Pactour Day 13 "Friday the 13th in the Badlands"

By now I think we've conveyed how organized and efficient Pactour is.

Each Day we have a cue sheet with all turns, landmarks, mileage, rest stops, lunch stops, sites to see etc. on 1 sheet, then an actual map of our route for the day.

There is 1 chalk board with the any key information marked on it.  Many people photo it with their camera or camera phone to have for later reference.  We took the picture, but didn't read the sign today - fortunately we had the money to get into the Badlands (most importantly where the lunch stop was.)

Will hammering down the road as we enter the Badlands.

Only a brit (Shaun Bonney) could have legs as white as Matts after _13_ days of riding 10 hours a day in the summer sunshine.

The Badlands may be the most stunning site we've been thru yet.

At key intersections the direction to turn is marked with a "P" for "Pactour" (Lon and Susan call it "P"ing on the road.  The happy face is less usual and means Franz marked the spot.

Again, at the end of the ride the chalk board has the info for the night, the fact that we have changed a time zone, and info for the morning such as what time breakfast is and what time to bring the bags to the truck.  There is also a map of the US showing how far we've traveled, updated each day.

Tonight we are at a Best Western.  I'm not sure why we didn't stay across the street at the "Lee" Motel.

Today marked a major milestone day.  It is the 13th day of 26 days of riding, so we're 1/2 way done.  Tomorrow we actually will cross the 1/2 point in terms of distance.   The day began ominously as we realized that the 13th day was on Friday, so it was a Friday the 13th of sorts.    Plus we were heading into the Badlands of South Dakota.  Jim sang Bruce Springsteens "Badlands" song (or some version of it) to Will, who was unimpressed.

We flew to Everett, WA to start the trip on Friday the 13th and that worked out OK, so we figured we'd be OK.  Well, JW is not OK, head spinning, headache and stomach ache so he didn't ride today.  Terri stayed with him and had a well deserved day of rest, off the bike (NOT!!!)  

JW threw up multiple times today, only once in the Pactour Van.  Terri and JW were in the lunch van so they set up lunch in the Badlands national park.  Several times, as they were told to relocate once or twice.  After lunch they left the park and had a flat tire (so had to uncouple the lunch trailer, unload the van and change the flat (while JW vomited.)  They noticed a nail in the other rear tire (the one which wasn't flat.)

Jim and Will got into a big group of 20 to start the day so made it to the first rest stop at mile 31 averaging over 20 mph.  They rode with a group of 4 to the next rest stop at mile 58 with a group of 4, and a lot more headwinds.  Average speed went down so they figured it would be better to ride with a larger group from there, so they rode a group of 10 to the lunch stop at mile 76.  Lunch was in the Badlands national park, so everyone had to pay $7 to get in (trust me to avoid riding an extra 40 to 50 miles around the park, plus to get lunch no one complained!)

Will had ridden too hard at that point (coupled with the previous days effort) since being 6' 2" and weighing 140 lbs doesn't give you much of a momentum advantage.  (Funny Jim seems to have  a  momentum advantage into the headwinds...Jim has lost 2 lbs on the trip but 8 lbs of body fat, so he's happy.)

After lunch Jim rode off in a small group without Will.  Will made a nice choice since the afternoon consisted of big headwinds, riding on huge 1/4 to 1/2 mile climbs - most of the day's 3100 feet of climbing was done after lunch.  At mile 150 Jim rolled in, just after the Turk and the boys (remember that their van had a flat.)  

Bedtime was "late" since we changed time zones and 9pm became 10pm real quick.  Changing time zones is interesting on Pactour.  We will generally change a day early, or a day later than the actual time zone depending on the day's and the next days rides.  If it is a short day and then next day is a long hard day we will change the time zone early, and vice versa.  Regardless, we get the short end of the time stick moving West to East since all time zone changes "spring forward" and we lose an hour of sleep.  

Transcontinentals are run West to East, however, to take advantage of the prevailing winds, which are generally West to East.  Funny how we are always riding into a headwind this year!!  Thank you Mr. Gore for global warming.

Yesterday we saw a banner which read "Your mother was Pro-life."  Jim and the boys couldn't decide whether the banner was Pro-life or Pro-choice.....

Til tomorrow.