Fields, prairie and more prairie

After we left Madison WI, we drove through the states of Minnesota and South Dakota: we wanted to drive thought these two states quickly and not really stop before we reach the Badlands NP. It was a long stretch of road with a lot of wind, that's for sure, and it was also a good time for us to inaugurate our camping gear for the trip. So we rode and we rode, and we rode some more: 750 miles in two days.

This is probably the most we will ride over a period of two days and we had some pretty good learnings. First, the after market seats we bought (Sargent for Caroline and Corbin for Chad) are worth every dollar we spent on them as no signs of “butt soreness” was felt after this long ride. Another lesson is that the throttle rest was a really cool little gadget, that avoided wrist and hand pain: the unfortunate thing is that we only had one for the two of us:( It is definitively on our shopping list for the next bike shop.

Our most painful body part was for sure our back: you have to move a lot to for your back to be able to take it. But all in all, I think we did pretty good. Having our new Autocom communication systems was also a plus: we can talk to each other up to 5 miles apart (that was very useful when Chad was a couple of miles behind) and share some thoughts as the road unfolds or simply discuss when the next stop for gas or a break should be. Autocom also allows you to plug in your Ipod and listen to music, which again is much appreciated when you ride for so long.

Our reward: the Badlands N.P.

We arrived the second day at our campground a few hours before sunset and just on the edge of a massive storm. We were really close to the Badlands N.P. And decided to take one bike for a quick ride into the park for a few sunset pictures and a rangers program on the park nocturnal animals. It is hard to describe how beautiful this park is. Closest would be to image a mix of Bryce and Grand Canyon. We were stunned by the beauty of these rocks in the magic lights of the sunset.

Given the beauty of the park, we decided to spend the entire next day exploring it before heading to Mt Rushmore. It was time well spent as the park. We started with a morning hike through the Badlands mountains which revealed a breathtaking view of the White River Valley at the end of the hike.

We then drove around the entire park to enjoy the numerous overlooks. Finally, we finished the day on a high note and got to see the park's wildlife: the king of all, the Buffalo, a family of prairie dogs and some pronghorns.