Day 26. Mitchell, SD. 71 miles. 1,000 ft. climb

How do you spell relief?   Zippy and the other ABB riders spell it M-i-t-c-h-e-l-l.   Today's ride was much better than expected or forecast---which was a huge relief!  An uneventful day, for a change.  Instead of monster headwinds, it was light-ish crosswind or even occasional tailwind.    Instead of hot and humid, it was relatively mild and overcast, with some mist, keeping it cool.  Instead of thunderstorms, it was brief showers.   Instead of rollers or huge climbs, it was gentle terrain.   Instead of 117 miles, it was 71.    At this point, everyone agrees that if the day's route is under 80 miles, it's short.    So, everyone was in a good mood, arrived in Mitchell by noon or shortly after, and had time to relax, clean the bikes, take in the sights.

While It Looked Ominous, It Never Amounted To Much

 Well, the sights throughout South Dakota have left something to be desired---mostly endless, straight roads as far as the eye can see, and water on every side of it.  So, when you get to see something interesting, everyone takes note.    Up first was in the little town of Pukwana, which is advertising it's weekly Saturday night lawn mower races.  Unfortunately, they're going to miss that one.

C'mon ABB, Can't We Stay For This?????

Zippy Rolling Along

SAG Stop Was At An Abandoned Car Wash

 Then they arrived at their destination:  Mitchell.

Downtown Mitchell, SD

 Mitchell is famous for being the home town of George McGovern and for  its Corn Palace.   Another tourist attraction and hokey, but actually interesting, too.   It's serves as a concert hall and meeting place and is basically a celebration of the role corn and farming have played in the settling of and economy of South Dakota.   The facade is completely made out of corn.  They breed special varieties for their color, and use the kernels as pixels to create murals and images on the facade. It takes 275,000 ears of corn to create. Each year, they pick a different theme to express.  This year's theme was "American Pride".  Kind of like the Rose Bowl Parade, but stationary.

Amazing What You Can Do With Corn

See The Corn Cobs?

   After taking in the Corn Palace, some riders took in the rodeo.

Mitchell Rodeo

Zippy was very cheerful when we spoke, having avoided all of today's road hazards of rough surface and large cracks, cleaned his bike, had a new chain put on and had double helpings of ice cream.  His chain needed changing since they have now cycled nearly 2,000 miles--the basic life expectancy of bicycle chains.  It normally takes him nearly a year for that to happen!   Each rider was advised to bring extra chains with them. Zippy brought two, so he still has another should he need it.  Tomorrow, they arrive in Sioux Falls and get a REST DAY .