Rain, Rain.

 Haven't posted in awhile, although we did get out for a ride on May 21st, the day after we did our 50 miler.  We rode 12 miles and were surprised to find our legs actually felt stronger than they did on the 50 mile ride.  We thought the opposite would be true.  It seemed like a very short ride.  Tony's problems wit the mountain drive seem to be random.  I am going to take a picture of what it is doing, send the Hostel Shoppe an email,  and see if what is happening is a normal thing.  Once it is out of line, Tony can't see to  t realign it,  so we have to stop the trike so I can get and do it manually.  So many hills that it gets tiresome to stop after each one and adjust it.  On the 50 mile ride, I only had to do that once, yet on Saturday's  ride I had to do on every hill, but one.  Maybe just some easy adjustment will resolve it.   Hope so, for both of us.


We had hoped to get out for a 30 mile ride today, but  the weather man said the rain was supposed to come in sooner than had been predicted yesterday.  We really debated on whether to ride or not.  Rain and cold combined, do not make riding very much fun.  In the end, we decided not too.  By 1PM it was raining.  we would have been out on the trail with many miles to go before home, so we were glad we had decided to not ride, even though we really do need the miles.  We are heading to Canton  South Dakota for a wedding, so there will be no more riding for us this week.

Canton  SD, was settled, in the 1800's,  and homesteading  was a risky adventure.  Many of the settlers arrived by wagon with very little money or resources.  It was necessary to camp near other settlers, as Indians were a concern.  Houses were built out of sod ,cut from the top layer of dirt on the prairie., they were called "soddies" or sod houses.  Some had openings for windows, but no actual glass for them, pioneers improvised and hung fabric, or feed sacks over the openings.  One pioneer woman wrote of putting her baby under the table to keep it dry.  Supplies had to be obtained from Sioux City, over the border in Iowa, 65 miles away.  This is a picture of a Nebraska soddie, I couldn't find any of a South Dakota soddie.

A wooden house was costly and the settler usually had to save for years in order to build one.  Since trees were scarce, most wood was bought at nearby mills. J.T Whitow wrote a letter to his sons telling them he planned to build a 25 square foot house.  The one story house would take 7,000 square feet of lumber and cost $200.00 - if they paid extra for the windows and doors.  A far cry from our nieces house where we will be staying.  See the picture above.


An 1880 census showed that Lincoln county had a population of 6000 people, which was amazing.  Winters were harsh, and summers hot, with a prairie wind, that new no off season. The railroad had just established service to the area, and in the 1870's grasshoppers ruined the crops, five years in a row.  Settlers continued to arrive, many from Norway.  Canton was named by a Norwegian settler.

Canton's population in 2009 was 4271. It is nestled in the rolling hills of the Sioux Valley, and  is located near Newton Hills, a very picturesque area.  Sioux Falls SD is 20 miles away. One unique thing about SD is that some of  roads are lined  on each side with pink, crushed rock.   The pavement also has a bit of a pinkish hue to it, due to the rock that is mixed in to make the asphalt mix.  Not sure what type of rock it is .....Thanks For Visiting Our Com

 Took the utility trailer in last week and had the bearings greased, so all is well there.  Loaded the trike up in the rain today, just a light drizzle to start with, got the tarp on, and it really started to rain.  I did some tying down of the tarp, but finally decided to wait until the rain let up some.

Our friend Dave came over and gave me a lesson in setting up the tent.  We did it in the garage. I should have moved both cars, but didn't, so each time we wanted to get around the tent, we had to walk between the tent and the Buick.  Dave's little grand-daughter McKenzie, was our helper, holding the poles and other things for us.   Setting up a dome tent really isn't hard, I just needed someone to show me how to do it.  Sorry no pics, the camera was already packed.  I packed all the bike gear in one bag,  including the camera, so it will be easy to get at, and we won't be digging through our suitcases looking for biking clothes.  Probably won't ride again  until we get to North Dakota.   I promise some pics when we ride there.

Went into town and got some rope from the hardware store to tie over the tarp in addition to the bungee cords I used.   It looks secure, but hasn't been road tested yet. Sure  hope I don't have a tarp adventure to write about in my next update, especially since it looks like we will be riding in rain for most of the trip to South Dakota.