71 miles, 1417 feet climbed
Today started out cool and remained so for most of the day. After our first an only SAG, slight headwinds increased but were nothing compared to Saturday’s winds (Day 27). The roads are less rolling, some good smooth asphalt and others the “kerchunky” concrete we’ve recently seen. The highlight was the first 9 miles ridden on the bike path that loops through what seemed like a continuous series of parks ringing Sioux Falls. The pavement was remarkably free of the tree-root upheaves we’ve seen in other places. Our time on the bike path ended at the Sioux Falls.
The roads immediately after we left the bike path, on the other hand, were not in good repair, with missing pieces at their edges and shoulders. By Brandon they improved with just the occasional run of concrete pads with mismatched seams.