BiKe Trip: New York to Oregon

Him: "I rode my bicycle from Ithaca, New York to Portland, Oregon. It was me and my buddy. We decided we'd do it. I didn't really know him at the time, 'till we took the trip; then I got to know him real well. He said he was going, so I said I'd go with him. He didn't know how to change a flat tire and there were all kinds of things I didn't know, so we complemented each other real well. It worked out, and we saw a lot of country. Met a lot of people, brought musical instruments, played music along the way."
Me: "Anybody you met along the way who stands out?"
Him: "Everybody in South Dakota. South Dakota people are so cool, it's unbelievable."