DAY 16 Murdo South Dakota to Mitchell SD -- Toughest day yet.

Miles 145
Climbing 2973
Avg speed 15.1 slowest speed to date
Elevation Mitchell 1289

If you like wind ( 25 mph plus ), heat (90 plus) , humidy (90 percent) and sharing the road with combines, then today would have been your day because that is what we got!..... that plus plus 145 miles of riding which added to yesterdays 148 miles is just shy of 300 miles in 2 days.
Many of the riders today did not complete the entire ride because of the conditions. About half were sag'd (this means transported on the sag vehicle) part way or to the motel this evening. One of my friends (Jim from NY, pictured here) was sick,
so he only rode part of the way. I was in the saddle for 9.5 hrs, the most time I have been in the saddle since day one. The miles are starting to take it's toll; I'm sore and tired. tomorrow will be a little shorter day 115 miles but the winds are predicted to be the same or worse.
In these conditions the trick is to ride steady and not go out to fast or you will blow up. We knew early on that today was about survival, not speed, so we picked a doable pace, and stuck with it. The other thing is to manage your liquid intake, today I drank 24 ounces of various drinks every ten miles for a total of 360 ounces of liquid ....more info than you want but I'm giving it to you anyway.
South dakota is very sparcly populated many with many towns less than 1,000 people. Lots of farms and corn fields. I'm getting along very well with my roommate Tom, we ride together and have similar riding strategies and ability. Tomorrow vermillion south Dakota.