Bastille Day

Today is Bastille Day, a turning point in the French Revolution of 1789. If you’re in Madison, WI, it also marks Le Fete de Marquette, which is already in progress.

Some days I forget this is a bike blog and not a music blog, but Bastille Day calls for some French music. Here is Jacques Brel, in a performance that inspired my son to sing this with the the UW Black Music Ensemble, under the direction of the incomparable Richard Davis.

More specific to Bastille Day, from the play Marat/Sade by Peter Weiss, a medley by Judy Collins, which was my introduction to the work.

On a more personal level, it is my 25th wedding anniversary. More of you know my anniversary as September 11, but I got married twice (in the same year, to the same person – it’s a long story that has to do with the US healthcare system [if you can call it a system, but that’s a topic for another blog]).

As I mentioned on her birthday, our first date was to see Los Lobos at the Warfield Theatre in San Francisco. I was impressed by how urbane she was when she said we should take a cab home, not something a small-town boy like me did very often. I was impressed again when she put two fingers in her mouth and let out an ear-splitting whistle to hail a cab. It worked.

La Fete de Marquette inexplicably features Los Lobos this year, so I have another excuse to link to them:

At our wedding, my friend Keith sang my favorite wedding song, by one of my favorite singer/songwriters (along with Keith himself), Kate Wolf.

And today my niece is getting married, so this song is for Abby and Dustin, too. Mazel Tov! Since I’m about 500 miles short and in an earlier time zone, I probably won’t make it to the wedding. Maybe they can Facetime me so I can be there.

I forgot I had this post cued up, so today’s ride notes are separate. Due to the weaknesses of the phone version of this software, I can’t seem to combine the two posts – and connection problems make me fear I’d lose it all trying. So you will see two posts today. The other one coming in 5 minutes.

Jekyll and Hyde

It was another Jekyll and Hyde day. Fast and easy in the morning, a slog in the afternoon.

We spent the night at the Rapid City Fairgrounds (camped outside the Fine Arts Building). They turn their dead trees into sculptures. Here are two of them and a candidate for future work.

There was a Rotary Club picnic nestled between the two halves of our campsite. I chatted with some Rotarians – the first group were fascinated and amazed by us – then I found the storytellers.

I talked with two divers – one headed for Palau, and another who may not still be diving but was full of stories. He has lived all over the country and in Australia (Navy) and told of his near-death experience diving at the wrong time of year in Haunama Bay on Oahu.

This gives me a handy excuse to link to Jake Shimabukuro:

Since the ukulele is currently popular, you owe it to yourself to hear someone really play it. Jake will be on the West Coast this month, then the East Coast. On September 24 he’ll be at the Overture Center in Madison, WI (per the Overture Center) or at the Capitol Theatre in Davenport, Iowa (per his website).

We left Rapid City on an expressway with fast commuter (?) traffic. I wasted no time getting out of town, riding at a steady 24 mph until I was past the airport, then backed off a bit.

We rode through the Buffalo Gap National Grassland (the name appears ironic, as it was mostly barren) and skirted the Badlands. We’ll see more of the Badlands tomorrow.

The first photo is sort of a “mini-badland”. That flat-topped area in the foreground is less than 10 feet tall. The second photo is up close and personal with a wall next to the highway.

It was a fast morning, cool and cloudy, with favorable winds. After our picnic (they don’t like to call it lunch – today it was at 9:30 AM) stop in Scenic, SD, everything changed.

We faced a 20 mph headwind and blazing sun for the next 30 miles into Interior, SD. We’re now ensconced in a campground at the edge of town – with a population of 67, pretty much everything is the “edge of town”.

The campground has a store, so I had a bottled (Dunkin’ Donuts) latte on arrival and a “Knuckle Head Red” (from the Knuckle Brewing Company in Sturgis) after setting up camp and taking a shower. (Truth be told, I’m drinking it now.)

It rained overnight in Rapid City, so I had to dry stuff out before setting up camp – being windy has its benefits.

This last photo will probably be appreciated only by plumbers. It is the urinal in the campground. In the space of a few inches it includes iron pipe, copper tubing, and a brass fitting. The flush valve is a valve from a bubbler (drinking fountain to you foreigners). It is not particularly straight. I chose not to replumb it;)

The sky is slowly filling with clouds. More rain may be on the way.

I take it back – rain isn’t “on the way”. While proofreading this, rain appeared suddenly. I ran to put the rainfly on the tent and stash everything that was out to dry inside before it got wetter. I took my laundry down and then realized that the tin-roofed shelter I’m under is full of holes.

Just as suddenly, the rain has stopped. I’ll rehang the laundry, but I think everything else will stay in the tent.