From the title you can see the wild contrast each day can bring. I'm now writing from the Haakon County Public Library in the town of Philip. I just arrived and set up my sleeping pad in the gym at Philip High School and wanted to get you caught up on the last few days.
The thing is, you could ask any of the riders where we were yesterday or two days ago and only a handful would even remember -- or at least it takes a bit of thought as we just keep pedalling forward each day. But some rides are absolutely glorious and riding from Custer to Rapid City, South Dakota was one of those days. And, that was three days ago (July 14).
I left Custer around 7 a.m. and rode out alone. Normally we eat together but I thought it would be nice to eat at a local cafe -- I met a few other riders and had a nice green chile breakfast burrito. Then the ride through the hills and forest of the Black Hills was cool, shady and perfect weather. Our route took me through the Needles Highway and the Cathedral rocks weaving through hills and tunnels and bridges ("Pig Tail Bridges") and the Mt Rushmore Monument. The strange thing is, the ride was so good and perfect that even without Mount Rushmore it would have been a highlight ride. Still, we climbed a steep grade to see Mt. Rushmore and I rewarded myself with a rootbeer float, sat in the shade and just enjoyed looking at these four great presidents. The funny thing is is that this ride was one of the more difficult in terms of climbing -- not as bad as we had last week but it was so beautiful and I had so much energy, along with three and a half weeks of riding behind me, that it just was a wonderful ride. I'm not tiring - but actually enjoying the rides more and more even though there are few "easy" days.
While the Mount Rushmore day was a scenic and challenging ride, the next day was more of a milage day -- riding from point A to Z and killing as many miles as quickly as possible. Yesterday was a solo ride -- but going longer distances alone with little to see is tougher than tough. I rode with three other riders in what we affectionally call "The Jan Train." Jan is from The Netherlands and often rides with his son, Marnix, and Martin from the UK. Chuck from Missouri also is a founding member of the Jan Train. They ride fast but it stretches me and it is a great way to kill many long miles as fast as possible. We rode 84 miles from Rapid City to Interior, South Dakota. Interior is just outside of the Badlands National Park. It is one of those three churches, two bars and 67 people kind of places -- with little or no shade in the campground! The best part was that I could do laundry and it dried on a line in less than a half hour. The temperatures are increasing and the sun is getting brighter. Our cold days in Seattle are well behind us and we can feel the heat bringing it on -- the humidity is yet to hit us though -- but it is coming!
Today is Friday -- July 16. Every day seems like a Saturday so we often ask each other, "What day is this?" Normally we look around at each other until someone figures it out. But mostly we don't care -- the main thing is where we are going the next day and if it is more of a scenic day or a milage day. But just like our Mount Rushmore day a few days ago, today was another All-Star day -- leaving early and riding in the morning for about 30 miles through the Badlands National Park. There was little traffic and I felt as if we were as close to riding on the moon as I will ever get -- what an interesting sight. I've been to the Badlands, but never cycled through it -- and it makes a big difference. You just have a chance to enjoy it longer and take it in as you go from one rock formation to the next. For lunch we arrived in the city of Wall, South Dakota -- had our daily picnic at the local park in and then wandered through the famous Wall Drug. Lately with the heat I can't help myself -- I had my second Rootbeer Float of the trip. Others enjoyed the five cent coffee. The rest of the day I joined the Jan Train again and we shot out of town for another 35 miles to the town of Phillip. Today had that nice combination of scenic riding in the Badllands along with some fun cycling at nice pace with a good group of guys in the afternoon. A day like today was great for me -- a good national park and being stretched with some faster riders. It was hot -- in the upper 80's -- but a good tail wind made it a nice ride.
Oh, and the grasshoppers. The last few days the roads have been lined with grasshoppers. We've been crunching them for miles on end. On occassion they hop on our back and ride along but for the most part they are popping up along the road everwhere.
We finish our fourth week of cycling across America tomorrow as we go from Philip to Pierre, South Dakota -- a long 89 miles. Looks like it will be a hot one. Last night, or was it the night before, our leader Greg Walsh mentioned that we have less than 2500 miles to go. We finish our fourth week out of the nine week trip tomorrow. Time to get back to the Philip High School and hit the showers. Thank you for following along.
No comments:
Post a Comment