The Rise Up Ride Day 8: Little Guest House on the Prairie

Date: 30 April 2021 

Start Location: Brookings, SD

End Location: De Smet, SD

Distance: 85 km

Time: 4:37

Total elapsed: 6:55

Elevation: 354 m

In cycling jargon, today was a "no chain day", meaning that it was as though the wheels just spun themselves down the road. The roads were flat, the breeze was at my back, the weather warmed from chill to ideal, and the route was mostly low-traffic backroads. A cycling unicorn of a day. 

However, the cycling gods abhor hubris and sent me a reminder not to get all giddy and shit. It arrived about an hour into the ride when that left knee began squeaking again, even though that wheel had already gotten a day's off worth of grease yesterday. Shit. 

It's called "Spring Knee" and, you already guessed, it happens to riders in the Spring when they increase their time in the saddle too quickly. At least I know from the first pain-free first hour that it responds to rest and it isn't a mechanical injury but just a repetitive strain inflammation. During today's ride I kept my cadence high and my watts low, and may take another rest day when I get to Huron tomorrow. 

I've arrived in De Smet, South Dakota, the center of all things related to the author, Laura Ingalls Wilder. For those who re-read the books over and over like @paminnyc, I'm staying in the house of Banker Ruth, whose snorting bull scared poor Laura. There have already been several young families on their Wilder hajj who have stopped by to read the historical sign, squealed in glee before walking four houses down the street to the main event: The Ingalls House.

Off to explore the town and fill the enormous gap in my familiarity with mid-twentieth-century literature about nineteenth century life on the prairies.