Bike Across America – Day 21

Sunday, July 9, 2017

Start: Lusk, Wyoming
End: Hot Springs, South Dakota
Mileage today/cumulative: 93 / 1,535
Elevation Ascended: 3,209′
Weather: Sunny, 75° at start; sunny, 102° at finish
3D Relive Video (approx. 1 minute)

First of all, thanks for all of the comments and words of encouragement as we make our way to the Atlantic Ocean. We always look forward to reading comments when we wake up and, again, when we get a few minutes of down time before dinner. Our riding days are very regimented with the ABB staff telling us when to eat breakfast, load luggage, and depart on our bikes. On the arrival end, they schedule dinner, “rap” (when we get feedback about the day’s ride and our route sheet for the next day), and mechanics hour for any bike issues that need attention. When we’re not doing those things or riding our bikes for miles and miles, we’re cleaning our bikes, checking tires, packing or unpacking luggage, and cleaning ourselves up. The daily drill feels a little bit like being in the Army but nobody yells at us and we don’t have to make our bed.

We knew that today’s ride was going to be long and hot, so after my touch of heat exhaustion yesterday we changed our strategy a bit. We rolled out with our regular group but not too long after we started, they stopped to take photos but Bev and I continued on. We just needed to ride at our own speed and, by being super efficient at the SAG stops, reduce the total time spent in scorching heat. I was still feeling the effects of yesterday’s ride for the first 50 miles but after that, my body seemed to reset itself and I felt strong again for the last half of the day. Bev says that something happened when I crossed the South Dakota state line and suddenly she was the one trying to hang on. I was just happy to bounce back.

The highlight of the day was crossing into South Dakota, the fourth state on our ten state, two country trek. Their state welcome sign is pretty cool and their roads, at least for today, have wide, clean shoulders to ride on. The state line was also where we entered the Buffalo Gap National Grasslands, which were beautiful and expansive, segueing from the plains of Wyoming. We also had a nice visit from a South Dakota Sheriff’s deputy at our second SAG stop. He stopped by to see what a bunch of criminals in spandex were up to, loitering about in funny shoes, drinking Gatorade, and eating pretzel sticks, peanut butter, and fig bars for the 21st consecutive day. Chris, our blind rider, was introduced to Deputy Steve and we were all relieved when Chris shook Steve’s hand instead of accidentally reaching for his sidearm. Deputy Steve didn’t think to ask how a blind man was cycling through his state.

Some of our fellow insane riders talked about adding seven voluntary miles to today’s ride so that they could claim three consecutive riding days of 100+ miles. We opted to ride an extra half mile, straight to Dairy Queen, where we ate Chocolate Cherry Chunk Blizzards because it was 102 degrees and we still have some God-given sense. Tomorrow we ride through Wind Cave National Park and the Black Hills National Forest, which include prairie dogs, the Crazy Horse Memorial and Mount Rushmore! Lots of climbing for another epic day.