quick rest in Alpena, SD (note the direction of the Jack Links windsock in the background)
We finally arrived in Huron at 7:45 pm, over 12 hours after starting the ride this morning, with 9.5 of these hours being in the saddle. This was without question the most demanding day of the trip for me so far.
We’re staying with a delightful Warmshowers host here who took us to dinner at a local Mexican restaurant and told us stories about Huron. We would have loved to take him up on his offer for a private pipe organ recital at the church—where he plays every Sunday—but since it was already well past our usual bedtime we settled for Beethoven’s Sonata No. 14 at his home piano.