Yankton, South Dakota

Yesterday we were welcomed into South Dakota by the lovely ladies of the Elk Point Legion. Today’s welcome was much different. We had strong north winds and cold morning temperatures. So today is mostly about the “suffering cyclists” and not lovely ladies and cafés. Our morning stated out at 7:30 with a 42 degree temperature and 10 to 15 mile head winds. Our route was flat and we expected to get much farther. However, after 7 hours of cycling we only covered 33 miles. To add insult to our day, we cycled a circuitous route of country roads. The direct route on the highway is only 23 miles.

About halfway we met another cyclist that was out for a fun ride. He showed us a better (less traffic, though slightly longer) route into Yankton. Unlike us, he had no baggage and when we were finished talking he just disappeared into the headwinds. A little latter we saw 4 more cyclists going with the winds. The yelled encouragement as they flew by. We needed encouragement. The section of the Missouri near Yankton is reportedly one of the pretties and has been designated as “wild and scenic.” However, we put off making a side trip and hope that we can see it tomorrow on our route.

Just so our Tour de Café fans are not disappointed we did stop at the Ma & Pa Café at the mid-pint of our ride. While we did not eat any pie, HP did try the day’s breakfast special, an “Indian Taco.” It is an open-faced puffy shell covered with hamburger, beans, lettuce, tomatoes, cheese, and sour cream. He says it was excellent.

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