June 15, 2018
Day 28 Aberdeen
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Aberdeen, SD
Since we missed the grocery store last night, we had to grab breakfast at the local gas station deli...egg and cheese croissants. There are definitely foods being consumed on this trip that would not normally be found on our daily menu. But sometimes we’re at the mercy of what’s available and what will fuel us for the next 20-30 miles. We generally have an Isagenix shake after we’re done riding and we’ve carried a few of their protein bars, but there’s also the weight consideration. We don’t want our bike bags weighed down anymore than necessary, so it’s definitely a balancing act. Vitamins are non-negotiable and thankfully not heavy. I also carry the AMPed Fuel shots for the afternoon sugar lows. We usually grab some fruit, a few clif bars or plain old chocolate bars to help with that too.
As we headed out of Faulkton, we had a nice 17mph pace going for the first 4 miles with an awesome tailwind out of the NNW, then we had 2 options:
1. Go north for 28 miles, then east for 27 or
2. Go north for 8, then east for 27, then north for 20.
Either way, we would have to go into the wind for 28 miles; we just had to decide how to break it up. We ended up choosing the latter and it worked out fine. We even saw a buffalo farm. There was a herd of twenty or so near the fence line with 5-6 babies. As we neared, the adults huddled around the babies; strong protective instinct and pretty cool to watch.
Before we had to make the second turn north, we stopped at a “travel plaza” which was really just your average gas station. Still not quite sure what made it a “travel plaza”. When we parked our bikes by the side of the building, we were immediately attacked by biting flies. Like the kind that hang around dead thing. (Not surprised that we encountered them, as we’d passed numerous cow/pig farms today that tested our gag reflex.) We ran inside the place as quickly as possible and hung out there for a while making some pbj’s and talking to some locals. We went back out to our bikes and there were dozens of flies on and around our bikes and bags. Do they smell that bad?? We loaded up quickly and made that 2nd push north, part of it on 4-lane state route, part on back road. Needless to say, the back road was better. We got into Aberdeen around 3 and checked into our AirBNB room in the basement of the host. Not a bad set up. Full kitchen in their entertainment cave (foosball, ping pong, pooltable, air hockey, tv) along with laundry. We really needed that! The host even left a stack of nutrition books since he’d read my profile. 😄 After cleaning up, we walked to a Chinese restaurant for dinner. There’s a good sized university here - Northern State University. We walked through the campus on our way to and from dinner. Not too busy in a summer Friday afternoon/evening, but there were a few people out and about. The AirBNB house is just across the street from a park and near the SD School for the Blind and Visually Impaired. Must have been drawn to this place! We crashed around 8:30. Hoping to get an early start tomorrow; pretty sketchy weather outlook with chance of thunderstorms in the afternoon. We have 60 miles to go tomorrow and hoping for favorable winds!
Today's ride: 59 miles (95 km)
Total: 2,124 miles (3,418 km)
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