Previous entry: "Bear Butte to Scenic via Rapid City" | Next entry: "Bear Butte, Grasshopper, and the Sweat Lodge" 08/06/2007 Entry: "Badlands, Grasslands, and Spicy Food" Wednesday, July 11, 2007 to Friday, July 13, 2007 Scenic, SD to Wanblee, SD We spent the night in Scenic without incident, and awoke early to ride through the Badlands. The day was supposed to be cool for the Badlands, in the eighties, but we still wanted to beat the heat. We got on the road early. Ariel had some mysterious problem related to a bouncing rack...don't know whether she ever solved it, but her rack seemed to stop bouncing. We only biked through a small portion of the Badlands, a few miles, maybe. We were surrounded on both sides, and front and back by smooth spires, pale and shadowed from the low, early sun. The colors of the Badlands ran between ivory and red, layered sediments banding the spires. The terrain was pretty flat, and we saw few people going that way in the early morning. We made quick time into Interior. We had some trouble all getting to the same spot...Ariel and Karen managed to find the only two convenient stores in a town of like 50 buildings and went to different ones, but we managed to all meet at this small Native American crafts store. I (Karen) saw a decorated hatchet that I think my brother Eric would like for his collection but it was over $100 so he'll have to wait on that one. We ate lunch early, at 10:30am, maybe, and while we were eating a stray dog wandered up, short tail, scruffy, sniffing the food. We shooed him away, and he wasn't listening, and then his owner came out of the store and we discovered he wasn't a stray after all... We rode towards Wanblee, SD, which is on the Pine Ridge Reservation. The road past interior was hillier. We started having some real rollers in there, and a headwind picked up the last 10 miles or so, but not real strong. The road was mostly farmland and ranchland similar to what we'd seen between southeastern Montana and the Black Hills. Minwah and Karen got into Wanblee first and looked around town. There was nothing on the main street through Wanblee, so they asked a local after a gas station, which apparently was just out of town. So the two headed over there, and waited for awhile. Meanwhile, Ariel and Seager got into town, and, not realizing there was anything beyond town, started looking around for Karen and Minwah. Fortunately, someone came to the gas station/grocery store who had passed Ariel and Seager, and when he left went to inform Seager and Ariel where they could find their friends. So we all met up at the gas station/grocery store. We bought a case of ramen and polished off a bunch of them, and also splurged on some tasty cinnamon rolls and bagels with cream cheese and these disgusting white cookies with frosting that we all ate. We camped behind the grocery store, just hanging out until after the store closed and were were ready to sleep. Wanblee, SD to Wood, SD The night at Wanblee passed without incident, except that Ariel's slow leak had matured to a full blown flat. She changed the tire. Seager realized that Ariel's tire was extremely sad-looking, and not only that, she was missing rim tape and her single layer of electrical tape was kind of sad looking. We got a good laugh over what Shawn would say if he had seen that situation, wouldn't have let her ride, and then Ariel put some duct tape over the electrical tape to make Seager feel better. Apparently she had ridden 500 miles without even electrical tape before she got a flat. Hopefully she didn't use up all our luck in avoiding blowouts with a bare rim. There were 48 miles between Wanblee and the next town, White River, which was off the reservation. Those 48 miles contained lots of rollers, a headwind for the last 30 miles or so, a crossing into the Central Time Zone, and some barking dogs that chased us down the road. It was the closest Seager came to using his stake hammer on dogs, and Ariel did use her water bottle to squirt water at the dogs to keep them from chasing her. The four of us spread out on the hills, but arrived at White River within 40 minutes or so of each other, eating a slow lunch in front of a casino. We asked in a nearby restaurant whether there was anything in Wood, the next closest town (15 miles away) or Mosher, the town after that, and learned that there was a little something in Wood, but not very much, a.k.a. nothing in Mosher, so we aimed for Wood. The last 15 miles a strong headwind was blowing, but we trucked along. The rolling hills were tough with the headwind, but the downhills provided us with sweeping views of the grassy plains and were very pretty. We rode into Wood, and had three options for places to stay: 1) At the park, 2) in the backyard of some guy named Dave we met at the small grocery store/gas station in Wood, and 3) in the front yard of Jodie, a friend of some lady we met at the gas station. We opted for #2, since we weren't sure of water at the park and Jodie was planning on going off to work so we wouldn't have access until water until 8:30pm, and we were planning on eating before then. So, we set up our tents by the grain bin. Dave was a funny guy, a self-proclaimed "professional visitor" with a gravelly voice. He sat around and told stories all afternoon, and was fond of the expression, "you betcha". He let us use his bathroom, and his phone (with a calling card), and he made us some tasty goulash with his special, homemade 7-chile spice blend that had Seager, Ariel, and Karen crying by the end of the meal. Minwah is the only tough one amongst us. We also got an unexpected call from our friend Grasshopper from Bear Butte, just checking in. We used up one of Arie's phone cards chatting with him for awhile, each of us taking turns. Unfortunately, later in the evening we learned that Seager had an emergency back in Oregon, thanks to his wacko landlord who wants to evict Kendra and him for bogus reasons. The rest of the night he was on the phone, trying to work out that situation. Ariel, Karen, and Minwah listened to Dave's political rant for awhile and then went to visit Jodie who had graciously offered her front yard, a cozy little garden area. Eventually, Seager determined that he should probably return home, and he called our friend Shawn in Rapid City, who had graciously extended the offer that if we were in 3 hrs driving distance by car of Rapid City and needed something, we should call. Shawn said he'd be by in the morning, so we climbed into bed, Ariel crying her head off because it is sad that Seager has to leave us because of some -----. Wood, SD to Winner, SD We planned on a short day today, since Shawn was showing up here around 9-930 mountain time, or 10-1030am Central time. So we slept in a bit, although we didn't really since we woke up at 630 and we were still a bit on Mountain time. We packed up, ate breakfast, and went to the park, where we discovered a cool ancient toy that is a pole with chains hanging off a rotating disk at the top. You run and then liftoff, and the rotational inertia keeps you swinging and airborne. We decided dangerous toys are more fun, got ourselves dizzy, and went to wait by the gas station for Shawn, who showed up when expected, bearing Ariel a new tire, some rim tape, and treats for everyone including pickles for Minwah, dark chocolate for Karen, and Dr. Bronners for Ariel. He also showed us a neat shirt-folding trick and we played in the park. I'm going to wrap this up since the library is closing soon, the ride into Winner was mostly flat, pretty golden waves of grain, downhills, a tailwind. Made good time, found a park to sleep in. Back to normal for a little while... Replies: Leave us a note! (3) Hi, girls. I'm so disappointed we didn't connect in Hartley yesterday. I left the house to check out the riders' park for about 20 min. and don't you know, that's when you called. If you'd have left your phone # I could have called you. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed Hartley and your stay in Spencer over night. I've been trying to read up on all your journals and will continue to. I'll be thinking of you and praying for your safety on the rest of your trip. I really admire your courage and determination. I know many times you must get discouraged but remember, after this trip, there is nothing you can't do if you put your mind to it. I hope you have fun on RAGBRAI this year. It looked like such a hoot!! Posted by Janet Branson @ 07/23/2007 06:08 AM CST Bikes, listen... pssstpppsssspsssttpppph, OK? Posted by The Bike Whisperer @ 07/14/2007 07:23 AM CST We're planning on Seager re-joining the crew and continuing on from RAGBRAI, provided we get enough of our moving stuff together first. I think we'll make it. It's such a ridiculous situation. Posted by Kendra @ 07/13/2007 03:42 PM CST

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