Leaving Selby, SD was a hard task as I simply had so much fun with the people and the wonderful landscape. But the show must go on and I was en route to Mclaughlin, SD where I would be entering an Indian reservation. I found this quite interesting as I have little experience in these types of environments... And in a nutshell it was a very interesting experience indeed. The ride to Mclaughlin was a tough one. There were long uphill stretches on roads that were undergoing construction with a large amount of loose gravel everywhere and to top it off... every time a big semi truck would roar along side of me it would also spit rocks at me as if I were being punished for some awful crime. This was not fun. I certainly do not mean to complain and trust me when I tell you that the endless fields of sunflowers makes it all worth the struggle. If anyone has ever told you that South Dakota is boring I can assure you that they have no clue what they are talking about. After a good nite sleep in Mclaughlin thanks to a kind woman named Barb who opened her spare apartment to me I woke up feeling great and ready to bike on over to Lemmon, SD where I was uncertain what to expect in general. This was a beautiful ride with great weather and more of those beautiful sunflowers. I have also developed quite a knack for holding conversation with the wildlife as they stare at me completely perplexed by my existence. You start to do these things when you go long stretches of 40 miles or more without a town or a house. About 8 miles from Lemmon the winds hit me and they hit me hard and directly out of the west. This made the last 8 miles the longest 8 miles of my life. It took me almost 3 hours to ride those last 8 miles and when I reached Lemmon I was exhausted. I stopped in at the local legion club for a bite to eat and got into a conversation with the locals and after a few phone calls I was given a place to stay.

I left Lemmon in the morning after a pre arranged interview with the local newspaper was conducted and off I went with Bowman, SD in my sights. I got to Bowman after a long, hot and sunny day on the bike and enjoyed some quality time with a couple of people from Sheridan, WY in town working on a solar panel project. The people in Bowman were awesome and I recommend a stop in that town to anyone passing through route 12.I left Bowman that morning and rolled to Baker, MT where the weather was perfect and the terrain was mostly flat and filled with beautiful scenery. I made great time and with the knowledge that there were 82 miles in between Baker and Miles City,MT with the exception of one small community (Plevna) with a population of roughly 100 or so just 13 miles west I decided to pedal the extra 13 miles to Plevna to check it out. In life I often use the phrase "less is more" and in Plevna this rang true. There happens to be a great little bar / restaurant in Plevna and the owners were very kind to me. They granted me a shower, food to eat and a place to sleep. It is a great feeling when you can bike into a town of 100 people or less and they treat you as if you have lived there all of your life. What a wonderful country we live in. So here I am in Miles City, MT after a long and very hot day biking 71 miles with not one store, house or town in between here and Plevna. I actually enjoyed the ride thoroughly as there was very little traffic and the scenery is gorgeous. There is no doubt that I am getting deep into the west. The hills, sky and frankly everything... is just a bit bigger. the shear vastness of the west is overwhelming and after 315 more miles on the open road I can't wait to see what is around the next bend. Until next time take care and take action!
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