Day 26 Tyler to New Ulm, Mn. – 94 Miles

The ride from Tyler to New Ulm was fairly easy given the high mileage.

Cycling Tyler, MN, to New Ulm via rt. 14

New Ulm, Minnesota has a German influence.  Population: 13,522.  This little town was established by German immigrants and is home to the August Schell Brewery.  The town center has a 45-foot tall glockenspiel bell tower with 37 bells that chime throughout the day, and play beautiful music at noon, 3 and 5:00.  In addition, it has what any good German town must have, polka music — playing all day in the downtown area.

Downtown New Ulm, Minnesota — land of friendly people

The hills were gently rolling with a lot of farm country in between.  There are acres and acres of corn and soybeans growing in lush green display.  The state of Minnesota had a lot of rain this spring so it appears to be a bumper year for crops with large yields.  The only downside that I can see is the mosquitoes and gnats…lots and lots of bugs.

The custodian of the Miller High School said the mosquitoes were so big this year that we could skin them and filet them for dinner.  Now that is a big mosquito.  All joking aside, it’s pretty buggy this time of year.  We started the day out with moist conditions as it rained hard overnight, but lucky for us, no rain for the ride — the clouds opened up and blue sky came in.  Another blissfully excellent day on the Big Ride Across America!

Started the day out with wet rainy streets, but then…the clouds broke up and it was blue sky.

MapMyRide Stats:  94.04 Miles | 15.4 MPH | 6 hours and 7 minutes

There is a big promotion on Mapmyride.com for the Tour de France: once entered into the contest, within the smartphone application, all your mileage is automatically logged into the online race.  With all this high mileage on the Big Ride, I happen to be in 31st place.  Woot Woot!  I already won a jersey for 500 miles.  This makes me want to sing….do do doit do do do do, do do doit do do do do do ( my fellow riders know the tune).

Corn ethanol processing plant

With all the cornfields here in Minnesota, it’s only natural that we would come across one of these ethanol processing plants.  The smokestack was not quite tall enough as the odor of fermenting corn was quite heavy as we passed by.

The team from VeloSante Cycling Services create a wonderful experience for us each day.  They feed and water us every 20 miles (and we love it), they rescue us when we have technical difficulty (flats, broken chains, derailleur issues etc.).  What is really cool about this organization is that we get the fix we need and they put us back on the road.  What a luxury to ride with such an outstanding organization.  If you are reading this and are thinking about a bicycle tour, they are awesome!

VeloSante – Great Service Provider!

 

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Day 24 Miller to De Smet, SD – 76.7 miles – Reached the halfway point!

Today’s Mapmyride report:

76 miles | 17.2 mph | 4 hours 26 minutes |  Now, that is a tailwind!

Today’s ride was through the farm country and pleasant little towns in South Dakota.  We traveled due East all day.  The ride was smooth and easy with a boosting tail wind that pushed us along with ease as we passed through the halfway point at the 1650 mile marker in a little town called Huron, South Dakota.  At the end of the day we logged 1669 miles toward our goal of 3300 miles.

Sunrise at 6:00 am as we cycled Eastward

The remaining Big Riders make it halfway across the country, July 9, 2014

Donna from the De Smet Newspaper came to our campsite to greet us and gather info for a newspaper article about the Big Ride Across America

Rich’s Gas and Service in De Smet doesn’t take debit cards for gasoline.

 

 

 

Schedule for the Big Ride Across America – Daily Mileage

Day	City	State	Arrive	Depart	Miles	Total
0	Seattle	WA	15-Jun	16-Jun
1	Easton	WA	16-Jun	17-Jun	91	91
2	Vantage	WA	17-Jun	18-Jun	72	163
3	Odessa	WA	18-Jun	19-Jun	83	246
4	Spokane	WA	19-Jun	21-Jun	77	323
5*	Spokane	WA	Rest	Day		323
6	Sandpoint	ID	21-Jun	22-Jun	76	399
7	Thompson Falls	MT	22-Jun	23-Jun	88	487
8	Missoula	MT	23-Jun	25-Jun	101	588
9*	Missoula	MT	Rest	Day		588
10	Avon	MT	25-Jun	26-Jun	99	687
11	Townsend	MT	26-Jun	27-Jun	61	748
12	Harlowton	MT	27-Jun	28-Jun	101	849
13	Billings	MT	28-Jun	30-Jun	92	941
14*	Billings	MT	Rest	Day		941
15	Hardin	MT	30-Jun	1-Jul	56	997
16	Sheridan	WY	1-Jul	2-Jul	85	1082
17	Gillette	WY	2-Jul	3-Jul	112	1194
18	Newcastle	WY	3-Jul	4-Jul	76	1270
19	Rapid City	SD	4-Jul	6-Jul	81	1351
20*	Rapid City	SD	Rest	Day		1351
21	Kadoka	SD	6-Jul	7-Jul	102	1453
22	Pierre	SD	7-Jul	8-Jul	96	1549
23	Miller	SD	8-Jul	9-Jul	73	1622
24	De Smet	SD	9-Jul	10-Jul	77	1699
25	Tyler	MN	10-Jul	11-Jul	78	1777
26	New Ulm	MN	11-Jul	13-Jul	87	1864
27*	New Ulm	MN	Rest	Day		1864
28	Owatonna	MN	13-Jul	14-Jul	72	1936
29	Winona	MN	14-Jul	15-Jul	90	2026
30	Viroqua	WI	15-Jul	16-Jul	66	2092
31	Madison	WI	16-Jul	18-Jul	100	2192
32*	Madison	WI	Rest	Day		2192
33	Garden Prairie,	IL	18-Jul	19-Jul	94	2286
34	Coal City,	IL	19-Jul	20-Jul	106	2392
35	Valparaiso	IN	20-Jul	21-Jul	84	2476
36	Kendallville	IN	21-Jul	22-Jul	109	2585
37	Napoleon	OH	22-Jul	23-Jul	70	2655
38	Sandusky	OH	23-Jul	25-Jul	90	2745
39*	Sandusky	OH	Rest	Day		2745
40	Burton	OH	25-Jul	26-Jul	92	2837
41	New Waterford	OH	26-Jul	27-Jul	59	2896
42	Washington	PA	27-Jul	28-Jul	62	2958
43	Confluence	PA	28-Jul	29-Jul	88	3046
44	Bedford	PA	29-Jul	30-Jul	81	3127
45	Gettysburg	PA	30-Jul-	1-Aug	100	3227
46*	Gettysburg	PA	Rest	Day		3227
47	Clarksville,	MD	1-Aug	2-Aug	60	3287
48	Washington	DC	2-Aug	-42	42	3329