Across the Wide Missouri

The beginning of today’s ride from Murdo, SD to Chamberlain, SD was much like the end of yesterday’s ride: mixed cultivated farms and ranchland. I’d show you more pictures, but I think you’ve got the idea by this point.

The route has followed Interstate 90 very closely for the last two days, as it will for the next several days. Much of the ride is on frontage or service roads of Interstate 90; other parts drift away, but always parallel to the Interstate. There is a gap in the frontage road system just west of Chamberlain, though, so I either had to work around it or get on the Interstate for about 10 miles.

Going around added about 30 miles to the ride, but it was well worth it, as the route brought me to the Big Bend Dam in the Missouri River and then along the river down to Chamberlain. This was a welcome change of scenery. First I rode up to (but not over) these hills that stood out above the plain.

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Then we reached the Big Bend Dam, and Lake Sharpe behind it.

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Following the Missouri River down toward Chamberlain I was treated to rolling terrain with the wide Missouri in the background, and a few long descents and long climbs to round out a long ride.

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We had planned to stay in the campground shown below, right on the river, but when we called earlier in the week, they let us know that would not be possible. The heavy rains earlier in the week had taken their toll. We found something a few miles away on higher ground.

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It was a good day for barns. Here are several.

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The technical stuff:

100.1 miles

2,776 feet of climbing

Average speed 16.6 miles per hour

Weather: High clouds in the morning with a few sprinkles and hazy sunshine in the afternoon, temperatures in the mid 50s to start and around 80 at the end, winds around 15 MPH in the morning and 5-10 MPH from the north-north-west: mostly tail winds.

You can see the entire route to date here.