Tuesday, July 15th: De Smet, SD or …Is this Belgium?

Don’t know what it is with cyclists, but they tend to get up very early. Don’t they know a dog wants to sleep in once in a while? By the time I get out of the Green Turtle, most of the tents are packed and people are gone. Even the couple Ann and Dave has left! Hurry woman – maybe breakfast will all be eaten by the time we get to the Virginian. But no… they left us still a lot of food and plenty of choices: cereal, oatmeal, toast, eggs (of course), potatoes (yup!)… My belly wiil be twice as big when I’m leaving the tour. Today’s ride is still heading east and a bit south. The terrain – well it looks as if we’ll be cycling in the Belgian Polders. 

Almost pancake flat, with fields of crops like corn and wheat. Just three miles out of town the Cross Country gang takes the hurdle of midpoint of their journey: the point of no return. 

Some miles further I dig deeper into the bag: someone is shooting arrows? 

Mile 16 marks the town of Wessington, which was once destructed by a tornado. The next town, Wolsey, has a gas station, which means a halt. Time to talk with some of the other riders. This Eli guy seems to be a nice chap: he even petted me! A Gatorade refreshes my woman and gives her the energy to reach the picnic. Huron seems to be a bigger town but the divided highway through town, surrounded by silo’s along the railroad tracks, is just too much. And what's that big bird doing on Sweet Machine?  

I tell my woman not to linger too long – I want the soup the Shuli-woman is going to make for us! And it is something yummie, going by a name which sounds like “GUMBO”… Sitting still makes us feel cold again. So off we go. We are still cycling on US 14, taking us through the town of  Iroquis. Here we see the Eli-guy again, enjoying an ice cream in this small shop/café/bar. Time for some human talk between them, before attacking the last 17 miles. Those last miles are not real fun: I’m starting to get a bit sick from weaving around the rumble strips, holding the white fog line, getting a wall of air blown into my face when a truck from the other side crosses us at a speed used on Interstates, going into the gravel when two trucks just pass us. 

Wroof… I’ve had enough of this! I do not think that Laura Ingalls Wilder (author of the books “Little House on the Prairie”), after whom this part of the highway is named, would like the idea that humble dogs and cyclists cannot run freely. 

Instead of gravel as a shoulder – please, pave it and everyone will feel more happy! Yes: De Smet is a Dutch named and the town is named after a Belgian priest. A sigh of relief escapes of my woman’s mouth when she finally can cycle away from the heavy traffic. The school lies in the middle of the small town, which got the reward of excellence in 2013! 

We still got plenty of time to rest and relax, before dinner (beef which is torn apart and then put on a bun) is served. And dessert: another ice cream of course!