July 10 – A long, hot 84 miles from Pierre to Chamberlain,
SD. The first half was nice –
comfortable, nice views of the Missouri, but then we turned south into a stiff,
20 mph headwind. Add to this
temperatures rising to 97 F and some steep climbs, and it was a difficult
slog. Drink lots of water or
whatever.
July 11 – 74 miles to Mitchell, SD, the 5 miles around town
to see the “famous” Corn Palace and other sights. Lower temperatures and more favorable wind so not a bad
ride, but the most boring day of riding yet on the trip. Flat fields and little to see. The Corn Palace, which is really just a
community teater/arena seating maybe 3,000, is decorated with corn stalks and
husks into murals on the outside.
Not much of a sight, but its whats here (see pictures), and they have
been doing this for over a century – my mother saw pretty much the same thing
when she wa here as a girl, some 70 years ago.
July 12 – 73 miles to Sioux Falls, SD, the biggest city in
the state at 163,000 people. A
huge tailwind today - >20 mph right at our back, which combined with flat
terrain and temps in the low 70’s, made for delightful riding. Finished the 73 miles with an 18 mph
average speed, and a times was cruising on the flat a over 25. But the the masochists of the group
spoke up: “if everyday was like this, anyone could bike across the country, so
where would be the challenge?” Ah,
the old human dilemma - choosing between the pleasure of accomplishing the
difficult versus the pleasure of doing something that simply feels good. The big event of the day was the change
in agriculture – from wheat fields, hay and cattle on the range, to corn,
soybeans and cattle in feed lots.
Thoughts:
Strip Malls:
As near a I can tell from what I’ve seen so far, what
differentiates a small town from a city in America are strip malls and
franchise chains. In the small
towns, where the population is too small to support the chains, the few stores
are Mom & Pop things, all eccentric, often run down looking. Downtown is 1 to 3 blocks long, and
quiet. Towns with under 1,500
people, like Canistota, SD, or Lusk, WY, or Hagerman, ID (eat at the Thunderbird
Café if you ever get there.) They
are sleepy little places of considerable charm, though you get the feeling they
will disappear, perhaps when the current older generation dies out. In a small city, on the contrary, the
chain stores and restaurants start appearing. First comes Subway and McDonalds, when the population hits
somewhere between 1,500 and 3,000, such as in Chamberlain, SD, Mountain Home,
ID or John Day, OR. Then as you
get over 4,000, a “strip” shows up, with KFC, donut places and WallMart –
Mitchell, SD, Prineville, OR, Blackfoot, ID, Riverton, WY. Get to over 12,000 or so, like in
Pierre, SD, Twin Falls, ID, or Baker City, OR and you get the full blown
American strip mall phenomena – Lowe’s, Chili’s, Pizza Hut, Sizzler, Curves,
Walgreens, “Super” Walmart, Days Inn, etc., etc., all laid out in a series of
strip malls on the four lane road just outside the old central business
district. Finally there is the
small city – like Sioux Falls where I am now, or Boise, Rapid City and Casper,
where you not only get the strip malls, but indoor malls, “historic” districts
(an effort to save the old downtown), multiple installations of the common
chains – 3 or 4 McDonalds and Pizza Huts - and the less common chains
(Michaels, David’s Bridal, etc.)
Once you are at this size, you could be anywhere in America – Sioux
Falls is essentially the same at Terre Haute, Fort Myers, Fresno, or Columbia,
SC.
As near as I can tell, what makes a small city successful in
America today is the surrender of its indigenous culture and roots, exchanged
for the lifeless but very successfully marketed common commercial culture of
America. If a city gets the strip
malls, the multiple franchises, it is a success – its in the mainstream, it
will survive, it can grow. Yea!!??
So what do we tourists look for when we travel - we on the
bike ride and most others? Almost
universally, we look for something genuine and distinct about the places we
visit – something that makes it different it from everywhere else. We on the ride love the little towns
and quaint, locally run cafes – they make the ride on most days. But then, like most tourists, we also
want a predictably clean room (with Wireless Internet) that the chain motels
give, with convenience stores nearby and familiar food. We want it both ways, but of course
this can not hold.
In my experience, everywhere in the world, convenient,
mass-marketed culture is drowning out the local, distinct and indigenous. It’s a shame, and we do not know how,
in this increasingly interconnected world, to prevent this. People like predictability and
convenience, and lets face it, the strip mall culture provides a lot of
creature comfort and low priced goodies.
Certainly the answer, for tourists at least, is not simply to go to somewhere even more exotic and
undiscovered – a trend for the last 20 years or so in travel marketing. This simply homogenizes more
places. How do we keep the
richness of of human culture in a globalized world? I have no answers, but think the problem is important.
By the way, all of the above makes me want to cheer for
those places where the local culture is so strong and the leaders self-aware
enough that the mass culture has been resisted, at least for the most
part. I think of Provincetown on
Cape Cod; Kerala, India; Aceh, Indonesia; and on this trip, Dubois, WY. They can teach us something.
