A red hot and hard day, battling the prairie wind.

Leaving Rapid City we were soon into grassland, though the grazing animals were a little unexpected. (And unexplained!)

  
The wind gradually got stronger as the heat rose, and soon it was pushing 100F and we were straight into a 25mph S Easterly. The 75 miles of it took us 5 hours, which wasn’t at all bad in the circumstances. 

The hamlet of Scenic offered a gas station, and some light relief. The wooden shacks were almost falling down.

   
 At a second gas station, at Interior after 75 miles, some people were eating a meal. Me: Can we see a menu? Saleswoman: It’s goulash. Me: Tell you what, we’ll have 2 goulashes. 

Then the piece de resistance as we entered the Badlands National Park. Luckily, at this point our direction of travel changed dramatically and the wind came round behind us, because the road through the Badlands was furnace hot and involved about 1200 feet of fairly steep climbing. But the rock formations were spectacular, with incredible coloured layers, pink, yellow, purple and gray. All from the bottom of the shallow sea that once covered the interior of the USA. A pair of beautiful golden eagles were cruising up and down the scarp, on the uplift, often close above our heads. It was well worth the detour and all the effort.

Now we are in a very poor motel in Wall, with aircon that can’t keep up. Not sure where our evening meal is coming from. Stop press – a fantastic 8oz steak in the only restaurant in town. And a hot night ahead. Actually the biggest, windiest thinderstorm of the trip so far has just started up. The joys of long distance cycling!

By the way, just to give some idea of our calorie requirements, here is yesterday’s (day off) food diary. Breakfast: 2 yoghurts, large bowl of diced fresh fruit, large bowl of porridge with sugar and raisins and milk, scrambled egg, bacon, 2 slices of french toast with lashings of maple syrup, loads of fruit juice and coffee. Lunch: big plate of fish and chips with a mountain of coleslaw, and beer! Dinner: green salad, large plate of pasta with sliced chicken in a rich sauce, creme caramel, beer. Between meals: about half a kilo of grapes and 2 oranges. For me, that’s huge, but I was hungry all day!