June 20, 2003 Today was an interesting and exciting day. Our plan called for us to ride from Selby, SD to the casino at Prairie Knights. When we woke up, the wind was blowing, but we didn't pay much attentionn. When we went out with the bike to go to breakfast, the wind was howling. Fortunately, the direction of the wind was the direction that we wanted to go for the day. We had breakfast, and met up, once again, with the trhee musketeers we met in Pierre. After breakfast, we started our ride that was supposed to be about 76 miles. We got about five miles up the road, and reached the intersection where we were to turn west to cross the river and go to the casino. As we turned the corner, the bike was nearly blown over by the gusting wind. We stoped and consulted a map, and made the decision to keep going north, and maybe make Bismarck. The only way we could get the bike started at this point was to walk it until we were down wind. Once we got started, it was an unbelieveable ride. The wind must have been gusting to over 40, and we averaged over 20 mph for the sixty miles we rode. What a kick in the butt. LaValle and I have made a vow to never complain aboiut head winds again - we will just take them knowing that at some point, we will get the killer tail wind and have the ride of our lives. Aftter riding that wild horse for about 20 miles, we broke a spoke. We had made an appointment to take the bike to the Dakota Cyclery in Bismarck to have the back wheel worked on, and we now knew exactly why we had done that. It was interesting what happened as the spoke broke. We slowed, and were looking for a driveway so that we could get off the road. As we slowed, a car came up behind us with its hazzard lights on and horn honking in a friendly way. We decided not to use the drive because there was a big dog there that acted like he would like to have a hunk of LaValle and Ron for breakfast. We went past the drive, and the car followed us. We stopped, and he pulled ahead and stopped. He came back, and said that he only wanted to say hello and tell us how much respect he has for cyclists who ride long distances, He also said that he had a hunting lodge not far away, and thay we were welcome to use it and its laundry facilities if we wanted. We told him that we appreciated the offer, but that we were going to try to make Bismarck by the end of the day. His name is Richard Kuchera - he is an insurance salesman, and could talk the arm off a wooden Sacagewea! After changing the spoke (We are getting pretty good at that!) we had a talk about what we should do. Our alternatives were to continue north (And, probably break more spokes), and spend the night at the freeway interchange 21 miles from Bismarck; We could do the same, but not stay and do the ride into Bismarck or we could try to find a ride. Since we were pretty sure that we couldn't go west in the bad winds, we discounted trying to make Bismarck on the bike. We also were not sure but what, if we stayed the night at the freeway interchange, that we wouldn't face the same winds on Saturday, and we had the appointment for the bike. So, we decided to SAG. As we pulled into the little town of Linton, ND, we spotted a service station with a pickup parked at the pumps. LaValle said, "Hey, there is an old guy driving that truck - let me see what I can do." LaValle's theory, and she is right, is that if you are going to get someone to take you some place, they will be either retired, and wanting to make a little money, or a kid with the same motive. Well, we got our ride - LaValle wins again! Our driver, Herb Walther, was born and raised in Linton, and is 73 years old. He has had a varied career - farmer, construction worker, grocery store owner, membership salesperson for the US Chamber of Commerce, and is now retired. He is not a good ol' boy like Billy Hall in Missouri. He is a very nice guy, and is fun to talk to. He took us to the bike shop in Bismarck, and we dropped the bike off. Dakota Cyclery has been owned by a family for 23 years. The couple who own it - Loren and Jennifer - and their three children run the shop. The daughter, Nancy, took us to hour hotel. She is quite the young lady, has done a lot of long distance bike touring and will be doing a mountain bike race tomorrow. This is a nice shop that is on a par with other top notch shops we have visited. We just hope that Loren lives up to his reputation as a "wheel man", and that we are done with broken spokes for the trip. We will tell you more about them tomorrow. Tonight we had dinner down on the river. We went to Meriwether's Landing, and had no difficulty getting our kind of food. The sun was out, the wind was still blowing like hell but we still sat outside. The river looked like it was flowing north because of the wind. After dinner, we were able to walk right down to the water, and get up close and personal with the magnificent Missouri. The Team is doing well. We have an unexpected rest day here in Bismarck, and that will help a lot. From now on, most of our days will be shorter, since we will be climbing more. We both feel good, and are in a good frame of mind. We are in a new state, and that is exciting, but we both can't wait to enter Montana. The big sky, the mountains and the downhill side of our trip are all enticing. We are now past 2500 miles of riding and about 85,000 feet of climbing. To get to Astoria, we have about 1500 miles and a bunch of climbing. We are anxious to tackle the Rockies (Really the Bitteroots), and slide down the Columbia to Astoria. We are really excited. It is amazing to us, when we look at a map, just how much ground we have covered, and it is all beautiful, enchanting and it is ours! Tomorrow's rest will be welcome, but so will be the 24 miles to Washburn where we make the big left turn to head west - what fun Sunday will bring. ...Note from LaValle Today we went through the second Mound City on our trip. Last time, was Mound City, Missouri. This time it was Mound City, South Dakota - only 7 miles from the Dakota border. The convenience store was in the back of the bar/grille. We interrupted the early morning gathering of the clan; this time about 10 locals who were obviously enjoying the sight of two cyclists in brightly colored spandex. Not knowing what the services were like on highway 83 we bought some extra water and used the facilities before we put up our sail and headed north. Just prior to Linton, we went through Strasburg, Lawrence Welk's birthplace. Not having enjoyed watching his show when I was a child, I voted not to see the home and museum, just 2 miles west of town. Ron must not have enjoyed his weekly viewings either because the tandem continued north. Richard Kuchera did invite us to stay at his house, even giving us directions on how to go in and turn on the water and the hot water heater. He's the second person to offer his home to us on this trip. Thank you Richard. And a special thank you to Herb Walther for driving us to Bismarck and telling us about the area. Herb has a wonderful smile and definitely knows how to live life to its fullest. Richard Kuchera, Dakota Renaissance Man Herb Walther, a Gentleman's Gentleman