Day 2. Not as far today, about 650 miles. We were up at 6:30 and on the road by 7:30, through the rest of Illinois, a long stretch of Iowa, and a bit of South Dakota. The weather was a lot warmer, but it was the wind that took us by surprise. Through the last part of the day, our bikes were being tossed around by a southerly wind that gusted to over 40 MPH. There was one stretch towards the end when we had to stop for dinner simply because it was too dangerous to keep going - the strongest gusts were forcing us to lean far to the left just to keep from being pushed off the road. A couple times, I felt the front of my bike lifting up when the wind gusted - it was physically and mentally exhausting for all of us.

Tomorrow we start to see interesting and beautiful sights - the badlands in the morning, then Mount Rushmore and Devil's Tower, Wyoming. Tomorrow, we get off the interstate and the real ride begins!